2003 Sainsbury
Posted: 17:50 Fri 28 Jul 2023
Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference 2003, made by Symington Family Estates. Mindful of the question Is it wrong to decant cold?, and structuring the experiment to avoid Martin C.’s concern, three bottles were prepared.
On Thursday morning the three bottles were stood up: one at room temperature (R), one at cellar temperature (C), one at fridge temperature (F). They were decanted 07:30 Friday morning, directly from prior storage: F first, to minimise pre-decant temperature change, then C, then R. One decanting the nose of C was thought maybe flawed, the other two being identical.
Tasted blind on the evening of Friday 28th July 2023.
1: Nose liked least. Also slightly hollow mid-palate. Guessed C.
2: Intense grape-pip bitterness, long, sweetness mid-palate. Favourite. Best fruit, best sweetness.
3: Slight imperfect stink on palate, then same grape-pip bitterness. Ten minutes in the glass has cleaned this excellently, a hint of citrus freshness appearing.
The favourite was 2, then 3, then 1. But all of it felt like bottle variation, rather than decanting variation. Arguably the relative hollowness of 1 suggested that it was over-decanted.
Revelation: 1 = Cellar; 2 = Room; 3 = Fridge.
I think bottle variation far exceeded decanting variation.
Doff hat to the person pouring blind (the nature of experiments being explained to her), a picture of her younger self being here.
On Thursday morning the three bottles were stood up: one at room temperature (R), one at cellar temperature (C), one at fridge temperature (F). They were decanted 07:30 Friday morning, directly from prior storage: F first, to minimise pre-decant temperature change, then C, then R. One decanting the nose of C was thought maybe flawed, the other two being identical.
Tasted blind on the evening of Friday 28th July 2023.
1: Nose liked least. Also slightly hollow mid-palate. Guessed C.
2: Intense grape-pip bitterness, long, sweetness mid-palate. Favourite. Best fruit, best sweetness.
3: Slight imperfect stink on palate, then same grape-pip bitterness. Ten minutes in the glass has cleaned this excellently, a hint of citrus freshness appearing.
The favourite was 2, then 3, then 1. But all of it felt like bottle variation, rather than decanting variation. Arguably the relative hollowness of 1 suggested that it was over-decanted.
Revelation: 1 = Cellar; 2 = Room; 3 = Fridge.
I think bottle variation far exceeded decanting variation.
Doff hat to the person pouring blind (the nature of experiments being explained to her), a picture of her younger self being here.
