Tag: #winetasting

Reserve Chardonnay at Bogle Winery in the California Delta

I’m spending my birthday at Bogle Winery, enjoying a bottle of my favorite chardonnay – Bogle’s 2017 Reserve. Even though Bogle wines are distributed worldwide, this family run winery remains almost a hidden gem in the California Delta.

Shaded picnic tables on a wide grassy area, or the patio built under several tall trees, provide the ideal place to spend a lazy afternoon picnicking with your favorite people. Bogle’s chardonnay vineyards surround the tasting room and picnic grounds, making this an even better place for me, the Chardygirl, to hang out on this special day.

Despite the fact that I’ve tasted luscious, creamy, complex chardonnays from all over the world, the Bogle Reserve Chardonnay remains one of my favorite.

Bogle’s basic chardonnay is an everyday staple in our household. At $9.00 USD a bottle ($6.75 wine club discount), this chardonnay is also sold in several countries around the world.

The newer Phantom Chardonnay, a mid-point in flavor and price between the classic and the Reserve, $14.00 USD a bottle (or $10.50 with wine club discount) is a favorite with my friends and often served at our dinner parties.

But the Bogle Reserve Chardonnay, at $20.00 USD a bottle ($15.00 wine club discount), never disappoints. Notes of vanilla and toasty oak, flavors of ripe peaches and apricots, this wine finishes long and creamy. Best of all, you can buy it online at Fine Wine Delivery or Advintage in New Zealand. Or contact Bogle directly for options on having it delivered.

However, if you come to California, you must make a side trip to Sacramento. Just 20 minutes south of town, along the meandering Sacramento River, down Highway 160, just outside of Clarksburg, you’ll find Bogle Winery in the midst of the beautiful California Delta. Don’t blink or you’ll miss the turn off to Bogle. In keeping with their humble roots, the sign to the tasting room isn’t very big.

Pack a picnic lunch, enter the tasting room, buy a bottle of the Bogle Reserve Chardonnay, and find out for yourself just how luscious and complex this delightful wine is!

Scarborough 2013 Chardonnay

Image of Scarborough 2013 Chardonnay from their museum collection
Scarbourgh 2013 Chardonnay from their museum collection

On a recent trip to Australia, I had the good fortune to visit the Hunter Valley for a long weekend of wine tasting. And what a gorgeous wine region!

Our first stop was the delightful Scarborough Winery where we were treated to a first class, sit down wine tasting at a linen covered table cloth in their dining room. I fell in love with this winery at first glance. Quiet. Elegant. This was an exceptional wine tasting experience.

Walked through our wine tasting by the super friendly, knowledgeable wine server, we sampled two current release chardonnays from their Classic Range and one from their Obsessive Range. But it was this Classic Yellow Label Scarborough 2013 from their museum collection that caught my attention and came home in my suitcase. (I know. The name “yellow label” conjures up images of another Australian wine that’s not so great. But this Scarborough Yellow Label chardonnay is not related, and it’s delicious!)

Aromas of pear, pineapple, peach and biscuit can be found in the nose. It’s medium bodied with a soft, round finish. Its flavor evokes mild stone fruit, perhaps partly from the peachy aroma. It’s a complex wine that keeps delivering more flavors. The color is golden yellow and the alcohol content is 13.5%. At six years old, this wine doesn’t suffer from its age – it was made to last. Back in 2016, the wine critics were recommending laying it down for a couple of years. Perhaps it’s because it was fermented and aged on lees in French oak for 12 months.

The best part of this wine? It was under $20. Can’t make it to “the Hunter?” Try wine-searcher.com or contact the winery directly. And come back again soon for more wine tasting in Australia…