Back to my old self, next wine taste is coming in less than a week, and I have yet to write an entry for the previous wine taste. But what is worse is that I don’t remember much from GINI IX. I do remember turnout was low, so few people that we can only tried 3 bottles. I also did not take the pictures myself, as I forgot my camera; so all pictures came from Naomi’s camera.
Unlike previous times, we did not have full meal to go with the wine; but our host Andrew did prepare some nice snack (sushi, crackers, cheese), and of course we cleaned them up quite good. Not only did I not take any pictures, I didn’t write down any notes while trying the wines.
For bottle 1, it was 1999 Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay Carneros. Right the way, Naomi tasted a little salty/buttery. She was wondering how could it be, since she has not had any of the snack. I myself didn’t taste much of buttery, maybe a little bit. Our 2nd bottle is 2004 Saintsbury Chardonnay Carneros. I found this one refreshing and more oaky (or buttery?) I guess I enjoyed this one the more.
Our last bottle is 1999 William Fevre Chablis Premier Cru Montee De Tonnerre. I believe this is my first time having Chablis (although we did try a white Burgundy before). It is I have looked up what the WSJ writers have to say about Chablis:
Chablis is one of the natural wonders of the wine world, but it’s not appreciated much in the U.S. Partly that’s because, for a long time, winemakers slapped “Chablis” on the label of every cheap, generic white that had the misfortune of being bottled. And partly that’s because Chablis, at one point, was a chic “glass of white wine” at cocktail parties, and it suffered because Chablis, which has lovely acids, is never at its best without food.
Chablis is made from the Chardonnay grape, but it’s very different from most American Chardonnay. It’s dry and clean and somewhat austere, with crisp, flinty tastes. Some have a taste of minerals and, in the best ones, there’s an intensity of fruit that makes them seem almost tight. Most notably, there’s a little something in the “nose” and the taste that we always refer to as sourness. We know “sour” doesn’t sound very attractive in reference to a wine, but think of a perfectly ripe, very fresh lime drizzled over a crisp, savory slice of Granny Smith apple and you’ll get the idea. ((Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). New York, N.Y.: Jun 8, 2001. pg. W.13))
In their article, they actually tried 1998 William Fevre Chablis, and they were quite happy with it. Unfortunately, not many of us like our 1999 William Fevre. Maybe we just prefer the American Chardonnay. –KC
The GINI Chablis/Chardonnay Index
|
Bottle # |
Vineyard |
Region |
Pts |
Group Rank |
My Rank |
|
1 |
1999 Shafer Red Shoulder Ranch Chardonnay Carneros |
Napa Valley, Carneros |
12 |
2 |
2 |
|
2 |
2004 Saintsbury Chardonnay Carneros |
Napa Valley, Carneros |
10 |
1 |
1 |
|
3 |
1999 William Fevre Chablis Premier Cru Montee De Tonnerre |
Burgundy, France |
20 |
3 |
3 |
