Last Saturday was the Lenz Winery Comparitive Blind Tasting I posted about a few weeks ago.

All in all, I had a great time at the event. I don’t think I’ve ever been to or held a blind tasting where I didn’t learn something…and this one was no different.

Look for a complete write-up here soon, but in the meantime, I thought I’d mention some highlights of the day and post some pictures.

Before the tasting even started, I was caught off guard when I met a LENNDEVOURS reader for the first time. I was checking in for the event and Rick was sitting nearby. He simply asked and "Are you Lenn? I read your blog." It was the first time I’d met a reader that way. Unfortunately, the tasting was assigned seating and I didn’t get to spend much more time with him and his wife.

Another highlight was the fact that I was able to identify three of the four Lenz wines in the blind tasting…and I preferred them to the French wines they were tasted against. To be fair, I preferred them largely because they were much more approachable now while the white Burgundies and red Bordeaux were probably a bit young, especially the reds.

The tasting was also an interesting opportunity to hear from winery owner, Peter Carroll (pictured right), winemaker Eric Fry and vineyard manager Sam McCullough. Anyone who knows Eric won’t be surprised to hear that he dominated most conversations, but that’s part of what makes him so fun to taste with. For instance, when someone asked why "legs" are considered important in a wine tasting, he blamed California winemakers and marketeers "Legs are a sign of alcohol. And our friends in California make high alcohol wines, so they created this myth that long legs equal quality."

All in all, it was a fun event, though I thought the white wines were served a bit too cold and the flights were definitely rushed. I like to spend much more time with each wine.