From the Cellar
My Own i4C Celebration - Chardonnays Galore
06 Sep 2014- Details
- Category: Uncorked Tonight
(July 18, 2014) ... Weekend of the i4C (International Cool Climate Chardonnay Celebration) and a Chardonnay-loving friend stops in for a visit on a night we deemed "Apps Night" ... My wife whipped up a new hot cheese dip, made homemade hummus and I made my famous goat cheese tarts (twice) ... And while all that was going on we opened some Chardonnay.
The first was a Lander Jenkins 2011 Spirit Hawk Chardonnay from California, this one had all the goods one would want in a chardonnay: butter, vanilla and peach ruled on the nose; and all followed on the palate, adding a creamy buttery aspect and peachy goodness along the way. Key notes to this wine were the creamy mid-palate and the decent acidity to keep it all in check.
Next up was one of the older foreign Chardonnays in my cellar, a Ponzi Vineyards 2007 Chardonnay Reserve from Oregon. It had aged beautifully with butterscotch and rusty apple aromas along with hints of lemon curd in the background. Highlights of the palate was the big mineral-acid core followed by toasted oak, burnt toffee, and grilled peach pit. Not sure how I got my hands on this one but everyone wished I'd had more on hand. Especially after I served the train wreck that was the next wine ...
With the success of my old bottle I went deeper into the depths of aged Chardonnay in my cellar and found a Sanson Estates 2006 Select Chardonnay ... Really liked this one on its release ... But now 8 years later 2 things have happened that make this wine unpalatable: it smells like creamed corn that has been in the can too long, and it was refermenting in the bottle ... See picture for sustained bubble action (taken a full minute after a brief shake). This was a Chardonnay-crime of a wine. But I was not deterred by one old bottle of Ontario Chardonnay, in the hopes of putting the night back on track I pulled out another: a Chateau des Charmes 2007 Estate. Now this was more like it. Aromas showed complexity and intrigue: caramel apple and buttercotch with some toasted nuts and a certain bitterness that helped to balance out thosw apparent sweet notes. Flavours also showed complexity with MacIntosh toffee, baked apple, and certain welcome spices. The acidity was nice but not too pronounced managing to keep everything balanced.
Last bottle of Chardonnay was something a little more recent, KEW Vineyards 2011 Old Vines Chardonnay ... I think, had it been appropriate, I would have received a standing ovation for serving this one ... As it was it was the fastest finished and in fact only finished bottle. You can read my printed review here and/or see the video (coming soon).
As evening turned to night I had to turn off the Chardonnay tap and find something darker to finish the evening off with. Once again I turned to Chateau des Charmes for an older bottle of red, a 2002 Cabernet Merlot. This one needed time to stretch out of its bottled home (where it has rested 11 years) before it revealed dark, dried berries, smoke and cinnamon on the nose with dried berries and oak on the palate. Could have used more stretching.
