Over the last several years we have seen almost everything subjected to the public experiment that is known as crowdsourcing. These efforts have had mixed results, ranging from big successes to massive failures. There have been previous efforts by wine brands to leverage their customer's ideas to incorporate into their brand, and there have even been previous attempts at crowdsourcing the blend of wines. On my recent trip to Woodinville, I tasted the results of a crowdsourcing blend created by the wine club members of Alexandria Nicole Cellars.
The 2008 Members Only blend from Alexandria Nicole Cellars is a southern Rhone blend comprised of 40% Mourvèdre, 34% Syrah, 14% Grenache, 10% Counoise, and 2% Viognier. The collaborative blend is made from Destiny Ridge Vineyards fruit, and retails for $42 a bottle to club members.
The wine has lots of dark cherry aromas and some meaty notes, coffee and chocolate also making an appearance on the nose. The palate is dominated by peppery red fruit, with a velvety mouthfeel. The wine is a pleasant pour, but the $42 price tag seems a bit steep. This is by no means a crowdsourcing disaster; the members did a pretty decent blending job, but there are better values at that price point.
Mourvèdre Movember – This was my first profile of a Mourvèdre based wine for my Mourvèdre Movember series. Mourvèdre Movember is part of my efforts to raise money to combat prostate cancer. In 2010 more than 32,000 men will die as a direct result of prostate cancer, and your donation to the cause will help to save lives in the future. Visit my Mospace page to donate, and to see how my mustache is progressing.
That’s a pretty cool idea. I’ve had the product from some liquor companies that do crowdsourcing on their barrels of bourbon et al, but I haven’t ever had a wine like that. Is the high price tag due to the costs incurred from specific requests of the members, or is it just a rarity?
Not really sure. It is a very limited release, and it’s possible that there might have been quantity issues with some of the grapes that were in the blend. Would be interesting question to ask them next time I’m out there.
Hi Ben. I’m curious about this blend, mainly since Barb and I participated in a blending party at ANC in Prosser in 2009 where the winner’s blend was indicated to go into the next Member’s Only release. The odd thing to me is that we were limited to no more than 10% Mourvedre, and the winner, not me, had high Grenache, next Syrah, then a bit of Mourverdre . I’m wondering if they used a different final blend or if the blend we made will be another release, 2011 maybe.
On the price, the ANC wines have escalated a bit in the past year it seems, but it’s basic supply and demand, they are able to sell out most wines at their asking price. For value their Quarry Butte and A2 wines are competing
Interesting. Always fun to talk to someone who was actually around for these stories.
I definitely have noticed that they have no problem selling out their wines. There have been several that I have wanted to try that were already gone. I think Alexandria Nicole makes some great wines, so I definitely don’t have a problem with the pricing in general. Just thought there were better options in this particular case.
It’s hilarious to me, Ben, that I’m able to give memories from Washington; since we’ve been here only a short time. Glad you are enjoying the ride and getting to know the area. I’ll see you tomorrow for the VT, then Thursday it looks like we’ll see each other in person for the event in Yakima.
I guess we were all new sometime. One of these days I hope to look back and tell stories about when I first got to Washington.
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow, and I’ll talk with you this evening.