Oct 28th 2008
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Vintage: 2001
Purchased: Aug 1st 2007
Price: $18.99
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Tasting Notes:
Kathrine made a risotto, and I thought the crisp acidity of a Chablis would be able to cut through the creaminess of the dish. This wine was a very golden color in the glass. The nose was not fruity at all and very much different from your run of the mill chardonnay. There was pear and apple on the nose, and a touch of lemon zest; but the main component was a wet rockiness. In the mouth the acids were vibrant and worked great with the food. The apple and lemon were still there, and the minerality shone through well. If there is a flaw with this wine it would be that the acid and muted fruit seemed to be slightly out of balance when drinking the wine without food.
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Jul 8th 2008
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Vintage: 2006
Purchased: Sep 1st 2007
Price: $21.00
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Tasting Notes:
This was a wine I really loved when I had it at the winery. That is unusual for me since domestic chardonnay is probably my least favorite wine. After tasting this though, maybe I need to give more of it a try.
When the bottle was opened and poured it was a nice golden straw color and had a nice weight. The nose though was overpowered by alcohol. This was odd as it wasn't what I would call a super high alcohol wine. After about an hour of being opened the alcohol smell completely blew off. If I had it to do again, I'd definitely decant. the remaining nose was a very pleasant apple and pear dominated aroma, with just a touch of citrus and vanilla. I didn't get any of the tropical fruit scents that so often crop up in domestic chardonnay. On the palate the weight was perfect with well mingled acids and the apple flavor. There was just a hint of lime before it built to the finish that was just slightly oaky-spicey. There was also a surprising yeastieness on the finish. The oak flavor was just prevalent enough to be good without being overpowering.
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Jun 11th 2008
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Vintage: 2004
Purchased: Apr 13th 2008
Price: $18.00
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Tasting Notes:
I would suggest that everyone who says that hate chardonnay to drink a wine like this. This has none of the tropical fruit, vanilla, and butter that so often mars domestic bottles. But it is still easily recognizable as a chardonnay and not completely sharp and acidic.
It's a deep golden color with a quite thick look to it. The nose is very pronounced, a mixture of fresh cut apples and pears. In the mouth the texture is divine with the fruit flavors mingling with a green apple acidic bite and tons of minerals. I simply devoured this bottle because it was so delicious.
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Oct 22nd 2007
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Vintage: 2006
Purchased: Jun 9th 2007
Price: $8.99
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Tasting Notes:
This is a simple quaffable chardonnay that's perfect for a mid-week meal. We had it with a pea and prosciutto risotto, and it matched quite well.
It's a pleasant color in the glass with a nose of tropical fruit. It carries that forward on to the palate where pineapple is the dominant flavor. It's quite full bodied, and maybe just a tad soft. There are slight hints of vanilla on the finish, but no soft buttery flavor.
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Sep 21st 2007
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Feb 17th 2007
Price: $12.99
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Tasting Notes:
I opened this to go along with an interesting meal. Whipped potatoes, gravy, green beans, and pork belly confit. I can't say for sure that the pairing worked, I think something a little crisper and floral (perhaps a viognier or a riesling) would have went better, but the wine itself was pretty good.
It was the standard golden color in the glass, nothing out of the ordinary. The smell was more tropical than I usually expect from a chardonnay. Much more pineapple and guava then the usual apple smell. On the first taste you could feel that it was a very full bodied wine. The pineapple and guava scents were mirrored in the flavors, with just a hint of apple. There was a surprising amount of crisp acid. On the finish the acid smoothed out and there was a buttery taste to go along with the vanilla spice of oak. Normally I don't like the oaky finish of chardonnay, but here it worked due to the extra acid up front.
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Aug 5th 2007
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Apr 4th 2007
Price: $11.99
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Tasting Notes:
This is a very similar wine to the
Clos de la Briderie Blanc that I tasted recently. So close in fact, I decided to pair it with a very similar dish. I used some of the leftover butter poaching liquid to make a sauce for some spaghetti, and at the same time used the rest to poach some scallops and shrimp.
This wine is also from Garagiste and also from the 2005 vintage in the Loire. It is biodynamic just like the last one, but It is made from 70% chenin blanc and 30% chardonnay grapes.
It's a light straw color in the glass. The nose is mineral with hints of smoke, but the fruit aromas are much more tropical. It also does does not smell as acidic. On the palate the fruit flavors are much more tropical. There is a hint of apple, but the most distinct component is pineapple. It is acidic, but not nearly as racy as some white wines from the Loire can be. The finish is very smoky and almost creamy.
This is a very good wine, at a very fair price.
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Aug 1st 2007
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Mar 28th 2007
Price: $12.87
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Tasting Notes:
This is another great deal from Garagiste, and another great example of the 2005 vintage in the Loire. We had this with some butter poached shrimp. This wine is produced at a small nine-hectare vineyard where no herbicides, insecticides, acaricides or chemical fertilizers are used. It is made from 80% chenin blanc and 20% chardonnay grapes that are picked by hand. It is aged partly in oak barrels.
It's a light straw color in the glass. The nose is mineral and a little smoky, but you can smell the raciness. The flavors are expressive, with a sharp, lemony component that provides freshness and body. It's the first thing you notice when you taste. I also got notes ripe apple. Kathrine thought it tasted very grapey, almost like artificial grape. There was also a creamy component to the finish which was very pleasant.
It took a while to completely open up, but once it did, this wine was a winner.
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Mar 31st 2007
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Mar 24th 2007
Price: $9.99
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Tasting Notes:
This is a very interesting chardonnay from the Languedoc region of France. A lot of wine comes from the Languedoc. Most of it is cheap and not bad, but not memorable either. Since they don't follow the AOC laws, they can do things the rest of France can't. Sometimes that means growing pinot noir in regions that shouldn't and making a mediocre product. Sometimes you get something like this.
This is a completley unoaked chardonnay. With great green apple and pear flavors. The interesting things though are in its finish and nose. It is aged on the lees of viognier. It picks up all sorts of floral and honey scents from this that really make it interesting and cut through the thickness that you sometimes find in a chardonnay. If you get a chance to try this, you should.
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Mar 5th 2007
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Vintage: 2005
Purchased: Jan 2nd 2007
Price: $8.99
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Tasting Notes:
Now I'm not a member of the ABC club (anything but chardonnay), but most of the time I pass when it is offered. Anything in my price range is usually oaky and just doesn't taste right to me. Almost like rancid butter. When someone brings in a bottle that costs around $20 it starts to get a bit better, but still not my cup of tea.
This wine from the Macon part of Burgundy has never seen oak. I've been told that basically all Macon-Villages whites taste the same, and if this wine is what they taste like, it isn't a bad thing. The wine has a herbal and mineral nose, not really fruity. On the palate it is very full bodied for a white. It tastes first of apples, and you recognize that it is a chardonnay; but then no oak, or butter or vanilla shows up. Instead you get lemon zest and a crisp acidity that leads to a nice mineral finish.
This wine was great with a green salad and a simple seafood plate I prepared. It's a good sipping wine. I don't know how often I'll purchase one of these again, because I prefer other whites, but if you think you don't like chardonnay you owe this one to yourself.
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Feb 21st 2007
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Vintage: NV
Purchased: Jan 26th 2007
Price: $12.99
Purchase Location: QFC
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Tasting Notes:
I love sparkling wine. The problem is Champagne is very expensive, so I tend to stick to Cava. When I saw this sparkler at QFC marked down from $24.99 I thought it would be perfect to the first course of the Valentine's dinner I was making for Kathrine.
In case you didn't know Cremant is the generic French name for sparkling wine made in that country outside the region of Champagne. This rose sparkler comes from Burgundy. It is made of 65% chardonnay and 35% pinot noir, the traditional grapes of Burgundy. It just so happens that those are also the traditional grapes of Champagne, so this wine should be very similar to its more expensive siblings. The pale pink color comes from the addition of pinot noir to the wine when the lees are disgorged.
The wine was very rich and fruity but just off-dry on the finish. It seemed much sweeter than it was due to the fruit, but be warned do not drink this with dessert. I tasted a sip after I had eaten dessert but without cleansing my palate and it seemed super acidic. With the Pacific Oysters on the half shell though it was heavenly. And the color was just a perfect way to begin Valentines.
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