Chardy Girl – Page 4 – On the hunt for the perfect chardonnay…

Sbragia Home Ranch Chardonnay and Limited Release Chardonnay 2014

Sbragia Winery, north of Healdsburg, is one of our favorite wineries. Views of Lake Sonoma make this an ideal spot for sitting on the patio enjoying a glass of wine and a charcuterie board. When we received our recent wine club shipment, there were two bottles of their luscious and flavorful chardonnay, so we decided to try them both and compare.

Sbragia Home Ranch Chardonnay 2014

From Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, this barrel fermented chardonnay was aged 10 months in French oak. And the oak does come through in the bouquet with a hint of vanilla and crème brule. This is a balanced and polished wine with a clean style. Bright fruit flavors of green apple and citrus, with toasted almonds give this wine a delightful flavor. It ends with a long, intense finish. 14.5% alcohol. Sells for $30.00 a bottle at the winery or $25.99 at Wine.com

Sbragia Limited Release Chardonnay 2014

This wine club only vintage is made from Napa Valley grapes. Less oak in the nose than the Home Ranch Chardonnay, it displays some hints of stone fruit. The bouquet has sweet aromas of ripe apple and vanilla. Softer and rounder than the Home Ranch, the Limited Release is full of flavor with layers of pear, apple and a hint of hazelnut. A smooth finish indicates some balanced acidity. 15.1% alcohol.

Although the Limited Release Chardonnay is not commercially available in stores or online, our experience at Sbragia has been that they are pretty willing to open up some of their special wines for customers when they ask. Tell them you read about this one and would love to try it Then be prepared for a treat!

Napa Valley or Sonoma County?

As 2016 comes to a close, we are wrapping up a fun and delicious year of wine tasting with two California chardonnays.

For this tasting, we chose two different chardonnays from Trader Joe’s. Both chardonnays are the Trader Joe’s brand, and both $12.99 a bottle, but one is from the famed Carneros wine region in Napa Valley, and the other is from Chalk Hill in Sonoma County. Here’s what we found:

Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve – Chalk Hill, Sonoma County 2015 Lot #28

The nose on this wine has slight toasty oak and vanilla notes. It is light in color and has a polished and balanced acidity. I am tasting layers of citrus zest and pear, with a butterscotch flavor in the finish. The wine is 15.1% in alcohol.

Trader Joe’s Grand Reserve – Carneros, Napa Valley 2014 Lot #51

This wine is also light in color, but the nose opens with a subtle fragrance of honeysuckle. Although the bouquet is subtle, the flavors of the wine, coconut, pear, and vanilla come through nicely. It has a soft, smooth finish and is 14.5% in alcohol.

The Napa wine is more flavorful and pronounced while the Chalk Hill wine is softer, more subtle all the way around. I’m normally a lover of Chalk Hill, but this time I think I prefer the Carneros wine. At just $12.99 a bottle, I’m definitely headed back to Trader Joes to round out my New Year’s Eve wine selection.

Thank you for following us in 2016. We are looking forward to much more tasting, even heading to Australia to enjoy the delicious chardonnays from the Barossa wine region. So stay tuned. Come back and visit us often.

Wishing you the best in 2017! Happy New Year!

Boeger 2015 El Dorado Chardonnay

We’ve traversed Sonoma, tried wines from Napa, sampled many Yolo chardonnays, dipped down into Arroyo Seco and even hopscotched over to Argentina, but I don’t think we’ve covered any El Dorado wines yet.

Today we are trying the Boeger 2015 El Dorado Chardonnay, a recent gift from my darling friend, Rebecca.

This is not a creamy or full-bodied wine but leans more towards a light-bodied wine with a soft finish. It has a polished style. I taste layers of pear and apricot with hints of citrus. Luscious vanilla bean and honeysuckle notes are in the bouquet.

100% malolactic fermentation, 30% French oak and lees stirring contribute to make this an easy drinking wine. I love the notes in the nose and think that is my favorite part of this wine. At just $16 a bottle, I like it!

Chardonnay from Argentina’s Mendoza Wine Region

Our recent visit to the Mendoza wine region in Argentina left me wanting for more of the delicious wine from this sun-kissed part of the world. Fortunately for me, just about the time we arrived home, Wine.com decided to hold a sale on several Argentinian and Chilean wines (Yes, we stopped on the other side of the Andes, too, to sample the wines of Valle del Maipo).

I ordered a variety of chardonnays to be delivered. Today we are tasting the 2014 Alamos Chardonnay and the Tilia Chardonnay from Mendoza.

Alamos Chardonnay Mendoza 2014

This wine has a brilliant, light yellow color. Enjoy hints of vanilla in the nose, followed by tastes of stone fruit and ripe apple, layered with vanilla. It is well-balanced and full-flavored, very much to my liking. It also has a lovely finish that lingers on my palate. The wine sold for $9.99 on Wine.com.

Cultivated by the Catena family for over 100 years, Alamos vineyards lie in the foothills of the Andes Mountains.

This wine pairs nicely with roasted chicken or pasta dishes with a cream sauce. We also sampled it with a soft brie cheese and found the pairing to be delightful.

Tilia Chardonnay Mendoza 2014

This wine has slight hints of toasted oak and vanilla in the nose. The wine itself, however displays a ripe citrus flavor. The color is also a brilliant, light yellow like the Alamos. The Tilia is well-balanced, lighter bodied than the Alamos, with a clean, refreshing finish. We purchased it for $10.99 from Wine.com.

Tilia is sourced from sustainably farmed vineyards in the Eastern and Southern regions of Mendoza. Pair with a mild white cheese or grilled chicken or grilled vegetables.

Of the two wines, I found the Alamos to be more to my liking. I lean towards the fuller-flavored, fuller-bodied chardonnays. And for the price, I could see myself stocking up on some more Alamos Chardonnay.

Trader Joe’s Chardonnay – Side by Side Comparison of Two Chardonnays

Today we stopped in to Trader Joe’s and picked up several wines to try. Two chardonnays that were advertised in their latest flyer and intrigued me were the Big Churn, described as a big, buttery chardonnay, and the Eris Vineyards Chardonnay, described as buttery and rich. Although the prices were different, I decided to do a side by side comparison of the two. Here’s what I found:

Big Churn – 2014 California Chardonnay sells for $6.99. This is a big wine that opens up with oak in the nose and hints of vanilla. Malolactic fermentation is in full swing here and is, perhaps, a bit overdone. Appearance is honey yellow and the wine is 14.5% in alcohol. The wine does display fruit notes of pear with a smooth, lingering finish, but the wine is just too overpowering for my taste. This wine is vinted and bottled by Big Churn in Napa.

Eris Chardonnay – 2014 Carneros Estate Napa Valley, is bright yellow in color, made from 100% chardonnay grapes from a single estate on the Napa side of Carneros. This is a much more refined chardonnay than the Big Churn and at $12.99 a bottle, a pretty decently priced wine. The nose is faint but the wine is buttery and smooth, with a creamy mouthfeel. The flavors are fruity with hints of peaches and citrus and finishes with toasty vanilla. This is definitely a better wine than the Churn and worth the extra $6.00 per bottle. I can’t swear to it, but the Eris Chardonnay may be related to Cuvaison. My searches online for Eris Chardonnay kept leading me to the Cuvaison website. Again, not sure, but snap up some bottles of this delicious chardonnay before they’re gone.

Lava Cap Reserve Chardonnay 2014 – El Dorado

An old favorite of mine from years ago, I haven’t tasted this wine in a long time. Generously gifted to me by a dear friend, I truly enjoyed getting reacquainted with Lava Cap.

Enjoy notes of pear and apple aromas in the nose followed by delicious tastes of vanilla and butterscotch. It’s 15% alcohol, which is big for a chardonnay, giving it a slightly incisive and warm finish that lingers on your palate. This wine is full of flavor, with a big mouthfeel. Chew on this one to really taste all of the deliciousness in this wine.

The wine was aged in 100% French oak barrels, leaving it with a touch of oak in the finish.

We paired this wine with Beecher’s No Woman cheese, infused with Jamaican Jerk Spices and the wine was bold and flavorful enough not to be overpowered by the cheese.

Chamisal 2012 Edna Valley Chardonnay

This is a lovely chardonnay that was recommended to me by one of the wine servers at Matchbook. She overheard me talking about the style of chardonnay that I like (and Matchbook’s Arsonist Chardonnay is one of my favorites) and recommended this one from San Luis Obispo, California.

Upon raising the glass to my nose, I detected some toasty oak. Okay, so good, so far. But, there is also a faint buttery aroma, as well. My tasting partner says he could pick up buttery biscuits in the nose.

This is a classic California chardonnay, soft and round and smooth with luscious stone and tropical fruit flavors integrated in the flavor. The mouthfeel is also soft and round, with an easy finish. The wine is polished and refined, yet flavorful. The color is pale and golden. Alcohol is 13.9%.Unfortunately, the 2012 is no longer available on the winery’s website. We picked up this bottle at Total Wine and I suspect that their chardonnays are pretty consistent so I will be on the hunt for another bottle soon…

Sonoma County Wine Region – Keller Estate

Last on our tour through Sonoma County and the search for exceptional wine tasting experiences was Keller Estate. Located in the southern part of Sonoma County off Lakeville Highway, this Petaluma Gap winery is open by appointment only (although a quick phone call ahead usually gets you in right away, 707.765.2117). When you arrive, expect to be seated, not ushered up to a crowded winetasting counter. The feel here is luxurious and the pace of wine tasting is leisurely. Knowledgeable wine servers share information about the winery and serve popcorn popped in the winery’s estate produced olive oil, with a side of olive oil for dipping. While this might seem like an unusual pairing for wine tasting, the olive oil is quite delicious and the popcorn and olive oil flavors don’t detract from the wines.

Our first visit to Keller was exactly this kind of experience. 90 minutes tasting four wines in the tasting room, overlooking the vineyards and learning about the chardonnays, pinots and the Rotie being poured that day. But our return visit was so amazingly over the top and indulgent that I would happily repeat the experience. Called their Serenity and Wine Brunch, this is a three course, gourmet feast paired with estate wines. For $65 per person or $50 for club members, this is an excellent way to sample the Keller wines.

Brunch is served on the Vineyard Terrace with sweeping views of the vineyards, olive groves and Mt. Tamalpais. Seating is family style at a long, elegantly set table. Be prepared to get to know your table mates as the wine is poured. And, servings are generous! We started with a crisp, dry rose, worked our way through three different chardonnays, sampled a couple of pinot noirs, the Rotie and ended with a sparkling wine.

We even received a special treat at the end. With temperatures hovering around 100 degrees that weekend, Brian, our host, had set up the wine cave earlier in case we needed to sit inside. While we did enjoy most of our meal on the vineyard terrace, Brian kindly invited us back to the cave to cap off the afternoon with dessert and sparkling wine. We parted ways with our new found friends, purchased some favorite wines, then set off on the road wondering how we were ever going to just be able to walk into an ordinary wine tasting room again and belly up to that crowded bar!

So there, dear readers, is the last of our Sonoma County exceptional wine tasting experiences. It was fun. It was indulgent. It gave us unique and up close opportunities to learn more about Sonoma County wines and sharpen our wine tasting skills. Impress your friends or impress your date. Guaranteed that any one of these five experiences will do the trick!

Sonoma County Wine Region – Rodney Strong

Rodney Strong is a striking and dramatic winery. Upon arrival you might quickly draw the conclusion that this is one of those wineries owned by a giant corporation charging $20 per tasting and drawing throngs of wine lovers to its tasting room. But it’s not; in fact Rodney Strong is family owned and proud of it. The winery makes great wine but a visit there provides so much more. During the summer time, the winery sponsors concerts in its outdoor amphitheater and wine and food pairings on the terrace. It was the latter that brought us back to Rodney Strong for another exceptional wine tasting experience.

On this particular trip to Sonoma, we were seeking “exceptional” wine tasting experiences. We first got the idea when we visited Rodney Strong last fall. By exceptional, I mean we are seeking either a beautiful setting, or a leisurely seated wine tasting experience, or a gourmet food and wine pairing, or an otherwise unique and special wine tasting experience.

For $55.00 per person, the winery offers a leisurely paced food pairing of small, gourmet bites with five different wines. Seated at an umbrella shaded table overlooking the expansive picnic grounds and vineyards, we were offered an envelope with cards describing the menu of soon-to-come food delights and winemakers notes for each of the wines. The food was prepared by Chef Tara Wachtel and served by Greg, a long-time employee, former home winemaker, jazz pianist, and general expert of our favorite drink, wine.

Rodney Strong did not disappoint. Nearly two hours, six courses, and five wines later (plus a few extra tastings), we were feeling thoroughly relaxed and very satisfied. We walked away with a greater knowledge and appreciation for the wines that are produced in Sonoma County and thoroughly impressed with the Rodney Strong staff that made us feel like special friends just visiting for lunch.

Call ahead and reserve a time for your own exceptional wine tasting experience. You’ll find it hard to go back to the old process of standing in a crowded wine tasting room, elbowing your way to the wine counter.

Sonoma County Wine Region – Sbragia

Next stop on the tour was Sbragia Winery, north of Healdsburg on Dry Creek Road. We visited this place last October and had an exceptional wine tasting experience then. The view is beautiful, too, so we decided to add this to our list of wineries to visit on this trip in search of unique wine experiences. Sbragia offers a variety of different options including tasting on the terrace with a charcuterie and cheese plate for $30, a chocolate and wine pairing for $30 per person or $15 for wine club members, or a sensory tasting for $50 per person or $20 for wine club members. The winery will also conduct customized tastings such as a compare and contrast of one varietal (a chardonnay to chardonnay or vintage to vintage), with advanced notice.

We called ahead and signed up for the sensory tasting. Wow! What an experience! Arriving early, we got a lot of good photos from the spacious deck overlooking Dry Creek Valley while we waited for our tasting to begin. Our host was Andrew McPherson. A wine collector for 20 years now working in the wine industry, this man was a wealth of knowledge. Andrew reserved the library for this special tasting, and supplied us with a generous and sumptuous charcuterie board. The sensory tasting is almost a sommelier like experience where visitors get to learn what aromatics are using the La Nez Du Vin wine aroma kit, along with tasting five different Sbragia wines. The kit contains 54 little jars of different aromas. We used ten, two per tasting, for this exercise.

We started with a sauvignon blanc, then a chardonnay, before working our way into the reds. The way the sensory tasting works is you start smelling and tasting the wine to try and detect the different characteristics. Then Andrew would hand us two different vials and ask us to guess what the smells were from. He also supplied us with a wine aroma wheel that separates the fruits in white wine to fruits in red wine, floral scents and flavors, vegetal, oak aging characterics and even off odors that sometimes show up in a bad wine or a wine with a bad cork.

Each time we tasted, sniffed, and wrote down our guesses. Then Andrew would tell us what the actual scent was and let us smell the vial again. It was pretty laughable how many times we got it wrong but the experience was an important step for us in helping develop our palates. After two and a half hours and a sampling of some of Sbragia’s other reserve wines, we were done! Thankfully, this was the only appointment we scheduled for the day. Because there were only the two of us with Andrew, we really got a crash course on wine tasting. But, I would definitely go back again with friends and do it all over again.

For those of you looking to teach yourself at home, you can actually buy the kit for $399 at winearomas.com. This is often a required kit for enology students at UC Davis. You know how students sell their text books back at the end of the semester to get some money back? I think I’ll head over to the UC Davis book store and see if I can’t pick up a used aroma kit sold back by a recent, broke graduate. Who knows? Maybe next time I’ll get more than two out of ten right!