Chardonnay Night (California / Burgundy)
13 Jan 2015- Details
- Category: Uncorked Tonight
(November 14, 2014) ... The missus and I were sitting around watching some TV on this Friday night, and suddenly I was asked if I wanted a glass of wine. Now the missus enjoys white over red and thus a bottle of Chardonnay was opened, in fact two were popped open this evening, let's look at both of them.
The first a bottle was a Michael Sullberg 2013 Reserve Chardonnay, this is a simple Chardonnay with lots of flavour. Aromas load the nose with apple, vanilla and butter; pretty typical for Chardonnay. Palate is also pretty typical, but it has such a pleasant delivery it's hard not to fall in love with it. Flavors of apple and peach along with vanilla and a creamy seam on the mid-palate. I would love to see this with a little age on it but because it is sealed under plastic it has to be drunk sooner rather than later, so my three bottles will go quickly so as to get this lovely experience each time.
Bottle of Chardonnay number 2 was a Bouchard Père et Fils 2010 Mâcon-Lugny Saint-Pierre ... This is a wine that found its way onto the LCBO general list a few years ago and seemed a bargain at twice the price. Alas, I think quality has dropped a tad and now is at the price it should be. That said this was one of those first year bottles and still shows what a beauty Chard can be. Aromas of lime, delicious apple, mineral, pear and apricot are followed by vanilla, clarified butter, mineral and bosc pear skin on the palate. A great long finish with a toffee-hazelnut motif that makes this wine delicate, delicious and still worth cellaring.
(November 13, 2014) ... Bonny Doon is a California winery headed by Randall Grahm who is noted for holding a funeral service for the cork, as well as a few other great media stunts ... he's quite the character. Seems that he also brings in Syrah from France and crafts wines in the US under the Domaine des Blagueurs label. I found this older bottle of the wine in my cellar and decided to see what had happened to a French Syrah in American hands. It starts off very smoky, peppery and coffee-esque on the nose, the palate continues with plenty of vanilla-coffee bean notes which linger on to the finish. Other surprises are the red peppercorns and lovely dried dark fruit notes that showed up an hour after opening.
