Brutocao - 2007 Pinot Noir vs. Zinfandel

Sounds impossible, but I think wine tastes different depending on where you drink it and who you drink it with.

Tonight, I did a little taste-testing experiment with my sister. She's off living the big city life now that she's living and working in Kansas City, and she's loving it. She stopped by this evening to pick up some mail, and I roped her into staying to try out some wines with me.

Awhile back, Cork and Barrel had a clearance sale. They were rearranging their wine, and decided to sell what wasn't moving. I bought two bottles from the same company and decided to do a back to back tasting to truly discover what the difference in grapes was like.

I bought the Pinot Noir and the Zinfandel from Brutocao. The vintage was 2007 for both, although the Pinot was grown at Anderson Valley (Mendocino) while that Zinfandel was grown at Hopeland Ranch (also Mendocino).

Our overall impression was that the Pinot Noir was a little yummier. Both were very delicious, but whereas the Zin was spicy (verging on dusty), with a slight taste of fruit before the dry bite and a complex finish, the Pinot seemed warmer, much more fruity, and didn't have as strong as a finish.

The Sister and I both liked the Pinot Noir better.

We had quite a lot of fun trying both bottles and using Kroger Swiss cheese as a pallet cleanser between glasses. I love drinking wine with my sister. She has this amazing, contagious laugh that sets me off, even when she's laughing at me, and wine makes her giggle all the more freely.

She is one of my favorite people to hang out with.

Kendall-Jackson - 2008 Summation

I started this bottle at the Scotch Man's house but it was neglected for awhile and lost a lot of it's flavor by the time I got back to it. Finally finished a couple of weekends ago. It was still drinkable though. I'm pretty impressed.

Sadly, this will be my last bottle for awhile. The next bottle I open will probably take me a long time to drink, because the Scotch Man and I are doing a weight loss competition through the University we work at. The first place prize is $400, and the Scotch Man is in it to win it. We will be pacing ourselves when it comes to alcohol, since it's a lot of empty calories.

He has been drinking more scotch than wine lately. He drank scotch as I drank this bottle of wine, which is another reason it has taken me weeks instead of only a week to get through it.

I hope to be able to continue to write every week, but I might have to take a week or two off in order to consume enough wine to write about it.

It's a ten week challenge. We only have six left to go!

Wish us luck.