Examiner.com's take on the Boys vs. Girls Wine Challenge!

And here is another article from Examiner.com's Roberta Rinaldi. Enjoy!!  :-)

Sommeliers face off at The Taste of Beverly Hills

For those of us obsessed by wine, Saturday was an exciting day at The Taste of Beverly Hills.  Eight sommeliers competed (click here for bios) in the "Boys vs Girls Sommelier Blind Tasting". Moderated by event sommelier, Bonnie Graves, teams of four girl and four boy sommeliers were playfully pitted against each other, one pair for each of the four wines tasted.      

The group featured some of California's brightest, most cutting edge sommeliers.  On the feminine side were Rebecca Chapa (Culinary Institute of America), Diane De Luca (Providence), Dana Farner (CUT--wearing the best sundress ever!) and Carolyn Styne (AOC, Luques, Tavern). Representin' for the boys were Chris Lavin (XIV), Mark Mendoza (Comme Ca and Sona), Jonathan Mitchell (Palm Restaurant) and David Rosoff (Pizzeria Mozza).

Bonnie started out by guiding the audience through how to approach a glass of wine; beginning with the eyes, then nose, mouth and brain.  Next she set the rules.  One point each was assigned for guessing the varietal, the wine growing region and vintage.  The group was also asked to say what they would pay for it by the glass.
The soms went for it in a raucous battle starting with Styne and Lavin.  This was a fantastic opportunity to hear the experts think out loud, and to learn how they reach their conclusions.  Styne analyzed the nose first: grapefruit and tropical fruit.  On the palate she found Meyer lemon, bright, racy acidity and no oak.  Both agreed it was a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire, with Lavin leaning toward Pouilly-Fume.  She said 2008, he said 2007.  Each would pay $11-12.00 per glass.  The wine, in fact, was a 2009 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.  One point for the girls, one for the boys.
And so it went, with the best round being round three.  Rebecca Chapa and David Rosoff were completely stumped by a bottle of Two Buck Chuck Merlot, which she guessed to be a Chinon Cabernet Franc, and he thought to be a Dolcetto!  Since the teams were allowed to reach conclusions by consensus; this was a great example of how group think leads wine tasters to cede their opinions to others, when they'd be better served to follow their gut instincts.  Jonathan Mitchell had a thigh-slapping moment upon the reveal, when he exclaimed that his first impression was of a cheap Merlot, then went along with David.
Dana Farner lead the girls to victory with great aplomb in round four, with her brilliant evaluation of a 2006 Rioja Riserva.