I sat on a blind-tasting panel and scored four flights of merlot: yeah, you might have guessed Chateau Petrus came in as number one. But by a very narrow margin. What came close?

Varietals: Flirting with Petrus

Taking part in a blind tasting, I think, is only of interest to wine professionals. Even if participants have a clue—sometimes knowing the grape involved, or the region, or even specific wines that may be included—the palate is totally isolated. The food, the surroundings, the ability to call up previous experiences or even to chatter with your neighbor—all those things that make wine drinking so pleasurable, are missing. It comes down to you and your sensory abilities and your judgment.

A recent blind tasting in which I was a judge turned out to include one of the most acclaimed wines of recent years. You would guess that it would absolutely jump out. Chateau Petrus 2000 is considered a masterpiece of winemaking. Robert Parker gave it a score of 100, and Wine Spectator Magazine a score of 98—a virtually perfect wine. Almost every wine critic and merchant is ecstatic about this wine. And the retail price is upwards of $2,500 per bottle.

So why didn’t it stand out? One reason is that the 2000 vintage is young for a wine of this caliber. While the seriousness and importance of what was in the glass was obvious, the ravishing beauty of this wine is only budding. It has many years ahead of it to improve, and will not peak for another decade or two or three.

The Petrus 2000 was one of 24 red wines divided into four flights that my panel of experts was examining. We had gathered at the New York Yacht Club at the invitation of the Lenz Winery, based in Peconic, on the North Fork, to blind taste some Lenz wines along with various vintages of several famed Bordeaux producers.

While the Petrus 2000 did very well, garnering the highest average score that day, the differences among the top rated bottles were ever so minor. The Petrus 2000, which is predominately merlot, ended with a rating of 91.9, while the second favorite, the Lenz Old Vines merlot 2000 scored 90.9 and the third, Lenz’s Old Vines 2001 scored 90.7. I’d more readily compare the taste of those Lenz wines to a 2002 Petrus—not as great a vintage as the 2000, but far more accessible and drinkable now—though I would not compare prices. The Lenz wines sell for $55 per bottle, the Petrus 2001 for about $600.

The results were similar throughout the flights. The Lenz Estate Selection merlots which sell for $15 or $23, depending on vintage, rated as well as or better than three Chateau Figeac vintages selling for $58 to $100.

Even when it came to cabernet sauvignon, Lenz scored well. This was somewhat of a surprise to me since I consider Eric Fry, Lenz’s winemaker, to be talented when working with all the grapes they grow, but most adept with merlot. Mr. Fry’s cabernet sauvignon 2001 (a splendid year for nearly all Long Island wines, by the way) was rated 91.3 by our panel, barely edging out a Chateau Latour 2002 with a 91.2 score. The Latour, one of the most celebrated names in Bordeaux, sells for $225, the Lenz for $30.

There are several general conclusions to draw from our results. The first is: Don’t be a wine snob. While there are definitely valid reasons why certain estates are legendary, the world of wine is too big and too diverse to overlook smaller, less famous producers, especially for us who live so close to many good ones here on Long Island.

Another conclusion is to taste honestly. Trust your own palate. That’s how you’ll find the most pleasure. It’s not in the price you pay. The experience of our blind tasting demonstrated one thing unambiguously: Fine quality wines are available both at high and relatively low cost, and while a high price usually indicates high quality, more modest prices can sometimes buy that same quality. If you look at the scores and prices, the pattern is clear and you don’t need a wine critic to comment. Congratulations to Eric Fry and to the Lenz winery.