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I pour wine on Sundays. It’s a cool job. I’m learning a lot from the winemaker, who also has a vineyard. I get to meet lots of fantastic and fascinating people. And best of all, I get paid in product. I work here: www.fabbioli.com.
Why am I mentioning this? Because when you pour wine for people, you want to go in a particular order: Whites, then Reds (lightest in body and dryness to heaviest), then Dessert/Sweet Wines. The reason for this is to prevent the flavors from overwhelming each other if there’s a small amount in the glass – a red wine will completely mask the flavors of any white still in the glass, and the sweet wines do the same for the red – and it prevents a pourer from having to rinse a glass with water. Water is one of the worst thing you can add to a glass. Although sometimes it’s unavoidable (like when I have to switch from the Fabbioli Black Raspberry Fortified Wine to the Pear Fortified Wine), when it does happen, it’s best to minimize it. And that’s often why you’ll see some professional wine pourers rinse a glass with a little bit of the next wine. This is the most advisable if the wine isn’t limited or expensive.
That said,cheap mac makeup, my point is that I’m going to take you on the same journey over the next few blogs: White,mac makeup, Red, Desserts. But instead of going by body, I’ll provide you with my picks in order (starting with my top favorite). Keep in mind that these lists took me days to compile. Pathetic? Most definitely! But it’s been three years chock full of fabulous flavors, aromas, and experiences that were hard to separate and choose between. And as I savor some of the other 125 bottles I’ve collected, and the upcoming wine tastings planned, this list is bound to change.
Damn, I think I’m drooling. Ahem, where was I?
Oh yeah…Each wine I’m going to tell you about will have a brief description to give you a little background on flavors, and any interesting trivia that’s floating around in my head. It’s like a Grandma’s Attic up there.
I tried to balance my list in pricing, so I’ve offered a top five in each category – and given additional budget options for the expensive ones, as well. Nothing I recommend I didn’t love,wholesale mac makeup, including the budget buys. But you asked for my favorites and some of those can be pricey, so I wanted to give you a chance to drink your wine and buy your fabulous clothes, too.
One Caveat: Vintages (years) are important, as I mentioned in the last blog. So if a particular vintage is not available, just spend a few minutes researching reviews for the year that is available. I promise, it won’t take long to find out if the newest year is comparable, better, or worse. Sometimes even the best of winemakers can have an off year if Mother Nature was out to get them, and you want to know that before popping the cork on your bottle.
So without further ado….
Format is as follows: “Winemaker and Name of Wine”, “Varietal” – “Vintage” (”Approximate Price”)
1. Domaine Maillard Pere & Fils Meursault Burgundy, Chardonnay – 2006 ($45 )
I am a huge Burgundy wine fan. And I mean HUGE. This area of France (Burgundy, much like a lot of the areas of France, including Champagne and Bordeaux, refer to the area of the country and not the type of grape itself) has produced some truly incredible wines. They are often comparable to some of the best Bordeaux wines, which get talked about more often. But because they don’t get as much attention, the Burgundies don’t have the price tag to match. Supply and demand forces at work here folks, which works in our favor in this case. Mind you, I’m not saying you can’t drop a boatload on a burgundy, because you can. You’re just more likely to find a fantastic wine at a lower price than you will a Bordeaux.
Tasting Notes: Unfortunately, I can’t find anything on the web regarding this particular wine. I bought it very recently at a local wine store, so I’m afraid you’ll have to go by my short memory for a few notes on this… Peach fragrant on the nose with a slight floral undertone, complex flavors of citrus, apple, and slight oak, with a lingering mineral, refreshing finish.
Budget Pick Burgundy: Verget Macon-Villages Grand Elevage, Chardonnay – 2006 ($17)
Tasting Notes: Although not as complex in flavor as the Domaine Maillard, this is truly an excellent wine – per amantivino.com, “Ruby-red grapefruit juice mixed with crushed oyster shells shows on the nose, with a sweet mouth of green apples and Bosc pears.” – and a huge value for the price.
2. Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley, Chardonnay – 2006 ($45)
Cakebread Cellars has a habit of producing fine Chardonnay’s year after year. Although I last tried it a couple of years ago and can’t personally vouch for the 2006, the reviews I’ve heard and read are phenomenal, so I feel confident in recommending it to you.
A French chardonnay, as referred to above, is going to be drastically different than a California Chardonnay. In general, California wines tend to be bigger, bolder, and less polished than their European counterparts. This is a matter of wine making preference and not a symbol of lack of experience or better/worse quality. It just simply is. And it usually applies to dryer and fuller flavored grapes, such as Chardonnays and Red Wines.
I realize this is an expensive wine, but in this case, I cannot offer you an alternative. Because of the California bolder style, there are very few winemakers in the lower price range who are able to pull off a Chardonnay of this caliber when aging in oak barrels. Oak tends to impart smoke/toast and vanilla flavors to the Chardonnay grape. If the wine making process isn’t handled delicately, those flavors can completely overwhelm the grape itself, creating an overpowering, unbalanced taste. But I’ll stress: I’m not saying there aren’t winemakers who can produce the same or similar quality as Cakebread in the lower price range, I’m just saying I haven’t had them yet.
An alternative to using oak barrels, often referred to as “un-oaked chardonnay”, is aging in steel barrels. This produces a wine that is more crisp and floral than its oaked counterparts. While this can be a refreshing chardonnay, I personally feel that the unoaked chards are lacking in the beautiful, elegant character of their well-balanced oaked siblings. Again, we’ll just say “yet.”
Tasting Notes: (courtesy of www.cakebread.com) “creamy, concentrated mid-palate with rich lemon zest, melon, white peach and vanilla flavors segueing seamlessly into a refreshingly flinty, mineral-tinged finish”
And the rest….To be continued….
