(Another) Year in the Vineyard, Week #8 with Wes Hagen, Clos Pepe

I plan to take a different tact with this week’s blog. I’m down in Temecula judging wine at Riverside International Wine Competition, getting a little writing in as the judges take their seats. Farmers are always more punctual than winemakers and retailers..may also be that I left the party a bit early last night to catch the end of the Suns game. My plan is to organize this article before the 157 wines hit the table in flights of 10 – 12, it may sound like fun, and it can be, but if you take the job seriously you walk out of the judging room feeling as if you just took the LSAT with a hangover and that your palate has been struck with a two by four of tannin and acidity. I should mention that those 157 wines will be tasted over two days…but with the sweepstakes round the final total will be closer to 200 wines over the two day competition. Pro wine judges are expected to be able to be able to acurately assess up to 125