Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/844641
DEPARTMENT HEADER 92 / the tasting panel / july 2017 A thunderous crack echoed through- out the courtyard. Three flights and two courses into lunch on the patio at Vaca in Costa Mesa, a collection of Southern California wine retailers witnessed the col- lapse of a towering tree onto a neighboring building. The building suffered just a few cracked panels, but the group was shaken. Still, their reaction to the incident did not compare to their collective shock after the blind tasting revealed an assembly of 17 box wines. That wasn't the day's only revelation. The retailers were asked to rank each of the five flights grouped according to variety. In every flight except Pinot Noir, one brand came out on top: E. & J. Gallo's Vin Vault—a box wine! In fact, all of the wines were box wines, a fact that wasn't revealed until after the tasting. (In the Pinot Noir category, Vin Vault lost to a rival brand by just one vote.) TASTINGS BOX WINE VIN VAULT COMES OUT ON TOP IN A BLIND TRADE TASTING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA by Jessie Birschbach / photos by Margaret Soss The group of retailers/wine buyers blind-tasting at Vaca in Costa Mesa, CA. DISPELLING THE DISPELLING DISPELLING DISPELLING THE THE THE myth