Today, I continue my goal for the week–to taste some bottles that I knew I had, but for whatever reason I had yet to taste. This is another tasting kit from Master the World™, and the only information I had? All of the wines came from Foppiano, one of the legendary producers in Sonoma County and the Russian River Valley, known for big, bold reds.

This is pretty simple: if there is a wine geek in your life, and they do not already know about Master the World™ you now have the perfect gift to get them this year. Over the past couple of years, I took part in a bunch of tastings with the great people at Master the World™ and I can’t express enough how valuable the experience was. I learned so much about wine in general, the regions explored, and the individual wines and wineries included.

The concept is really brilliant, in my opinion, as the fine folks at Master the World™ take wines from around the world and, after verifying that the wines are not flawed in any way, transfer the wines into smaller, 187ml bottles which they then group six bottles together under a common theme. It might be a region, a variety, a producer, you name it, Evan Goldstein (Master Sommelier) and Limeng Stroh (Co-founder and CEO) have found myriad ways to link wines to make very compelling tasting kits.

On top of all of that, the wines arrive blind–their identities are hidden so you can taste the wines without any preconceived notions or bias. “But wait, there’s more.” Master the World™ also provides both a video where industry leaders, including several Master Sommeliers, discuss the wines and an online evaluation tool that walks you through the entire process.

So far, so, so good. But my unabashed endorsement of Master the World also comes with a caveat: be ready to be humbled. Such was the case this past week as I finally got to one of the kits that I had not yet opened. The tasting took place several weeks ago, but I had a bit of a family emergency and could not attend the Zoom and taste the wines.

One of the recent wines I evaluated. Not bad, but not great either.

I remembered that this tasting kit (222C for those keeping track at home) focused on Foppiano Wines, but that was about all I remembered. Soooo, here we go.

The Master the World™ wines arrive snugly tucked into their own little cardboard bed.

This first bottle certainly had all the characteristics of Sauvignon Blanc, but there was a roundness and creaminess that threw me off a bit.

2019 Foppiano Sauvignon Blanc, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, CA: Retail $18. Ok, so I admit that this has been in my possession for a while, so I am not sure how that alters the calculus, but this is a bit yellow, even golden with ripe yuzu, yellow apple, apricot, and grapefruit on the nose. There is also a distinct vegetal aspect of dark leafy greens and even a touch of sautéed leeks. The palate is rich, but also tart, with plenty of acidity, medium-plus alcohol, and a lengthy finish. A small percentage spends a bit of time in neutral oak, resulting in a wonder, creamier texture. Excellent. 90 Points.

The second wine, was just unfair to throw into a blind tasting: a thirty-year-old Petite Sirah? OK, that is both very cool and impossible to guess, but the Master Sommelier who tasted the wine guessed 1993?? Yeah, I am not buying that at all.

1993 Foppiano Petite Sirah La Grande Anniversaire Centennial Selection, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, CA: Retail $50. Under cork. 100% Petite Sirah. I have stated many times that I am no fan of Petite Sirah, but then I have not had many with *thirty* years on it either. Medium color with just slight rim variation, in fact, it is barely even perceptible. Dark with aromas of… The palate is tart, yes, but there are secondary, even tertiary characteristics here. If the brim showed any signs of age, I would guess this was an older wine, but the color is fairly constant. So what to deduce? I have no idea, but I do know that this wine is Californian, comes from the Russian River, and is utterly delicious. Outstanding. 93 Points.

OK, where do you possibly go from here? In most tastings I have attended, Petite Sirah is the last variety that you taste through since they are usually so unbelievably big, it is near impossible to switch gears. But when that Petite Sirah is from 1993? Yeah, I have no idea what to expect with wine #3.

2016 Foppiano Pinot Noir River’s Edge, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, CA: Usually, at least in my experience, a Petite Sirah comes last in almost every tasting, but given that the first wine of this blind tasting was nearly thirty years old, all bets are off here. Fairly dark in the glass with a bunch of sour (and black) cherry, red raspberry, and even some strawberry jam on the nose and palate with a floral aspect and juniper berry. Slightly stewed (but not in a bad way) and peppery, this also has an older vibe to it, but I am likely wrong again. Subtle to good fruit, that is a bit stewed but also quite ripe. Oh boy. This is not my style, but it is rich, a bit stewed, and tasty. Yeah, I am going older here, too, but the variety? Good question. Pinot Noir? Outstanding. 94 Points.

Another upside? The bottles chill down quickly and don’t take up that much room in the fridge.

Moving on to wine #4, I gave up trying to guess what it might be and tried to just focus on the characteristics and flavors of the wine. At least that is what I think I tried to do…

2017 Foppiano Zinfandel Nonno’s Block, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, CA: Retail $48. Wine #4 in my blind tasting of Foppiano wines from Master the World. Medium to dark, maybe on the verge of inky, with healthy doses of red and dark berry fruit… but there is also a heavy helping of secondary and tertiary aromas: black tea, French onion soup, and oregano. A whoa right there. The palate is rich, really rich, even unctuous. But what is the variety? Perhaps another Petite Sirah (maybe with some age)? Or is it a Zinfandel? I really am not sure, so I might need to pick up needlepoint instead of this wine thing. Whoa. This is really a big’n, with rich red plum, cranberry, blackberry, and additional flavors of lilac, rose, arugula, and sage. Yeah, a lot going on here. It finishes with a more than healthy dose of weight and a hint of tannins. Never going to be my “go-to” wine, but this certainly is a wonderful wine. Outstanding. 93 Points.

OK, Zinfandel makes a lot of sense. In fact, it made so much sense, that I assumed, with two wines left, that there would be either another Zin and a Petite Sirah, or, simply, two Petite Sirahs.

Wrong.

2018 Foppiano Carignane Grant Station, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, CA: Retail $55. Here we go. So in this blind tasting of Foppiano wines, I have already had (in order): A 30-year-old Petite Sirah, a 7-year-old Pinot Noir, and a 6-year-old Zinfandel. What could possibly be next (keeping in mind that there is yet another wine after this one)? Dark, on the verge of brooding, with rich, unctuous, and intimidating fruit (red plum, red currant, and black cherry), this is not a wine for the faint of heart. Add in lavender, black tea, tobacco leaf, and even licorice (both red and black). Yeah, this has attitude. chutzpah, even, with intense fruit, plenty of heft, and a lengthy finish. What is it? Cariganane. OK, sure that was the obvious choice. Excellent. 92 Points.

Humbled, I was happy to get to the last wine, wine #6. It had to be a Petite Sirah, right?

2015 Foppiano Petite Sirah Gianna’s Block, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, CA: Retail $55. Quite dark in color, but the nose is slightly less “hefty” with bruising (i.e., black and blue) fruit: boysenberry, blueberry, black currant, black raspberry, and, what the heck black cherry. Lavender, leafy greens, brown mushroom, garrigue, and anise only begin to suggest all that is going on here. OK. Cards on the table: this is not my style of red wine. At. All. It is big (really big?) with tons of fruit, tannin, muscle, determination, and, well, the willingness to kick 100% of your a… butt. There is little doubt that this has to be a Petite Sirah, but making an educated guess at this point seems fruitless. Excellent. 92 Points.

Well, there you have it. Not my best afternoon of blind tassting but I decided to cut myself a little bit of slack since these big reds from Foppiano are waaaaay out of my wheelhouse. Still, my ego would have liked a slightly better performance.