Labor Day Weekend was a wonderful time to experience the joys of barbecue and red wines, but let’s not forget America’s most popular grape: Chardonnay! It has become our ubiquitous “white wine”, and probably for good reason. It is a delightful aperitif, especially if you have just had too many apple martinis, and it goes well with many foods, especially here in South Florida. At most bars and restaurants, when you ask for white wine, you’ll get chardonnay.
Originating in the Burgundy region of France in the time of the Roman Empire and popularized by Capuchin Monks in the twelfth century, this grape varietal thrives on long warm days and cool nights. It takes on the unique attributes of its growing region, including soil types and rainfall amounts, and is successfully grown all over the world.
Depending on how it is handled, chardonnays can taste remarkably different. The Burgundian model is dry, crisp, with hints of apples and some tropical fruit, but with good acidity to cleanse your palate for the next bite of food. In California it often is treated to large doses of oak during barrel fermentation that gives it a rich thick mouthfeel and strong “buttery” tastes that can sometimes overwhelm food. Chardonnays in this extreme example have begun to turn off some wine aficionados.
I like both styles and usually search for something in between. At a friend’s barbecue last weekend I was introduced to a Chardonnay from a region that was new to me: Chile. This wine is called “Wild Ferment” because it is fermented with natural yeasts. The vintage is 2005, but remember that wines from the Southern Hemisphere (South America, Australia and New Zealand) are all six months older than California or Europe. It comes with a screw cap, but don’t laugh. In the next few years you will see more and more high quality winemakers using screwcaps to preserve their wine and protect them from the increasingly common possibility of tainted corks. So look for Errazuriz “Wild Ferment” Chardonnay, 2005. It should be widely available at around $18.00.
A fantastic value chardonnay from France is Novellum. I have seen this Chardonnay on sale for as low as $8.50 per bottle. This is closer to the Burgundian model, although the French are beginning to make wines in the so-called International style: i.e. trying to appeal to people looking for more fruit and body in their wines.
For California Chardonnays, I consistently look for anything from the Russian River Valley. This growing region, or appellation, is in Sonoma County, closer to the Pacific Ocean than Napa, and has the type of climate that Chardonnay thrives in. Unfortunately some of the wines from this area have gotten quite pricey, but if you see one that looks affordable, buy it an try it.
We have many great wine shops all over South Florida. There are large chains such as Total Wine & Spirits and Crown Liquors. In and near Coral Gables, there are liquor stores that have wine specialists, such as Sunset Corners, at Galloway and Sunset, and Leon’s Liquors at 6874 SW 8th St. And there is one wine specialty store: Wolfes Wine Shoppe at 124 Miracle Mile. I’ll hook you up to some websites in future posts.
Finally, a real treat for me last weekend was the chance to try a 1989 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon, from Napa Valley California. What was especially fun about this wine was that it fooled some very experienced tasters into thinking it was a rare Bordeaux. The reason for this was impeccable storage since its release in 1991. Look for future entries about the value and virtues of long term storage!
Meanwhile, slack your thirst with some of these delicious Chardonnays.