Kudos to the P-Funk - Team WTF

So this starts our wine tastings with our friends Frank and Amanda who live in Florida. Our wine adventures started on a cruise we took together years ago - where they convinced us wine newbies to try a wine tasting. We had a blast learning how to observe, smell, taste and discuss the wines. Ever since, we have been on many other adventures including an amazing trip to Napa Valley with some other friends. Even though we live nearly opposite sides of the east coast, Marjorie, Amanda and Frank suggested we do bi-weekly wine tastings via Zoom calls and BAM here we are! This is the first Team WTF aka Wine Tasting Friends blog tasting!

So this session is brought to you by Frank. He was the one to recommend this white and red combo.

The white wine is a Kudos Chardonnay from the famous Willamette Valley in beautiful Oregon. Unfortunately, Marjorie and I got the 2020 wine while Amanda and Frank tried the 2021 wine.

The red wine is a 2020 Rabbit Ranch Pinot Noir from the mystic isles of New Zealand.

We started off the evening with the Kudos Chardonnay, which we both had chilled for some time and taken out about 30 mins prior to tasting. Here are our thoughts on the Kudos.

Kudos Chardonnay - Willamette Valley, Oregon (2020, 2021)

Appearance

We were all in agreement the wine was very clear and pale even for a white wine. I thought it was almost opaque and when swirling the glass - it had rather weak legs (legs or tears are Wine legs are the droplets of wine that form on the inside of a wine glass. Wine legs are an example of the Gibbs-Marangoni Effect, a phenomenon that is the result of fluid surface tension caused by the evaporation of alcohol. - https://winefolly.com/tips/wine-legs/ ) Frank said it “Looks almost like gasoline” - to which the girls responded, “what does gasoline look like…”. Marjorie suggested pouring some gasoline out when filling your next tank - which IS NOT RECOMMENDED EVER. Please don’t try that.

Nose

As a group had varying degrees of what we smelled, but agreed upon many of the scents as we discussed. We all got a sweet fruit smell. Amanda was able to pick up some scents of wet hay. Marjorie got a floral, mangoey, and fresh cut cucumber smell. Frank picked up hints of wet sand and honeycomb. I sniffed a crisp apple or pear aroma similar to soda made with those two fruits. That being said, the team really enjoyed the smell of this white wine. It was complex and pleasant, lacking any major alcohol issues.

Palate

On to the tastes! We all generally enjoyed it, however our first sip was very different from our tenth sip. Almost similar to a red, this wine had to open up a bit before its flavor really bloomed. Amanda and I did not enjoy it as much until that point. The WTF team was able to pick up a tart apple flavor as the base. From there, Frank got hints of pineapple and kiwi. Marjorie tasted blueberries with a bit of salinity. I thought it tasted like a super light and refreshing apple sour candy soda. The most surprising taste that we all picked up but described in different ways was an interesting mouth feel. Frank described it as a silky mouth feel, Marjorie described it as oily or peppercorn, Amanda said it had an unusual lingering mouth feel, and I thought it was similar to a slight numbing sensation - one that was pleasant. If any Star Wars fans are out there - its similar to a drink you can get at Disney World’s Oga Catina, but way more mild.

Rating

Let me explain our rating scale - anything above a 4 is something we would buy and drink again. A 3 - 4 rating is one that was pretty good and we would drink if it were available yet we would not buy again for ourselves. A 2 - 3 rating is not great but we can understand the wine. A 1 to 2 rating is pretty self explanatory - we hated it. That being said, we mostly enjoyed this wine. Strangely, Frank, Amanda and I all gave this wine a 4.2. Marjorie gave it a 3.4. We all enjoyed the complexity of both the smell and tastes. Marjorie is more inclined to reds.

Overview

A solid white chardonnay from Oregon, with amazing scents of various fruits and honeycomb. Delivers a refreshing yet unique flavor profile that grows on you sip after sip and ends with a silky and slightly numbing mouthfeel. Check it out if you get a chance.

Rabbit Ranch Pinot Noir - New Zealand (2020)

Appearance

This red wine was impressively dark. Amanda thought it looked brickish and almost garnet like. Frank got a brown / dark ripe cherry and felt the edges faded to an even darker red. Marjorie saw a dull brownish purple hue. I thought it looked dark ruby and brownish at times with 80% opacity.

Nose

Now this is where it gets interesting and odd. The smell is a super dividing factor for us and why this session is called the Kudos to the P-Funk. Amanda, Marjorie and I all found the smell very negative and almost aggressive. Frank found it pleasing. So here are our thoughts - Amanda got cherry syrup and a yucky funk, Majorie got packing tape, acetone, and plastic smell. I had some choice words, which I will not share all on this blog - but I did not like the smell one bit. The nicer words I used were pungent, rancid, old mulch, and soggy boggy dirt. Frank on the other hand, said it was wet dirt, rotting weeds, old mushrooms, old hay or barn with hints cherry cola and raspberry. He said this is the true P-Funk or Pinot Funk that some pinot makers go after. I was shocked.

Palate

Maybe the taste will be better for those that hate the smell. It was hard to pick up and drink. Wine is a very paired experience with both the taste and smell. It was hard to remove the smell. For those that were displeased with the smell, we tried to not breath while drinking and it was difficult. Amanda got raspberries and slate. Marjorie got a bitter taste and thought it was so unpleasant and it assaulted her. I got a harsh earthy, sharp on the throat taste. Frank got hints of cherry, unripe strawberries, slate, not tannic, meaty and smokey, and mushrooms. I actually did get some meaty and smokey after he described it.

Rating

Amanda, Marjorie and I gave it 1.5 - 2.0 basically due to the strong unpleasant smells and difficult to decipher tastes. Frank gave it a 4.7. He is a lover of P-Funk and appreciates the aforementioned difficulties. The other three could not get past it.

Overview

A pungent and bold Pinot Noir from New Zealand with a lot of P-Funk for those that are interested. There are layers to the smell and taste if you are a fan of the true barnyard Pinots. If you are not, please stay aware or prepare your senses.