This is Part 2, did you miss Part 1?

The five blind duels included sparking, white, Pinot, red blend, and Cabernet, each of the them containing at least one Kirkland private label wine. This was not revealed until after everyone completed the tastings. I did not think the Costco brand wines would be top choice with this group of tasters.

The first duel was Kirkland Brut Champagne NV versus Roederer Estate Brut NV.  The conversation seemed to be focused most on which had better bubbles. Maybe everyone had already had enough Champagne on New Years Eve?

The second duel was Kirkland 2016 Friuli Italy Pinot Grigio versus Kirkland 2016 Sonoma County Chardonnay. When it was revealed that both were Kirkland wines, most of my guests were a little shocked that I was pitting Kirkland against Kirkland but enjoyed the taste of both.

The third duel was the first red and included Cameron Hughes Lot 527 2014 Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley versus Kirkland Willamette Valley 2015 Pinot Noir. The general consensus was they were both very drinkable with Rich, Chuck, Susan, and Robert refusing to pick a winner because they couldn’t decide which they liked better.

The fourth duel seemed to focus the group and they started seriously asking questions and talking between each other. It pitted Decoy Sonoma County Red Wine 2015 against Kirkland Napa Valley Meritage Red Wine 2014. Most expressed that they liked both but were able to pick out one that just tasted a little better to them.

The fifth and final blind duel was Louis M Martini Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County 2015 versus Kirkland Cabernet Sauvignon Napa County 2015. The tasters again agreed that both were good but had no trouble picking a favorite. I think that the individuals in this group already had an idea of their favorite Cabernet profile.

Here is a graph of votes per battle:

In Part 3 we’ll take a look at cost and more.