After three flights covering (#1) Balanced & Bordeaux-esque, (#2) Traditional Leaner Napa, and (#3) Modern & Plush styles, we brought back the top two finishers from each and ran a grand finale blind tasting with all six wines head to head. We tried to keep the years the same but again availability was a bit of a challenge. This flight was single blind (all others were double blind except for me hosting). Posting group tasting notes below, where it finished in the flight, and some take-aways v. the original tasting from the previous flight.
2021 Frog's Leap – astringently dry, sharp dusty tannins, big green pepper, raspberry, a bit thin, hint of savory, missing some acid [6th – the original winner of Flight #2 had a rough night. One of the bigger reversals of the series. It read as "complex and structured" alongside a flight of lean wines but seemed thin and sharp next to the Finale lineup. By far the last place.]
2022 Stag's Leap Artemis – complex, firm and tight tannin, good acid, just sweet enough, ready to drink [1st – maintained its 1st place from Flight #1. Consistent across both tastings. Not super detailed tasting notes as you see, but it was just well liked. It went from 33% first-place votes to 56% in the Finale.]
2022 Caymus – big red fruit, syrupy sweet, flat, has some tannin and alcohol to balance but still too rich and sweet [5th – dropped hard from its previous win. The group liked it against other soft, plush wines from Flight #3 but the sweetness and flatness stood out more against structured wines.]
2021 Realm The Bard – earthy and savory with a complex sweetness, mouth-coating, pleasantly complex, lower acid, OK tannin [3rd – one of the most consistent wines of the series. Nearly identical scores both times, held its ground even against a tougher Finale flight v. Flight #3]
2021 Round Pond – big plum notes, lower tannin but not flat, low acid, simple classic profile, full but pleasing, little harsh at times? [4th – solid and inoffensive, similar story to its original flight placing]
2022 Chappellet – aroma gives impression of high tannin and tight fruit, very dry, complex but closed, brambly black fruit [2nd – actually improved on its original Flight #2 placing, showing more complexity in the finale even if it felt closed. The one with the most upside to further aging.]
My personal top three: 1st – Realm The Bard, 2nd – Stag's Leap Artemis, 3rd – Chappellet.
by der_radfahrer