2009 Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay

Hello all!! We had this very nice California Chardonnay tonight with halibut and vegetables in parchment. The spiciness of the food somewhat overwhelmed the wine, so that it was only in after dinner sipping that the true flavors of the wine emerged. This would be a nice wine with roast chicken (not too much seasoning) or a salmon salad, or tuna steaks with veggies. Anyway, it was very nice and has received quite a bit of favorable press. We found the tasting notes on the back label to be a fairly acurate description of the wine. It had a bright dandelion yellow color. It seemed aromatically challenged at first, but it was cold and we did have it with food that was fairly heavily seasoned. The aromas that I picked up were lemon zest and pineapple. The flavors were of mango, papaya, and pineapple, with lemon zest and green apple on the finish. It had a nice, bright acidity and hit the entire palate with flavor. This is a very food friendly Chardonnay, and very reminiscent of a French White Burgundy. I really liked this wine and am especially happy about the fact that I picked this up on sale at Ashes for about $10. This wine needs to be part of our new policy of drinking better wines on a daily basis.

2008 Chalone Vineyard Chardonnay

Hello all!! I'm still catching up some wines that we tried over the past couple of weeks. Tonight we actually had a Geyser Spring Pinot Gris. I believe we had this wine on Christmas Eve with all the seafood of the traditional Italian Christmas Eve dinner. It's a very nice wine, crisp and clean with good acidity, but also some pleasing fruitiness. It pairs well with seafood and is only about $9 a bottle at Ashes. Hence, it appears regularly at our table.

But on to the Chalone. We got this wine because it was mentioned on Gary Vaynerchuck's Wine Library TV. He was quite enthusiastic about it, so we wanted to give it a try. This wine came from Total Wines in Atlanta and was about $20 a bottle. Gary says this label is very consistent year to year. The color was light dandelion. The nose was of pear and white peach. It had bright acidity, crisp and clear, with flavors of pear, white peach, apple, and a little bit of nutmeg. Al picked up a touch of honey and almond on the finish. It was lightly oaked and nicely balanced. I described it as elegant and understated. Very nice.