Wine Tasting part 1

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope 2009 brings a delicious cocktail of fun, prosperity, and harmless shenanigans to all!

Wanted to comment on a wine tasting hosted by some pals in the 'hood back in December. We tasted 5 chardonnays and 5 zinfandels, provided by the guests (thanks again, Amy and Scott!):



Clos Du Bois 2007 North Coast Chardonnay: meh. nothing special. Oak, butter, vanilla...didn't blow me away, as it tasted like most California Chardonnay

Tormaresca 2006 Chardonnay (IGT Apulia, Italy): Wow. What a worthless website (perhaps mine is too)...anyway, interesting wine from the south of Italy. Apulia is Italian for what we call "Puglia", or the "heel" of the boot. This area is known for robust red wines made from the Negroamaro grape, but this Chardonnay was leaner and cleaner that the California counterparts, with an old-world nose that gave me whiffs of black-eyed peas, which I always seem to get in Mediterranean chardonnays. As with many European wines, this would go well with food, as there's not too much fruit to overwhelm your fish, etc.

Simi 2007 Sonoma County Chardonnay: see "Clos Du Bois"

Blackstone 2007 Monterey County Chardonnay: I like Blackstone's wines generally. This one was more balanced than the Clos or the Simi...fruit, acid, and oak in relative harmony

Frei Brothers 2007 Russian River Valley Chardonnay: the champ, mostly because of balance. Very rich, but not over-oaked or exceptionally overrun with the traditional apple, pear, citrus, toast, and vanilla. Good acidity, good fruit, good wine (in my opinion)

Zinfandel report coming soon. Try these wines, and please let me know if I'm full of mularky. The great thing about wine is that nobody's opinion is more valuable than how the wine tastes to you. What I like might not jive with your palette, and vice versa. I guess that's why people throughout history have drank too much wine, then argued. In vino veritas...