Blinders

After a successful day at the winery, Eagles' Landing staff got together to play the game Blinders. The point of the game was to guess the wine picked by the host. Some cards allowed the winner to declare the exact vintage and label earning the most points. Other cards allow the winner to declare region and flavor profile. Finally, there were cards the winner could use to declare age (less than 8 years being considered young) and type of wine (red or white) for the least amount of points. Based on the number of rounds played, player with the most points wins the game. All guesses are made with 5 cards we were able to pull or steal during the game. Eagles' Landing winemaker and Advanced Sommelier Eric Taylor, went against Sommelier Karen Marcum (sommelier since summer of 2024), Tasting Associate Rose Dominguez, and newest Wine Tasting Assistant Anya Corp (no wine history. Mostly management and sales history). 

The first round's wine was picked by Karen and was a 2018 wine from Bordeaux, France with medium tannins and tasting notes of molasses, graphite, plums, raspberries, dark cherries, and oak. Eric guessed a young wine (which he also disagreed with, claiming the wine was actually developing), with medium tannins, plum and raspberry notes, from Bordeaux, France. I also guessed a red wine from Bordeaux, France with notes of molasses. 

The round two wine was 2022 Domaine M&C Lapierre Morgon from Beaujolais, France. This wine was picked by Eric Taylor because this is the wine that inspired him to create Eagles' Landing's 2023 Crunchy!. Karen had the flavor notes all picked out from cherry, plum, blackberries, and earthy tones. She began overthinking, preventing her from declaring the wine. I declared before Karen and besides guessing the complete wrong vintage by almost three decades, I guessed a low tannin red wine from Beaujolais, France with notes of black cherry. I also wanted to steal the card bubblegum notes from Rose but I never got the oppourtunity to do so. Eric asked what made me guess that region and I said that this French wine tasted 'chalky' and that American wines are often brighter and more fragrant. I now know that chalky tones come from the limestone soils prevalent throughout southern France. 

In round three, I picked a 2020 Icewine from Augusta, Winery in Missouri. I picked this wine because Eric and I had a long conversation about Icewines from Canada a few weeks prior. This wine has the flavor profile of Peach, apricot, pineapple, pears, and honey. It is a rich and beautiful dessert wine. Eric Taylor guessed everything relating to this wine perfectly. He even guessed the grapes used to create this wine specifically naming Vignoles. He also talked about the icewine being artifically frozen unlike in Canada, meaning this was most likely a Missouri wine. He was impressed with the flavor profile saying that this is what Missouri grapes and wines are all about. That put head to head against French wines, it still tastes amazing. He only missed one thing. He guessed St. James Winery over Augusta Winery. Karen guessed Augusta. It was impressive to watch.

Mar 23, 2025 at 2:43 PM Permalink Be the first to comment on this post