Twenty-nine Flights of Five

Twenty-nine flights of five wine blends ... akin to five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes ... so, how do you measure, measure a Chard?

Winemaker Paul Moser and enologist Mauricio Livellara are perfectionists, and we love it.

To arrive at the final blend of our 2008 Cartlidge & Browne Chardonnay -- they tried 29 flights of five different blends -- for an end total of 145 different possible blends. One hundred forty-five is the charm!

We tasted the final blend (just off the bottling line) along with the 2008 Lot 205 Chardonnay.

And then we tasted through 2007 & 2008 Pinot Noirs.

Before the bags came off, Paul noted that they all tasted like Pinot Noir to him. Next time I'll have to throw a few other varietals in there to trip him up.

We liked them all - which was good news. Even before he smelled the wine, Mauricio knew each vintage by the temperature of the wine (some had been lab samples and others pulled from the warehouse) and different specs on the glass.

Paul was pleased with the consistency between vintages and thought the 2008, though just a baby, already aromatically had a lot to say. He talked about the lovely floral notes and cherry cobbler flavor, along with a spicy character and a supple feel.

Sign me up for tastings like this more often!