Smell: Yeast and cinnamon. Subtle hints of vanilla/oak. And saw dust ... sort of that dusty smell right before a rain. A strong bark -- sort of a dry musty smell that you get when you break off bark from a rotting tree in the forest. Then, with a hint of sweetness, maybe raisin.

Taste: Black cherries. A 2% milk equivalent for the mouth-feel.

Finish: Black cherries, plum, boysenberries, and then a bit of a huckleberry. When just opened, it had a slightly sour and bitter, but too much so. Sort of that dry, bitter taste of grape skins. But as the wine opened up, this virtually vanished.

Cost:    

Rating:    7.5

Smell: Oak, vanilla, pepper, spice and wood chips. Vanilla ice cream!

Taste: Pepper, black cherry and plum. With a second bottle (a week later), there was a bit of citrus --  orange and kiwi. Normally this makes the wine sour (not good), but it's not that way at all; it's rather nice as part of the package.

Finish: Black cherry, plum and blackberry (not much blackberry on the second bottle, where the citrus reigned stronger). A 2% milk consistency.

Cost:     

Rating:    7.5

Smell: Spice, pepper, cedar, tobacco, anise, violet/floral and oregano. Really spicy!

Taste: Violet then cayenne. Also, some sort of vegetable -- maybe artichoke and broccoli.

Finish: Explosive strawberry then raspberry and a bit of red cherry. Cinnamon and cayenne. A 2% milk consistency. Long finish. Amazing finish for the cost!

Cost:    

Rating:     7.5

This week I was down in San Francisco for MacWorld. My company, NetXposure, has yearly exhibits there as we attempt to convince thousands and thousands of Mac fans of the superiority of our wares. But all work and no play makes for dull post-convention nights, so wine was required to liven up the mood. But how could we only drink the home-team swill? Indeed, we needed to sample the bounty California offers.



One evening, the NetXposure crew ended up at Lark Street Steak House (a high-end restaurant located in a mall ... strange) for a business dinner that quickly turned into an Oregon versus California pinot noir competition. Equilibrium, the California company who hosted the dinner, had the home-court advantage. Plus they toted in wine from home. We had to stand our ground with pinots from the restaurant wine list.

We dueled against two 2005 California pinots: one from Russian River, the other from Sonoma. We faced-off with the St Innocent 2005 White Rose. While rated well, I didn't like it before, and it did not stand up to its competitor, the Russian River Gustave Niebaum. The Gustave was exceptionally smooth, whereas the St Innocent had a strong sour citrus taste that lingered through the finish.

Oregon: 0, California: 1

Next up, our waiter recommended the Sineann. I had never tried it, and I'm always curious to try new wine. While the Sineann was better than the White Rose, it wasn't as good as its competitor, the Sonoma Papapietro Perry. The Perry was smooth and interestingly spicy--well beyond just pepper.

Oregon: 0, California: 2

Yes, we lost in a bloodbath. And yes, a rematch on our home turf is in order. We were at a distinct disadvantage, and Oregon can certainly do better!

• prosciutto and arugula salad
  
• calamari
• crab au gratin with crostinis 
• blue cheese and beet parfait
• scallops with cumin and curry carrots
  

Smell: Overwhelmingly pepper! Oak and orange.

Taste: Plum and black cherry.

Finish: Cherry lingers. Later, hints of bark and a very slight lime sourness.

Cost:    

Rating:    8.0

Smell: Oak, vanilla and pepper.

Taste: Black cherry and plum. Little depth--too thin.

Finish: Black cherry. A 2% milk consistency.

Cost:     

Rating:     7.5

Smell: Very strong cayenne. Pepper, papaya, cinnamon, curry and/or paprika.

Taste: Plum is predominant. Hints of cranberry and pomegranate.

Finish: Raisin. Smooth with a slight sourness at the end. A 2% milk consistency.

Cost:    

Rating:    8.0

Smell: At first, a strong sweat aroma (in a good way). Cinnamon and then candy strawberry.

Taste: Raisin and plum. Tannic textures and bark flavors. Very slight oak. Interesting that the candy strawberry smell was nowhere to be found in the taste. In fact, it was the opposite: very dark fruit flavors.

Finish: Oak and plum.

Cost:    

Rating:    8.5

Smell: Cedar, pepper, orange sherbet, star fruit. Super peppery! Pungent, perfumey and floral.

Taste: Cayenne, Granny Smith apple, boysenberry. Grapey tasting. Chocolate cuts it down and is a good compliment.

Finish: Sort of a burnt plus berry flavors. It's like taking a blueberry bush and lighting it on fire--tastes like blueberry stalks on fire. Dry.

Cost:     

Rating:    7.5

Smell: Oak, vanilla, pepper, spice, wood chips. Vanilla ice cream!

Taste: Pepper, black cherry and plum.

Finish: Black cherry and plum. A long finish with blackberry at the very end. A 2% milk consistency.

Cost:    

Rating:      8.5

Rating wine is subjective and tricky. Making matters more difficult are different scales with which to rate wine. We began our blog with a five-star rating system, but this proved inadequate to delineate our range of opinions. In many cases, two wines had the same rating, yet we clearly knew we preferred one over the other.

A couple of weeks ago, Winecast hosted a round-table discussion among leading wine bloggers on the current state of wine blogging (Unfiltered 7 - Wine Blogging Today). One of the topics was about the disparate wine blog rating systems. The panel agreed that the two predominant rating systems are the 100-point scale and the 10-point scale (which includes half points making it a 20-point scale). This discussion convinced us to replace our five-star rating system with the more popular 10-point rating system.

Why the 10-point system?

Initially the 100-point scale appears to be the better choice. It's common in the grocery store and in many wine magazines. But have you ever seen a wine rated 35 points? Apparently, the public only views 80+ ratings. The 100 scale ends up becoming a de facto 20-point scale. The wines that scored below 80 points are never publicized.

Second, we are not expert wine tasters. The complexity of 100 points (despite our above argument) is daunting. What's the nuance between 81 and 82? We honestly don't know. The 100-point scale is simply too much trouble for what it's worth.

Finally, it appears that any rating system--despite the plethora of competing systems--can be converted to the more popular 100-point or 10-point numeric scales. Our former five-star system easily translates to 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100 points on the 100-point scale. And it easily translates to 1-10 on the 10-point scale. Really it's a question of rating complexity, and we have chosen the simpler version.

So long live the 10-point scale! We hope our new system is helpful and agreeable to everyone reading our blog. Thanks for reading!

Smell: Sharp alcohol smell. Underneath there's hay, dirt, ferns and mushroom. Vegetable (artichoke), pepper and a hint of cherry.

Taste: Plum, pepper, marionberry and artichoke.

Finish: Pepper and marionberry. The pepper really lingers--spicy! Tannins in the texture.

Cost:    

Rating:    7.0

Smell: Pepper, vanilla, peppermint candy, rose, lilac, jam and dill pickles.

Taste: A firework of flavor that's overwhelming (in a good way) and difficult to discern. Pepper, dirt, truffle, cassis and currant. Caramel and butter arrive a bit later. This wine is complex and yummy.

Finish: Lemon peel, blueberry and subtle anise.

Cost:    

Rating:    8.5

Robert: Robert was born in San Francisco, CA, but has been living the expat life in Amsterdam and Paris. Robert created his own environmental investment company in France. Robert is a glowing newlywed and currently lives in Paris with his French husband, Gregoire.



Gregoire: Gregoire was born in Bordeaux, France, so he knows the wine lingo really well!  Gregoire is a software engineer, but will be going to film school this fall (he has already directed four short movies). Gregoire currently lives in Paris with his American husband, Rob.



Patrick: Patrick is a Contract Manager in Education & Training. His hobbies include gardening, martial arts and ultimate fighting. Patrick participated in the infamous Gulf War protest of '91 in which students took over the House floor in the state capital of Olympia, WA, making national news. Oh yeah, he's also an anarchist.



Signe: A native of Dennmark, Signe has lived on and off in the United States for 10 years. Signe is an HR manager and mother to a kitten. She enjoys gardening, fixing up her new house, reading and kayaking (although it's been a while).



Caleb: Caleb works for Metro. An environmentalist, Caleb cuts his grass with a push mower. He loves everything French, kitsch and chocolate. Caleb is very easy to shop for.



Cheryl: Cheryl is a professional photographer who works for Stewart Harvey Photography. She's a 'Yooper' (originally from the upper peninsula of Michigan) and very proud of it! When Cheryl isn't photographing events for her friends, she enjoys reading, gardening and fine dining.



Dinner:

• garden salad
• butternut squash soup with parmesan cheese
• beets and goat cheese with chopped nuts, cilantro and orange wedges
• cedar plank salmon with spinach and rice pilaf
• apple crisp with vanilla ice cream
• cheese

Wine:

• Domaine Meriwether, Pinot Noir, 2004
• Cima Collina, 'Chula Vina', Pinot Noir, 2005
• Domaine Serene, 'Yamhill Cuvee', Pinot Noir 2004
• Alvear, 'Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927', Sherry

Smell: Dusty molasses.

Taste: It's a glass of molasses!  Like "Panda" black licorice.

Finish: Yep, the molasses remains. Liquid molasses with a hint of sherry. Very thick and viscous (not total syrup, but comes close).

Cost:     (and 375ml at that!)

Rating:    5.0

Smell: At first, a heavy alcohol smell--difficult to discern much else. A hint of vanilla under sharp turpentine. Then smoke and leather.

Taste: Cherry, citrus, pomegranate and tobacco. A shot of cayenne (comes on quickly and then vanishes). A wonderfully round taste.

Finish: Pomegranate and cinnamon. Tart. A really nice full-bodied finish.

Cost:     

Rating:    8.0

Smell: Green grass, sage and wrinkly canned cherries. Smokey. Butter (something you find in whites).

Taste: Red cherry, wood and smoke.

Finish: Predominantly red cherry. Wood and a hint of kiwi. A leathery quality to the texture.

Cost:    

Rating:    7.0