Tasting Washington State Chardonnay

Tasting Washington State Chardonnay – Episode #747

October 2, 2009

Gary Vaynerchuk tastes 2 interesting Chardonnays from Blackwood Canyon in Washington State.

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Comments on this episode(133) Leave a comment ›

“Great episode. I like seeing some older wines on the show every once …” by Justin Stewart
“QOTD: Dry Oloroso Sherry…interesting, but wasn’t a big fan….” by LurkerNoMore
View all 133 ›

Wines tasted in this episode:

1990 Blackwood Canyon Chardonnay Reserve
2005 Blackwood Canyon Chardonnay

Links mentioned in todays episode.

133 Responses

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November 4, 2009

Justin Stewart
Great episode. I like seeing some older wines on the show every once in a while.

QOTD: There was a wine from Oliver Winery in Bloomington IN produced in the early 90’s called Trio. This wine was literally made by mixing 3 different grapes together that were left at the end of the harvest. It turned out to be their best wine which they haven’t been able to reproduce. It was unbelievable and it is definitely missed.
October 21, 2009

LurkerNoMore
QOTD: Dry Oloroso Sherry…interesting, but wasn’t a big fan.
October 14, 2009

Kevin
QOTD: 2007 En Santé Alfalfa wine. Sauterne-esque, believe it or not, from select lot organic alfalfa.
October 13, 2009

Cuse Wino
Nice show, good to see you enjoying an unusual wine.

QOTD- A friend gave me a 1990 (or so) Albarino that I drank in 2007. Very interesting to drink an aged white wine when almost all white I drink is within a year or two of the calendar year.
October 11, 2009

WinstonBaby
We still talk about visiting Blackwood Canyon years later! Mike Moore is INSANE! His winery is about 100 deg. in the summer (yes with no cooling of the barrels). We were there for about 4 hours and tasted 25+ wines…! We remember Mike scampering up barrels to get samples using an old rubber hose, yuk! But, after a few hours, who cares anymore! The day we visited Mike was bare foot and had his shirt buttoned up one hole off! He drank along with us and proceeded to get ripped and spiraled out of control getting into politics and other TABOO subjects….One of the most unique experiences we’ve ever had!!!!!
October 11, 2009

M
QOTD: Gewurztraminer is hard for me to describe to those who have not tried it.
October 11, 2009

Andrew D
Hey Gary

thanks a very cool, very interesting show!

QOTD: Probably the weirdest wine I’ve ever drunk would be a Château Chalon from the Jury, a similiar ultra barrell aged whie byt hte sound of it.

Cheers
Andrew
October 10, 2009

Benj
Awesome show – I’d love to try that stuff!

QOTD: Probably a 1990 Moldovan Cab from Cricova. 18 years in barrel. Totally dead, but an awesome experience (that I didn’t pay for, I might add).
October 8, 2009

Hersh
Great show GV. Way to nerd it up for the hardcore geeks.
I’ve had my share of red rieslings (yuck), banyuls (yum), blueberry (eh, no) and the like. Not sure which stands out as the most unusual, although i’m really looking forward to trying the red chard (pinot skins and chard juice) and pinot port my friends are making this harvest. People were giving away grapes, so its a great year to experiment with something new. I bet there will be some spectacular new wines from the 09 harvest from all around california.
October 7, 2009

AMM3RD
Two most unusual wines…

2007 Diemersfontein Pinotage
1/15/2008 rated 80 points: Strange brew. My first Pinotage was a gift from a co-worker returning from S.Africa. This wine had very dark color and nose of dirt, funk and espresso. The flavors got more strange, almost not able to be described. Strange. Not wine the way I understand it to be. I will try another pinotage, maybe one that comes recommended by someone other than the airport checkout clerk! AMM (369 views)

1989 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Chassagne-Montrachet
Not as good as I remembered. Taste was showing little signs of ageing, then after 45 mins. it really started to open up. Interesting apple juice, apple cider flavor. Overall this wine is very good and impressive. AMM (206 views)
October 7, 2009

Been there
Good thing the alcohol killed all the bugs in it. If you had ever actually visited the winery, you would not drink that stuff.
October 6, 2009

pawncop
Good episode. I so much enjoy trying new wines (to me)

QOTD – A cherry wine from Colorado, Balesteri Winery, sort of like a cherry pie in a glass.

Also tried mead while there, most interesting.
October 6, 2009

Timinspokane
Fascinating that you got ahold of a few of “Crazy Mike” Moore’s wines! He does things very old world, old school. Yes, the winery is a mess and is less sanitary than the toilet in “Animal House”, and yes Mike hasn’t taken a shower in 3 weeks and is more than a bit eccentric, but he has probably forgotten more about making wine than most of us will ever know. The last time we were there, we bought a few bottles from him that were filled directly from the barrel while we waited. And both of those bottles turned into vinegar before we drank them… I will never buy another bottle of Blackwood Canyon wine, but it is a trippy place to visit! Nothing like having the winemaker slice off pieces of extraordinarily funky cheese with a dirty, rusty knife and deliver it to your palm with his filthy hands for you to experience with his ancient juice… Mike Moore is a love him – or – hate him guy, much like his wines. As for me, I would rather drive down Sunset Road to visit Hightower Cellars, Fidelitas, Hedges, or Kiona. But I must say – visiting Blackwood Cellars and meeting Mike Moore is still fresh in my mind while I have forgotten about hundreds of other winery visits!
October 6, 2009

509
Having literally been Mike Moore’s neighbor for my entire life, I can safely say that he is an interesting man who makes interesting wines. Not for everybody, but he does have quite a few “believers!”
October 6, 2009

JasonA
I have never seen a wine aged on its lees(sp) so long. but I am a newby for sure. Thus the reason for my QOTD answer.

QOTD: I havent had it yet.

Jason
October 6, 2009

WineWoman
QOTD: It was a German dessert wine that we nicknamed”The Cruise Wine” because we drank it on the way to our Bermuda cruise in 2002. It was a coral-red color, don’t know the grape-varietal–definitely not a riesling or white grape. Not cloyingly sweet, more on the semi-dry side. I continued to order it for cruise reunion parties, but haven’t purchased any in a long time.
October 6, 2009

Redmeat
no no…no one come to Washington and taste these wines they suck….

Welll not really,,,but if you all come up and drink(and buy) them all I will no longer have the ability to go to one of my “Secret Genius” spots…

Seriously though….I have know of this Winery for ages…and have NEVER been disappointed by any of their wines…
October 5, 2009

jim
Love the show. Get off your phone. It’s not quirky. It’s annoying.
October 5, 2009

KevinC
Great episode.. I recentley discovered the pleasure of drinking mature chardonnay when I tasted a 1986 Chablis grand cru, absolutey gorgeous.
QOTD – Tokaji dry furmint.
October 5, 2009

Moonfreeez
blackwood canyon has the most unique wines i’ve ever tasted and is the most unique winery i’ve ever visited. be prepared for a 2 hour plus tasting, complete with cheese, sausage, 20 or so wines, winemaker wandering around barefoot, mentioning his plans to make his driveway into a runway. all in all, an entertaining experience.
October 5, 2009

MarcBelgium
QOTD. Very difficult because I had a few one.
Pichon Longueville Comtesse, 1995.
Casanova Di Neri, Cerretalto, 2001
Petrus, 1970

But Saturday I had a Taurassi, 2001 which was fascinating.
Even better than the Pahlmeyer, 2004 we drunk afterwards.
October 5, 2009

Warren
2005 Clos Apalta from Casa Lapostolle in chile. It was WS’s number one for last year and the first number one I was able to afford…

It was the first wine where the terms “tight” and “wound up” meant anything to me as a wine drinker. I felt like there was sooo much more to the wine than I was getting. Maybe an hour or two in a decanter or maybe 5 more years in the bottle. Oh well. I didn’t feel ripped off, I felt like it was too much wine for me.
October 5, 2009

BuddhaChu
Episode 747 and you do wines from Washington, the home of Boeing.

Coincidence? I don’t think so!
October 5, 2009

J. P. Patches
I’m just shaking my head at all these reviewers who have a problem with the way this winery looks. I can tell you that I have been to many, many wineries that looked pretty run-down and had fabulous wine. I can also tell you that I have been to many wineries with fabulous gift shops and picnic areas, but their wine was terrible.

I have extensive experience tasting Blackwood wines and visiting the winery, and although the process is somewhat low-tech, the winemaker is an incredibly knowlegeable U.C. Davis grad, and suffice it to say, he knows his SH**! So, to all of you who want to drink truly boring wines in a ’sterile’ atmosphere, there are is a long list of wineries that I can send you. This winery produces some of the most intriguing, most outstanding wines in Washington, bar none.

By the way, contrary to the banner on the show, these wines are available @ the winery and on their website, among other places.
October 5, 2009

Lau
Fun!

QOTD: 1982 Gaja Barbaresco – wild that a 26 year old wine could have such a youthful taste.