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EP 769 California Chardonnay Throwdown

Gary Vaynerchuk tastes three serious and highly rated Chardonnays and has some big announcements.

Wines tasted in this episode:

2008 Brewer Clifton Santa Rita Hills ChardonnaySanta Barbara Chardonnay
2007 Dumol Isobel ChardonnaySonoma Chardonnay
2006 Ramey Ritchie ChardonnayNapa Chardonnay

Links mentioned in todays episode.


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luca bercelli

90/100

line of the day – ‘Mott, you’re sitting there looking awfully gorgeous’ and ‘The butter bandit has not made an appearance on the Thunder Show for years’

Good solid episode

Tags: california, chardonnay, napa, review, Video, white, wine, wines

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  • Ben D Banks

    Okay not fair, I can not order the secret box why don’t deliver to Australia. Good episode though I’ll go sit in my corner and have a cry hahahaha

  • Ben D Banks

    Okay not fair, I can not order the secret box why don’t deliver to Australia. Good episode though I’ll go sit in my corner and have a cry hahahaha

  • Ben D Banks

    Okay not fair, I can not order the secret box why don’t deliver to Australia. Good episode though I’ll go sit in my corner and have a cry hahahaha

  • Ben D Banks

    Okay not fair, I can not order the secret box why don’t deliver to Australia. Good episode though I’ll go sit in my corner and have a cry hahahaha

  • Looking forward to seeing what’s in that 6 pack!

    QOTD: Not even sure yet. Might be going out to a restaurant or maybe staying home and cooking with the lady. Regardless, I’m going to find some interesting wine to bring which no one would expect.

    Cheers!

  • Looking forward to seeing what’s in that 6 pack!

    QOTD: Not even sure yet. Might be going out to a restaurant or maybe staying home and cooking with the lady. Regardless, I’m going to find some interesting wine to bring which no one would expect.

    Cheers!

  • Looking forward to seeing what’s in that 6 pack!

    QOTD: Not even sure yet. Might be going out to a restaurant or maybe staying home and cooking with the lady. Regardless, I’m going to find some interesting wine to bring which no one would expect.

    Cheers!

  • Looking forward to seeing what’s in that 6 pack!

    QOTD: Not even sure yet. Might be going out to a restaurant or maybe staying home and cooking with the lady. Regardless, I’m going to find some interesting wine to bring which no one would expect.

    Cheers!

  • Anonymous

    I’m not a huge chard fan, but this was interesting. I need to get it in gear and sign up @ cinderellawine.com (I’ve only been saying that for how many weeks, now?…)

    QOTD: Well-honed cooking skills, patience, good humor, and most of all thankfulness.

  • Anonymous

    I’m not a huge chard fan, but this was interesting. I need to get it in gear and sign up @ cinderellawine.com (I’ve only been saying that for how many weeks, now?…)

    QOTD: Well-honed cooking skills, patience, good humor, and most of all thankfulness.

  • Anonymous

    I’m not a huge chard fan, but this was interesting. I need to get it in gear and sign up @ cinderellawine.com (I’ve only been saying that for how many weeks, now?…)

    QOTD: Well-honed cooking skills, patience, good humor, and most of all thankfulness.

  • Laurie in VT

    I’m not a huge chard fan, but this was interesting. I need to get it in gear and sign up @ cinderellawine.com (I’ve only been saying that for how many weeks, now?…)

    QOTD: Well-honed cooking skills, patience, good humor, and most of all thankfulness.

  • manonthemoon

    Nice show, love good chards, mostly Burgs, but a few domestic. Now I may have to check in on the cindy offering.

    QOTD: Bringing a case of wine, and a ton of football knowledge for the Beach crowd.

  • manonthemoon

    Nice show, love good chards, mostly Burgs, but a few domestic. Now I may have to check in on the cindy offering.

    QOTD: Bringing a case of wine, and a ton of football knowledge for the Beach crowd.

  • manonthemoon

    Nice show, love good chards, mostly Burgs, but a few domestic. Now I may have to check in on the cindy offering.

    QOTD: Bringing a case of wine, and a ton of football knowledge for the Beach crowd.

  • manonthemoon

    Nice show, love good chards, mostly Burgs, but a few domestic. Now I may have to check in on the cindy offering.

    QOTD: Bringing a case of wine, and a ton of football knowledge for the Beach crowd.

  • QOTD: Will be in northern Michigan watching the Lions get completely pwnd by the Packers. I’ll bring some zin and syrah and make the cranberry sauce and either my famous twice-baked or mashed potatoes (oh and I won the turkey last night in my bowling league…haha)

  • QOTD: Will be in northern Michigan watching the Lions get completely pwnd by the Packers. I’ll bring some zin and syrah and make the cranberry sauce and either my famous twice-baked or mashed potatoes (oh and I won the turkey last night in my bowling league…haha)

  • QOTD: Will be in northern Michigan watching the Lions get completely pwnd by the Packers. I’ll bring some zin and syrah and make the cranberry sauce and either my famous twice-baked or mashed potatoes (oh and I won the turkey last night in my bowling league…haha)

  • QOTD: Will be in northern Michigan watching the Lions get completely pwnd by the Packers. I’ll bring some zin and syrah and make the cranberry sauce and either my famous twice-baked or mashed potatoes (oh and I won the turkey last night in my bowling league…haha)

  • Owen M.

    Yet another great show.

    I want to raise sort of a philosophical question: Why do we compare the aromas and flavors of wine to those of other things?

    When we enjoy a pineapple, for example, we don’t say “This smells like an Alsace Gewurztraminer and tastes sort of like a Californian Viognier with maybe a hint of Italian Pinot Grigio at the finish.” A pineapple smells and tastes…well, like a pineapple. Some are sweeter and juicier than others, but the flavor of a pineapple is distinctive and not completely definable in terms of some other smell or taste. That’s why we give this distinctive smell and flavor its own name: “pineapple.”

    Put another way: to compare the smell and taste of a pineapple to other things would be, at best, an incomplete translation. We would never capture the essence of a pineapple that way. We’d inevitably leave something out — namely, the “pineappleness” of pineapple!

    And so, when we compare the olfactory and gustatory properties of wines to other things, we run the risk of suggesting that wine does not have its own distinctive, indefinable properties. We run the risk of implying that wine cannot speak for itself. We run the risk of ignoring or, even worse, *blinding* ourselves to the *essence* of that wine, that bottle, that glass, that moment.

    I’m not saying we should never compare the nose or palette of a wine to that of a starfruit, barnyard, blackberry, or fresh green olive. As a first approximation, and for those who are not tasting the wine with us, there’s not much else we can do. (Besides, it’s a lot of fun!)

    Still, let’s hope and work for the day when wines are given their own vocabulary, their own lexicon, with which we can more accurately capture and do justice to what’s unique about this mysterious, lovely liquid.

    Thanks again for all you do for wine. I love the show.

  • Owen M.

    Yet another great show.

    I want to raise sort of a philosophical question: Why do we compare the aromas and flavors of wine to those of other things?

    When we enjoy a pineapple, for example, we don’t say “This smells like an Alsace Gewurztraminer and tastes sort of like a Californian Viognier with maybe a hint of Italian Pinot Grigio at the finish.” A pineapple smells and tastes…well, like a pineapple. Some are sweeter and juicier than others, but the flavor of a pineapple is distinctive and not completely definable in terms of some other smell or taste. That’s why we give this distinctive smell and flavor its own name: “pineapple.”

    Put another way: to compare the smell and taste of a pineapple to other things would be, at best, an incomplete translation. We would never capture the essence of a pineapple that way. We’d inevitably leave something out — namely, the “pineappleness” of pineapple!

    And so, when we compare the olfactory and gustatory properties of wines to other things, we run the risk of suggesting that wine does not have its own distinctive, indefinable properties. We run the risk of implying that wine cannot speak for itself. We run the risk of ignoring or, even worse, *blinding* ourselves to the *essence* of that wine, that bottle, that glass, that moment.

    I’m not saying we should never compare the nose or palette of a wine to that of a starfruit, barnyard, blackberry, or fresh green olive. As a first approximation, and for those who are not tasting the wine with us, there’s not much else we can do. (Besides, it’s a lot of fun!)

    Still, let’s hope and work for the day when wines are given their own vocabulary, their own lexicon, with which we can more accurately capture and do justice to what’s unique about this mysterious, lovely liquid.

    Thanks again for all you do for wine. I love the show.

  • Owen M.

    Yet another great show.

    I want to raise sort of a philosophical question: Why do we compare the aromas and flavors of wine to those of other things?

    When we enjoy a pineapple, for example, we don’t say “This smells like an Alsace Gewurztraminer and tastes sort of like a Californian Viognier with maybe a hint of Italian Pinot Grigio at the finish.” A pineapple smells and tastes…well, like a pineapple. Some are sweeter and juicier than others, but the flavor of a pineapple is distinctive and not completely definable in terms of some other smell or taste. That’s why we give this distinctive smell and flavor its own name: “pineapple.”

    Put another way: to compare the smell and taste of a pineapple to other things would be, at best, an incomplete translation. We would never capture the essence of a pineapple that way. We’d inevitably leave something out — namely, the “pineappleness” of pineapple!

    And so, when we compare the olfactory and gustatory properties of wines to other things, we run the risk of suggesting that wine does not have its own distinctive, indefinable properties. We run the risk of implying that wine cannot speak for itself. We run the risk of ignoring or, even worse, *blinding* ourselves to the *essence* of that wine, that bottle, that glass, that moment.

    I’m not saying we should never compare the nose or palette of a wine to that of a starfruit, barnyard, blackberry, or fresh green olive. As a first approximation, and for those who are not tasting the wine with us, there’s not much else we can do. (Besides, it’s a lot of fun!)

    Still, let’s hope and work for the day when wines are given their own vocabulary, their own lexicon, with which we can more accurately capture and do justice to what’s unique about this mysterious, lovely liquid.

    Thanks again for all you do for wine. I love the show.

  • Owen M.

    Yet another great show.

    I want to raise sort of a philosophical question: Why do we compare the aromas and flavors of wine to those of other things?

    When we enjoy a pineapple, for example, we don’t say “This smells like an Alsace Gewurztraminer and tastes sort of like a Californian Viognier with maybe a hint of Italian Pinot Grigio at the finish.” A pineapple smells and tastes…well, like a pineapple. Some are sweeter and juicier than others, but the flavor of a pineapple is distinctive and not completely definable in terms of some other smell or taste. That’s why we give this distinctive smell and flavor its own name: “pineapple.”

    Put another way: to compare the smell and taste of a pineapple to other things would be, at best, an incomplete translation. We would never capture the essence of a pineapple that way. We’d inevitably leave something out — namely, the “pineappleness” of pineapple!

    And so, when we compare the olfactory and gustatory properties of wines to other things, we run the risk of suggesting that wine does not have its own distinctive, indefinable properties. We run the risk of implying that wine cannot speak for itself. We run the risk of ignoring or, even worse, *blinding* ourselves to the *essence* of that wine, that bottle, that glass, that moment.

    I’m not saying we should never compare the nose or palette of a wine to that of a starfruit, barnyard, blackberry, or fresh green olive. As a first approximation, and for those who are not tasting the wine with us, there’s not much else we can do. (Besides, it’s a lot of fun!)

    Still, let’s hope and work for the day when wines are given their own vocabulary, their own lexicon, with which we can more accurately capture and do justice to what’s unique about this mysterious, lovely liquid.

    Thanks again for all you do for wine. I love the show.

  • JDG

    QOTD: Wife and I are actually going out to Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family family and we’re bringing her parents as well (for the first time in a few years, we’re going to knock out all the family commitments in one day which should lead to a more relaxing weekend). To the meal, we’re bringing the funds to pay for her parents and my grandparents to thank everyone. Should be a very nice time (though it’ll be a dry unfortunately, pretty conservative crowd), we’re looking forward to it.

  • JDG

    QOTD: Wife and I are actually going out to Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family family and we’re bringing her parents as well (for the first time in a few years, we’re going to knock out all the family commitments in one day which should lead to a more relaxing weekend). To the meal, we’re bringing the funds to pay for her parents and my grandparents to thank everyone. Should be a very nice time (though it’ll be a dry unfortunately, pretty conservative crowd), we’re looking forward to it.

  • JDG

    QOTD: Wife and I are actually going out to Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family family and we’re bringing her parents as well (for the first time in a few years, we’re going to knock out all the family commitments in one day which should lead to a more relaxing weekend). To the meal, we’re bringing the funds to pay for her parents and my grandparents to thank everyone. Should be a very nice time (though it’ll be a dry unfortunately, pretty conservative crowd), we’re looking forward to it.

  • JDG

    QOTD: Wife and I are actually going out to Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family family and we’re bringing her parents as well (for the first time in a few years, we’re going to knock out all the family commitments in one day which should lead to a more relaxing weekend). To the meal, we’re bringing the funds to pay for her parents and my grandparents to thank everyone. Should be a very nice time (though it’ll be a dry unfortunately, pretty conservative crowd), we’re looking forward to it.

  • Loved the show. I’m poppin open a Pahlmeyer chard now. I can just tase it!!!

    QOTD: I’m not sure………..

  • Loved the show. I’m poppin open a Pahlmeyer chard now. I can just tase it!!!

    QOTD: I’m not sure………..

  • Loved the show. I’m poppin open a Pahlmeyer chard now. I can just tase it!!!

    QOTD: I’m not sure………..

  • Loved the show. I’m poppin open a Pahlmeyer chard now. I can just tase it!!!

    QOTD: I’m not sure………..

  • Mike D’Ag

    QOTD: I’m heading down to Florida with the wife to see my folks and my brother. I will be bringing my cooking talents and making my mom’s year by bringing the whole family together for Thanksgiving, just like the old days. 🙂

  • Mike D’Ag

    QOTD: I’m heading down to Florida with the wife to see my folks and my brother. I will be bringing my cooking talents and making my mom’s year by bringing the whole family together for Thanksgiving, just like the old days. 🙂

  • Mike D’Ag

    QOTD: I’m heading down to Florida with the wife to see my folks and my brother. I will be bringing my cooking talents and making my mom’s year by bringing the whole family together for Thanksgiving, just like the old days. 🙂

  • Mike D’Ag

    QOTD: I’m heading down to Florida with the wife to see my folks and my brother. I will be bringing my cooking talents and making my mom’s year by bringing the whole family together for Thanksgiving, just like the old days. 🙂

  • Anonymous

    QOTD: I’m bringing the wine. In fact, the wines will probably be there as of tomorrow. Running out of spaced in my cramped Manhattan apartment and had a box of 6 shipped to my parents house. Pretty pumped about the Cinderella stuff.

    I know a lot of people were complaining about all the hype surrounding the Gran Elias, but man, that wine seriously lived up to it. Absolutely fantastic–not to mention an absolute STEAL at 35 bones. Seriously guys, you’re doing a great job hooking us up here. I had the Gran Elias at one of my favorite local French places here in the Upper East Side (Cafe D’Alsace for those of you in the neighborhood), and even the sommelier (really nice guy, btw) was impressed with the nose on this wine. He recommended his store downtown. I recommended Cinderella. ‘nuf said.

  • Anonymous

    QOTD: I’m bringing the wine. In fact, the wines will probably be there as of tomorrow. Running out of spaced in my cramped Manhattan apartment and had a box of 6 shipped to my parents house. Pretty pumped about the Cinderella stuff.

    I know a lot of people were complaining about all the hype surrounding the Gran Elias, but man, that wine seriously lived up to it. Absolutely fantastic–not to mention an absolute STEAL at 35 bones. Seriously guys, you’re doing a great job hooking us up here. I had the Gran Elias at one of my favorite local French places here in the Upper East Side (Cafe D’Alsace for those of you in the neighborhood), and even the sommelier (really nice guy, btw) was impressed with the nose on this wine. He recommended his store downtown. I recommended Cinderella. ‘nuf said.

  • Anonymous

    QOTD: I’m bringing the wine. In fact, the wines will probably be there as of tomorrow. Running out of spaced in my cramped Manhattan apartment and had a box of 6 shipped to my parents house. Pretty pumped about the Cinderella stuff.

    I know a lot of people were complaining about all the hype surrounding the Gran Elias, but man, that wine seriously lived up to it. Absolutely fantastic–not to mention an absolute STEAL at 35 bones. Seriously guys, you’re doing a great job hooking us up here. I had the Gran Elias at one of my favorite local French places here in the Upper East Side (Cafe D’Alsace for those of you in the neighborhood), and even the sommelier (really nice guy, btw) was impressed with the nose on this wine. He recommended his store downtown. I recommended Cinderella. ‘nuf said.

  • D-Rod

    QOTD: I’m bringing the wine. In fact, the wines will probably be there as of tomorrow. Running out of spaced in my cramped Manhattan apartment and had a box of 6 shipped to my parents house. Pretty pumped about the Cinderella stuff.

    I know a lot of people were complaining about all the hype surrounding the Gran Elias, but man, that wine seriously lived up to it. Absolutely fantastic–not to mention an absolute STEAL at 35 bones. Seriously guys, you’re doing a great job hooking us up here. I had the Gran Elias at one of my favorite local French places here in the Upper East Side (Cafe D’Alsace for those of you in the neighborhood), and even the sommelier (really nice guy, btw) was impressed with the nose on this wine. He recommended his store downtown. I recommended Cinderella. ‘nuf said.

  • **lurker alert** GV – coming up on my 1st WLTV anniversary and figured it was about time to come out of the shadows.. I’m not even looking for free stuff 😉

    QOTD: making the voyage back to NW PA from Northern Colorado to spend much needed time w/ family. Found out today my grandma doesn’t have long so the trip is actually very timely :'(

    Looking forward to seeing you in Denver in December!!

  • **lurker alert** GV – coming up on my 1st WLTV anniversary and figured it was about time to come out of the shadows.. I’m not even looking for free stuff 😉

    QOTD: making the voyage back to NW PA from Northern Colorado to spend much needed time w/ family. Found out today my grandma doesn’t have long so the trip is actually very timely :'(

    Looking forward to seeing you in Denver in December!!

  • **lurker alert** GV – coming up on my 1st WLTV anniversary and figured it was about time to come out of the shadows.. I’m not even looking for free stuff 😉

    QOTD: making the voyage back to NW PA from Northern Colorado to spend much needed time w/ family. Found out today my grandma doesn’t have long so the trip is actually very timely :'(

    Looking forward to seeing you in Denver in December!!

  • **lurker alert** GV – coming up on my 1st WLTV anniversary and figured it was about time to come out of the shadows.. I’m not even looking for free stuff 😉

    QOTD: making the voyage back to NW PA from Northern Colorado to spend much needed time w/ family. Found out today my grandma doesn’t have long so the trip is actually very timely :'(

    Looking forward to seeing you in Denver in December!!

  • Jerry

    Thanksgiving is at my house — ordered the secret pack. I’ll be making my Bacon Explosion.

  • Jerry

    Thanksgiving is at my house — ordered the secret pack. I’ll be making my Bacon Explosion.

  • Jerry

    Thanksgiving is at my house — ordered the secret pack. I’ll be making my Bacon Explosion.

  • Jerry

    Thanksgiving is at my house — ordered the secret pack. I’ll be making my Bacon Explosion.

  • Jerry

    Thanksgiving is at my house — ordered the secret pack. I’ll be making my Bacon Explosion.

  • David

    Gary – new fan – and a big one at that.

    Technical question – when you rate a wine as “92+”, what does that mean? Is it “92.5”? Or is it “92 and above”?

    Passing the word on the Thunder Show here in Seattle…

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