Time To Look At Serious Chardonnay After A Huge Win

Time To Look At Serious Chardonnay After A Huge Win – Episode #574

November 10, 2008

The Jets romp the Rams and so Gary is excited and this is the perfect time for him to try some serious Chardonnay wines from California and see what he thinks!

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Comments on this episode(139) Leave a comment ›

“Good show. Too bad on the overoaking…. still not my thing either. …” by Dessert Wine Nerd
“My favorite chards this year have been sone acidic ones from Burgundy …” by yowens
View all 139 ›

Wines tasted in this episode:

2006 Truchard ChardonnaySonoma Chardonnay
2005 Chasseur Russian River ChardonnaySonoma Chardonnay
2006 Sbragia Chardonnay Gamble RanchNapa Chardonnay

Links mentioned in today’s episode.

The Thunder Cruise

139 Responses

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November 11, 2008

Ben Janssen South Australia
Good solid show. Nice.
November 11, 2008

Ronzai
Good show! Truchard – awesome wines, great place to visit and a winemaker from Wisconsin! We just had their 2002 Merlot… excellent, but it took a while to open.

QOTD: Don’t remember the best Chard of the year, just the most recent… 2005 Miner Family Napa Chardonnay… excellent as well.
November 11, 2008

Achilleas in Cyprus
Great full-of-energy show!
QOTD – don’t like Chardonnay very much – have not really found one that I like.
November 11, 2008

Kdawg
QOTD: for california best: 01 and 98 Kongsgaard worst: 06 Walter Hansel Estate, it was just horribly over oaked where it hid almost all of the fruit

Burgundy: 05 Sauzet Puligny Montrachet Champ Canet worst: 03 sauzet Puligny and a 05 Ferrand&Laurent Noyers Brets puligny
November 11, 2008

Yvettew
Yes, that was an amazing JETS win last night.

Great show! I’ll have to look into Chards more. Thanks for bringing the thunder for all of us and inspiring me to try different wines. I have bought a lot of wine, but haven’t gotten the chance to pop some open yet!
November 10, 2008

Harry
QOTD: Favorite chards are gonna be Blanc de Blancs or Chablis, but i had a Russian River Chard from Girard tday that was very nice. Oak was there, but balanced. Good lemon custard notes and decent acid. Girard in Yountville CA overall impressed me with the balance in their wines.

Scott S – sorry to hear you’re giving up on the WLTV. I’m back you on the need to move on from the same lines over and over (nose = movie previews, don’t trust me, etc.) but the knowledge is deep and worth hearing the same lines again and again. Sorta like learning from your drunk great-uncle (yeah, you’re getting up in years GV) who always starts the story the same way, but surprises you with some brilliant insight.
November 10, 2008

SarahB
Drank an 05 Trouchard Roussane tonight. Yum.
November 10, 2008

joaquin
Recently looked up Chilean Chardonnay from Casablanca Vally .. excellent wine at amazing Prices..
November 10, 2008

JBE
Burgundy Chardonay.. And No Oaks from everywhere.
November 10, 2008

David Scott
Awesome show, as usual. Yay Jets – at least someone’s happy. My Steelers let me down again and revived my fear that the wheels are coming off the wagon.

I have to admit, I am a cliche, Cakebread kind of guy. I bought my first bottle because someone recommended it, and I liked it. then I visited the winery, took my picture in front of the mailbox, and had an AWESOME time and I’ve kept it around ever since. Hats off to Gary for breaking out of the mold that I couldn’t! Maybe I’ll give it another shot…
November 10, 2008

joaquin
What ever happened to the “butter bandit”? i like him better than the oak monster!
November 10, 2008

Murso
I’m with you on that Truchard. Always rich wines, while the price is not.

Unlike you, I can be really forgiving on Chard. It’s a grape that can do alot of different things (sometimes, unfortunately, alot of the same old thing) in alot of different places – practically six continents, by now…. doesn’t always have to be tremendous, usually can at least get the job done -picnic, to wedding, to…Tues. nite at home with butterfly shrimp in front of the TV. I mean, I’d love to have some Newton, Fisher, Hdv, Brewer-Clifton… truth is I’m broke, and pass on garden variety Chard. Too much excitement in other, lesser known grapes for the money.

The house pour at work is Sonoma Vineyards. Screwcap. No oak. It works, on the rare nite I’m not having good beer at work – it’s a live music club.
November 10, 2008

Kelly Goff
I, like many others have not been drinking too much Chardonnay, but I have to agree with some others here. Truchard is one of my Favorites wineries. I too, love thier Syrah and will have to seek out the Chardonnay.
November 10, 2008

Dr. Horowitz
I tried a good Sonoma-Cutrer chard at the #wbc. Hanzell…but too $$$.
November 10, 2008

Dodger Blue
QOTD: The best chardonnay I drank this year was Mount Eden Santa Cruz Mountains 2004. It just knocked me out.
November 10, 2008

gotsha
QOTD

2005 Blackstone Monterey County Chardonnay. Not bad for $9
2006 Chateau Souverain Sonoma Chardonnay. Better wine for $12
November 10, 2008

Alex
QOTD- 06 Wente-Riva Ranch chard and 05 Chateau Montelena chard.
November 10, 2008

Richard Ritter
The JETS kicked major BUTT yesterday!!! We are starting to peek at the right time. Love Chards.

QOTD: I’m drinking Borghese Vineyards 2006 Chardonnay. It won the Gold Medal and Best in Class at the 2008 New York Wine and Food Classic Competition. A great wine.
November 10, 2008

Jim in Atlanta
I am not drinking a lot of chardonnay this year, but I have tasted a couple of unoaked chardonnays that were quite good. And I alway enjoy my Navarro chardonnay because it comes from the cool climate of Anderson Valley and it is well made.
November 10, 2008

Olives Somm Alex
hahahhahaha…. i knew that was coming on the sbragia… i knwe his style wouldn’t match up with gary… I told alot of people to look out for his wines when he left beringer they’ve gotten great scores since he’s been at his own winery full time, but i’m with gary to over oaked for my taste but as you can see from parkers score definite crowd pleasers… best chardonnay i’ve had is 2004 william fevre les clos chablis… the structure and complexity you get from chablis is unparrallell
November 10, 2008

suikagirl1
Gary, you and I will just have to have a ’sniffy sniff’ party… I’m often asked if I spend more time smelling my wine than drinking it. I think the aromatics are a HUGE part of experiencing the complexities of wine. Quite often a hidden gem reveals itself given the opportunity.

Thanks so much for breaking it down for us… and for keeping in mind that though some of us may have seen every episode, there are those that are new to WLTV and are just getting to know you and palate. Hooray for movie previews!
November 10, 2008

Manual
My favorite this year has been the 2005 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars/Arcadia along with a variety of Chablis. I’ve enjoyed the Truchard Chard. over the years, as well as their Syrahs. Cheers!
November 10, 2008

J Crazy
Lovin’ the Chard!
Lovin’ the Thundar!

QOTD: Had an AWESOME Vincent Dancer Meursault-Perrieres 2001 the other day that rocked hardcore.

Not a big fan of the Simi chard I had a few weeks ago (don’t remember the year but was the latest release regular plonk).
November 10, 2008

amgryger
QOTD: Lately I’ve been getting the most from chardonnay from mid-level white burgundies. This year my favorite was the 05 Domaine de Roally Vire-Clesse Tradition, and least favorite was an Israeli chardonnay and I can’t remember its name.
November 10, 2008

Bob Dwyer
My favorite Chardonnay this year was the 2006 Kendall-Jackson Camelot Highlands Santa Maria Valley. I gave it 92 points: http://corkd.com/wine/view/57892-2006_Kendall_Jackson_Camelot_Highlands_Santa_Maria_Valley_Chardonnay

I thought the 2006 Chasseur (same wine different vintage as your 2nd wine tonight) was a bit of a disappointment too. Highly recommended and only “good” not “great”.