A World of Wine lands in Naga City

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THE Naga Wine Showtime featured a wide array of premium wines from France, Chile and Australia.

A FIRST of its kind in Naga City: The Wine Showdown

NAGA — In a groundbreaking celebration of global viticulture, wine lovers in Bicol’s Naga City were treated to a first-of-its-kind event that pitted premium wines from three countries against each other in a thrilling blind tasting showdown. Hosted by Golden Wines, Inc., the experience was not just a tasting — it was a revelation.

Held at the Villa Caceres Hotel, in the heart of Naga City, the event marked a bold step forward for wine education and appreciation in the region. With no labels, no biases, and no preconceived notions, guests were invited to taste and judge purely on the merits of aroma, flavor, structure, and finish. The wines were poured anonymously (thus “blind”), allowing participants to explore their palates without influence. All wines were selected from top wine-producing nations of France, Chile, and Australia.

This wasn’t just about sipping wine; it was about trusting one’s own taste palate and fighting label, wine country, and price biases. It was about challenging assumptions, celebrating diversity in winemaking, and showing that great wine can come from anywhere.

THE CONCEPT AS IMPLEMENTED
There were two wine flights, and a bonus sparkling wine flight that pitted an Australian sparkling wine against a French champagne.

Each flight was introduced with minimal fanfare — just numbered glasses and blank tasting sheets. Guests were encouraged to jot down their impressions, compare notes, and ultimately guess the origin of each wine. Two of the most popular red wine varietals, namely the Syrah (or Shiraz as Aussies call it) and the omnipresent Cabernet Sauvignon were chosen for this exercise. The best representative wine region of these respective wine varietals from France, Chile, and Australia were the wines chosen for this blind tasting exercise.

THE SYRAH SHOWDOWN
The best Syrah is arguably from the Rhone Valley, France, especially the region of Hermitage in northern Rhone. In fact, the Hermitage region was the inspiration for Australia’s most prestigious wine of all time, the Penfolds Grange, which was called Grange Hermitage since its first vintage in 1951. The name “Hermitage” was removed from the label since the 1990 vintage onwards following complaints by the European Union authorities on the use of a French wine region name by an Australian winery. Having said this, Hermitage was the region chosen to represent the Syrah varietal for France in this blind tasting.

As for Australia, the most famous Australian wine region of Barossa was used. Barossa is also where most of the Penfolds Grange grapes are from. And for Chile, Calchapoal Valley was chosen, though Elqui Valley would have been a better choice.

The brand and region representing this Syrah blind tasting showdown are seen in Table 1.

THE CABERNET SAUVIGNON SHOWDOWN
Cabernet Sauvignon, the king of red wines, has its roots in Bordeaux, France. But while French Bordeaux best exemplify this varietal, most of the New World wine regions are doing extremely good versions of Cabernet Sauvignon, including those from Napa Valley, California, USA, the Coonawarra region in Southern Australia, and the Maipo Valley in Chile. Australia’s most iconic Cabernet Sauvignon, the Penfolds 707, sources the majority of their grapes from the Coonawarra region. On the other hand, grapes for Chile’s most prestigious Cabernet Sauvignon, the Concha y Toro Don Melchor, are also sourced from the Maipo Valley.

The brand and region representing this Syrah blind tasting showdown are found in Table 2.

Each wine flight ended with the wine reveal, and because the wines chosen were already prime examples of the varietal and region, the reactions during the reveal were priceless. Many got it wrong, but it was nevertheless educational and exciting.

Golden Wines, Inc. plans to expand the Wine Showdown series to include other varietals and regions, with future events featuring sparkling wines, Cabernet Sauvignon, and even rosé. Each edition will continue the blind tasting format, ensuring that impartiality and discovery remain at the heart of the experience.

The exercise was about personal choice — it was not about reputation, image, or even preconception. Instead, it was about personal taste, personal preference, and the amount of money each one is willing to shell out for a bottle of wine. In occasions like this, there is no wrong or right answer, and it is as personal and discretionary as one can get. After all, we do not have that dirty money connected to the flood control scandal, but just our hard-earned money to splurge on wine on occasion with no guilty feelings!

For corporations, associations, and clubs that want to experience this kind of wine event can e-mail Golden Wines Inc. at info@goldenwines.com.

Sherwin A. Lao is the first Filipino wine writer member of both the Bordeaux-based Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux (FIJEV) and the UK-based Circle of Wine Writers (CWW). For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, wine consultancy, and other wine-related concerns, e-mail the author at wineprotege@gmail.com, or check his wine training website https://thewinetrainingcamp.wordpress.com/services/. Also check out his YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@winecrazy.