In the early 90s, I went toe to toe with a bunch of high-priced Napa wines.
With a $12 bottle of wine.
I was at Worden’s Washington Winery in Spokane. We made one red wine. It was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc—grapes from several vineyards, no new French oak, sold at age three for $12 retail.
We entered it into a big California competition in the new Meritage class, which rhymes with heritage.
Meritage? A made-up word to avoid calling your wine a “Bordeaux Style.” The rules for the class were:
1) a blend of the approved varieties in Bordeaux
2) your most expensive wine
So we entered our wine, which was mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with a big splash of Merlot and about 1-2 % Cabernet Franc. The organizer called to question our entry.
Them: “Do you really sell this for $12 retail?”
Me: “Yup, today in the tasting room.”
Them: “The average price in this class is over $75. Do you really think you should enter this class?”
Me: “Sure! What do we have to lose?”
I had learned wines from Washington could rival the best from anywhere.
After the judge’s review, eight wines were placed in the top award class. One really reduced the average price.
We were pleased. We got applause from our local wine community.
However.
A friend pointed out that the Opus One in his cellar ($90) was “built to age” and was, therefore, superior. Mind you, the Opus One had a year more age, four versus three years old, at that tasting. I kept silent, as it was not possible to compare nonexistent track records.
Fast forward to 2000, I met Barbara, and we quickly decided to marry.
My future father-in-law threw us an engagement dinner party.
It turned out it was a rematch!
He pulled a 1990 Opus One from his cellar, and I brought a 1991 Worden’s Cab/Merlot—totally unplanned. They are the same wines from the competition!
Both wines were rated equal six years earlier. I remembered the friend’s remark (he was the host).
Barbara gave everyone two glasses, one of each, blind tasting, only she knew what was in each glass. All wine pros or serious cork dorks. At the end of the course, folks indicated their preferred glass. Of course, it was from Washington! I then got to tell Bill that I remembered what he had said six years earlier and thanked him for voting for my wine. One of the eight people preferred the Opus One.
Bill was a great father-in-law. Always interested in learning, even into his 80s. We miss him.
Always willing to put wines in a glass to compare!
