Eric Asimov talks about the maligning of cali chardonnays and mentions some good ones. I wrote them down so I could see if I could find any.
He also mentions a Russian River winery, Porter Creek, and says they have a good chard and some other good wine. At the end of the post he asks for suggestions about other good Russian River wines. He says it's really hard to get Porter Creek wines where he is. Even though we miss out on the Euro wine selection, we're lucky in this area to be near so many interesting wine-producing regions.
belvedere (http://www.belvederewinery.com/) has one of my favourite pinots. i've not tried there chard, however.
ReplyDeleteI suggest the barrel tasting weekends in Sonoma County and the Russian river. It is a fabulous time, super cheap and you get to keep your glass. I went years ago when I lived up there and can't say I remember the second half of the day but it is a must for a anyone who likes wines from the region. Looks like you will have to wait next year for the Russian River event:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sonoma.com/special_interest/current_events/mar.html
RM
I can't wait to finally drink wine again. So, yeah that's great that California chardonnays seem to be moving into the less sweet arena. I usually steer clear of chards because I find them too syrupy-sweet. I've really only had one memorable one, which was from a Napa winery called Cakebread. I don't remember the year, but it was pretty clean and crisp for a chard. If I'm drinking white wines, I go for Savingon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. Believe it or not Barefoot Cellars ($3.99 at TJs) is very clean tasting and drinkable.
ReplyDeleteBut then I'm relying on memory here since I haven't had a drop to drink in months. Months!!
Niki
The true home of chardonnay is Burgundy, France. They make so many different styles there, from crisp, steely Chablis (no new oak, no malo-lactic fermentation, so no butteryness) to Pouilly-Fuisse, something more akin to the typical Cali chard (buttery and creamy). In between those wine regions is the Cote d'Or, and in particular the Cote de Beaune, where the most famous white burgundies come from, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, and Chassagne-Montrachet. Although though they mature the wine in oak, they don't replace the barrels with new oak every year, and they also ferment it in oak, which (long story short) creates more integrated flavors. So instead of just tasting "buttery" or "creamy," or even a combo of those two things: "butterscotchy," they smell and taste like hazelnuts, or almonds, or minerals and honey, or the lees themselves, and delicious things like that.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, there are certainly some California chardonnay producers who make wine in this image, Mayacamas, Montelena, a lot of the old school wineries that competed in the 1976 tasting. But, since the 70s, many california producers used their new found capital (thank to the Cali success at the tasting competition) to buy obscene amounts of new oak to mature their Chards in, and often without the step of barrel-fermentation, or any subtlety at all.
The problem with chardonnay (the grape), is that it's very neutral, without much character on it's own (as opposed to Sauvignon Blanc, which is always going to taste like citrus and grass or some variation). That's why producers love to use their arsenal of winery tricks on it. It's primary definciency in my mind is that if you leave it on the vine too long (aka Cali style "hangtime") it loses acid rapidly. The low acid combined with the high alcohol levels (a mark of almost every California wine) results in a wine that is, as Niki described, sweet-tasting. It's not actually sweet, but there's a perception of sweetness due to the high levels of glycerol and the butterscotch characteristics. However, just avoiding malo-lactic fermentation and new oak won't make for an interesting wine. For instance, Toad Hollow, along with several other Cali producers are making their chards in all stainless steel. But remember, the grape doesn't really have that much character in the first place, so a stainless steel chard is the blandest wine you'll ever come up against. Well, either its bland or, if they ferment it at really cool temps, it develops these banana esters, which sometimes smell like dirty diapers.
It's my hope that Cali producers (and I know SOME of them already have, or always have) will move away from these two extremes and make some well-balanced interesting wine from Chardonnay. Because it can be a joy. For now though, I'm not convinced that it ever does that well outside of the Burgundy/Champagne regions.
-michele
P.S. All that being said, though I dislike the wine itself, I actually sort of respect the producers that are sticking to the balls out, butterbomb style, because that's the Cali style and they're proud of it. And some people love it! Not because they don't know better, but because they really love it. So, for the sake of regional identity, I hope that style sticks around too.
Is this thing on?
ReplyDeletemiller
I think I put the readership into a deep sleep with that diatribe on Chardonnay!
ReplyDeletemichele
I actually loved the diatribe on chardonnay. I'm not a fan of the varietal either, but I was lucky to sip on some 2001 Kongsgaard chardonnay recently, and that nearly converted me.
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed reading about chardonnay, even though I am more of a red wine drinker. Thanks!
ReplyDelete