Beringer Chardonnay Private Reserve

Beringer Vineyards
Chardonnay
Private Reserve
Napa Valley
St. Helena, California, USA
2012
14.7%
$29.99 -- The Still, Lincoln, NE

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Cedar, clementine-lime, toasted bread, tiny hint of menthol
Body: Full
Front: Salt, lime
Middle: Honey and cream, Meyer lemon
Back: Faint sage, apricot, a hint of Tate's chocolate chip cookie
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Ain't a damn thing wrong with this wine. It's big and rich. But it is also nuanced, with flavors poking in and out with each sip. My face likes it better when it's at room temperature, or just below, than when it's straight out of the fridge. This is delicious with an appetizer of sweet pears and Gorgonzola verdi dolce.

Melville Estate Chardonnay

Melville Winery 
Chardonnay
Santa Rita Hills
Lompoc, California, USA
2007
14.9%
$22.39 -- Bee Cave, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Cedar, salt, clementine-lime
Body: Full
Front: Salt, Meyer lemon
Middle: Honey and cream, lime
Back: Oak, white pepper
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I'm increasingly a fan of Sta. Rita Hills wines. This one is delightful, though without the 20% off sale, I'm not sure if I'd go for it again. I had the same experience with one of Melville's Pinot Noirs awhile back.

This deserves a brief but perhaps important digression. There's a threshold of cost and interestingness that I want to give a name to, because I think it actually influences the drinking experience (assuming you paid for the wine--if you didn't, this isn't a factor, except for you misers out there). If the wine is expensive and tastes beautiful, you don't shy away from buying another bottle. If it's cheap and tastes really good to you, maybe you buy a case, or make it a regular. But if it's really good, yet not quite priced right, you say, I'll take my $23 to a new wine, hoping to find one that's fantastic at that price.

I always have this same feeling at Pottery Barn. That rattan side-table is fantastic! But it's $300. Target has a rattan side-table that's really good, and it's $45. Restoration hardware has one with a secret compartment, that's much sturdier, for $400. Whatever happens next, it's not going to happen at Pottery Barn. Thenceforth, wines that provoke this feeling I will call "Pottery Barn Wines." I look forward to ireful comments from either Pottery Barn execs or Soccer Moms and Dads who love their Pottery Barn for Kids wines.

That said, this wine is really good! It's tasty with the appetizers of chorizo, mustard, cornichon, and triple-creme cheese I'm having; and it brings a sea-side reminiscence with its mineraliness, which suggests it would be phenomenal with seafood.

P.S.: I got one of my rattan wine-storage chests from Pottery Barn, and it's fantastic! It was on sale, 25% off.

Vincent Pouilly-Fuissé Marie-Antoinette

J.J. Vincent
Marie-Antoinette
Pouilly-Fuissé
Chardonnay
Fuissé, Burgundy, France
2008
13%
$15.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: Smoke, lemon, wet earth
Body: Light
Front: Salty peach
Middle: Lemony tang
Back: Oak, wet rocks
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I'm on a quest for a cheap Costco star Chardonnay, and it's not going well. So far, the Kumeu River and the Gary Farrell (which I see I did not review, but will next time!) are leading the pack, but they're not really cheap at around $20. Come through for me, France!

This is close. The nose isn't exciting, but on the palate, the wine is balanced, smooth, and has some nice layers of acid, fruit, and oak. It's great with the impromptu antipasto I'm having: cornichons, cherry peppers, a little salami, and mustard.

Mérode Ladoix 1er Cru White Burgundy

Prince Florent de Mérode
Ladoix 1er Cru
Hautes Mourottes
Chardonnay
Grand Vin de Bourgogne
Ladoix-Serrigny, Cote-d'or, France
2005
13%
$24.49 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Rich light gold
Nose: Lemon, salt, intriguing hint of charred bone
Body: Medium
Front: Lemon, salt
Middle: Lime, beach ball
Back: Wood for days, graphite
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a lovely wine, if a little rough in the transitions. The acid is good, and there's a hint of fruit in it, with nice non-food savors. It's great with nuts and cheese, and I think would be phenomenal with oysters, if I had any lying around here. The nose smells a bit like a fire raging in a lemon grove. Or a forest fire being put out with lemon juice, either of which reminds me more of California, but the palate is French to be sure.

Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay

Kumeu River Wines
Chardonnay
Estate Bottled
Chardonnay
Kumeu, New Zealand
2005
13.5%
$20.29 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Rich light gold
Nose: Lemon, salt, bread, slightly burned popcorn
Body: Medium
Front: Lime
Middle: Steely lemon (know you not the power of the steely lemon?)
Back: Balsa wood, tea leaf
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

I've heard good things about these wines for some time, and am glad I finally took the (20% reduced price) chance to try one out. According to the back label, this should have been drunk a year ago at the latest, but I find it's still quite lovely; crisp acidity right off the bat, and well-tempered oak that keeps the fruit flavors (all tangy--no cloying melon or honey) present and functioning.

Part of what's cool about drinking this wine now is that there's lots of oak on the nose, so to get the acidic cut up front is kind of delightful. You could put the forgetting power of wine to work: Drink it while you're doing something distracting, so you will keep forgetting the taste and having this experience over and over again.

My new favorite pairing with chardonnays is manchego cheese; but I think given the low alcohol and charming acid of this one, it'll go with many foods, so fear not.

Note 1-21-2011: Tried the 2007; it's much more plainly oaky on the nose, mixed with salty lemon, but the palate had the same wonderful sparkly, cutting acidity up front and balanced fruit, cedar, and flowers on the palate.

Chateau Fuisse Pouilly-Fuisse

Chateau Fuisse
Pouilly-Fuisse
"Les Combettes"
Chardonnay
Cru de Bourgogne
J.J. Vincent, Burgundy, France
2006
13.5%
$40.99 -- Wine Library, Springfield, NJ

Color: Rich light gold
Nose: Lemon, salt, lime, bread
Body: Full
Front: Lemon, orange
Middle: French toast, parsley, salt
Back: A hint of bread, pear rind
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a stunning wine. It's big and lush, but has a slice of acid in it that's truly delightful, and in just the right place. It has a long, clingy delivery and is fantastic with nuts, white cheeses, pate, all sorts of foods. I wish more California makers could get this style at this alcohol level.

Christmas is past, but thanks to this wine I'm still in the spirit!

Nickel & Nickel Searby Vineyard Chardonnay

Nickel and Nickel Winery
Searby Vineyard
Chardonnay
Russian River Valley
Oakville, California, USA
2007
14.4%
$34.99 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: Lemon, salt, honey, hot pepper, cedar
Body: Medium to full
Front: Salt, meyer lemon
Middle: French toast with honey, eucalyptus
Back: Oak, basil
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

Nickel & Nickel is a Far Niente project, of single vineyard wines from groovy places other than the Far Niente estate. This one has a distinctive California style; big and salty, buttery, oaky. It is elegantly balanced, lively, and delicious. If you don't like the oaky flavor, avoid it. Otherwise, you'll very much like this, I suspect, with a wide range of foods and especially grilled or roasted fish, I reckon.

I'm having it with a range of cheeses: Lincolnshire Poacher, Stichelton, Lancashire, and a bit of medio curado Manchego; it's stunning with the latter. It goes beautifully with the Motown Christmas record, which I can't recommend highly enough.

Toad Hollow Chardonnay

Toad Hollow Vineyards
Francine's Selection
Chardonnay
Unoaked
Mendocino
Healdsburg, California, USA
2007
13.9%
$14.99 -- Wine Pro, Paducah, KY

Color: Light gold
Nose: Pear, pickles, salt
Body: Medium
Front: Salt
Middle: A little honey
Back: A little lemon
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

I am not tasting anything on this wine, which is unusual. It's a little salty, with a bit of spritz, perhaps, on the mouthfeel. But seriously: if there's something here I can't taste it. Very strange. But, insamuch as it tastes a lot like salt water, it will go with almost any kind of food, or use it as a nasal cleanse! I suspect it's over the hill--so, if you find this one, make sure it's young.

Freemark Abbey Chardonnay

Freemark Abbey Winery
Chardonnay
Napa Valley
Oakville, California, U.S.A.
2009
14.1%
$16.88 at Wine Pro, Paducah, KY

Color: Lovely light straw
Nose: Oak, lime, salt, pear
Body: Medium
Front: Honeydew
Middle: Oak, plastic
Back: Mild jalapeno, butter
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a smooth-drinking Chardonnay, in a big-oak style. The buttery oakiness predominates, so if you are, as I am, a more fruit- or mineral-oriented white wine drinker, you might steer clear. I find an oddly plastic-tasting element in this that I can't quite pin down but that's deterring me from pure delight. This will be super with a little Spanish chicken dish of some sort, or a rich fish dish, or perhaps some succotash.

It is going very well with a little Christmas brass music. Yee haw!

Charles Smith Eve Chardonnay

Charles Smith Wines
Chardonnay
Columbia Valley
Washington State
Mattawa, Washington, USA
2008
13.5%
$10.99 -- Twin Liquors, Austin, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: Pear, wood, butter
Body: Medium
Front: Pear, apple
Middle: Buttery oak
Back: Lemon
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

This is one of crazy Charles Smith's wines--always interesting, a little edgy. (One of the best video blog moments ever [~8:15] is when, while being interviewed by wine critic Gary Vaynerchuk, he unfolds his large pocket knife and puts it on the table.)

I'm a huge fan of Smith's K Syrah, and needed a little acidic contrast with the many reds I've been drinking lately. This wine had a lot of residual spritz, which I enjoyed, and a nice balance of flavors, though the oak was a little...chemically for me at first. On day 2 (I just re-capped it and put it in the fridge) it was really delightful.

Roux Pouilly-Fuissé

Roux Père & Fils
Pouilly-Fuissé
Chardonnay
Grand Vin de Bourgogne
Saint-Aubin, France
2009
13%
$8.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Light gold
Nose: A little faint; sea salt, maybe some lemon?
Body: Medium
Front: Lemon, honeydew
Middle: Salted buttermilk pie
Back: A hint of cedar, gravel
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This was so cheap for a Pouilly-Fuissé that I had to try it. Not bad, though the nose is reticent. It's acidy and minerally, as one would expect, but there is a hint of baking spices lurking around the edges. I might get another bottle and put it away for a year or two just to see what happens. It's a smooth wine, and good with the sharp cheddar I'm finishing off. All in all, at this price, a good deal!

Bernardus Chardonnay

Bernardus Winery
Chardonnay
Monterey Country
Carmel Valley, California, USA
2008
14.2%
$17.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Lemon cream pie
Body: Full
Front: Lemon, salt
Middle: Butter
Back: Oak, thyme
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is smooth stuff; it's easy to drink and good with food. There are few surprises in it; it's California big, and lacks the palatal nooks and crannies of, say, a French Chardonnay. Interestingly, it seems quite tasty with Cheshire and cheddar cheeses. I like the little greenness at the end, though that only seems to emerge when the glass warms up a bit, so you fast drinkers may not experience it.

L. Chatelain Chablis

Domaine L. Chatelain

Chablis
Chardonnay
Gran Vin de Bourgogne
Fontenay-pres-Chablis, Fance
2008
12.5%
$14.69 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Lovely pale straw
Nose: Lemony pear, salty minerality, perhaps a little pee
Body: Medium
Front: Honeysuckle
Middle: Cantaloupe, salty minerality
Back: Oak, orange peel
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Fake cork

It would appear that I've never reviewed a Chablis before -- odd. I like them; from the Burgundy region of France, the Grand Vins like this one are usually uncomplicated, well-balanced Chardonnays. (One of the best wines I've ever had was a premier cru Chablis.)

This is a nice wine: it's got some body, persistence, a saltiness and floral presence that I enjoy. It's a perfect, late-summer (uh, I hope it's late summer), not-terrifically alcoholic-so-it'll-go-with-food, many-folks-will-like-it sort of wine at a good price.

Pellegrini Olivet Lane Chardonnay

Pellegrini Family Vineyards
Chardonnay
Olivet Lane Vineyard
Russian River Valley
Santa Rosa, California, USA
2007
14.1%
$17.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Yellow pear, honeysuckle
Body: Medium
Front: Honeysuckle
Middle: Cantaloupe, salty minerality
Back: Oak, butter, something leafy
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a charming, uncomplicated Chardonnay. It's not changing my world, but it'll make a lot of people happy; things are nicely balanced in it, though I could use a little more pointed acidity to balance the honeyness.

The green leafiness I'm picking up may be an aftereffect of the food accompaniment: some apple slices with a little aged hard Italian cheese that was wrapped in hay (Il Forteto Pecorino Affeinato). Ferreal. It's also got a little honey on it, which pairs nicely with the wine.

Michel DuTour Pouilly-Fuisse "La Roche"

Michel DuTour
Pouilly-Fuisse
"La Roche"
Chardonnay
Montagny-Les-Beaune, France
2008
13%
$15.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Dull medium gold
Nose: Orange peel, honey, lime
Body: Light to medium
Front: Pear
Middle: Honeydew, some minerality
Back: Lemon, oak
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

After an almost unforgivable hiatus, Caveat Emptyer is back. My return is with a whimper more than a bang, as this wine is pretty low-key. I hope I'm not the only one who generally feels French wines in the 10-30 dollar range are often not worth the money. Perhaps this one will become more interesting with time, and perhaps it'll stay in the background like it seems to right now. I'm usually an appreciator of subtle Chardonnays, so I hope I'm not just in the wrong mood! This one is more interesting with food, certainly--a little roasted almond, salty cheese, and cherries help it out.

Fess Parker Chardonnay

Fess Parker
Chardonnay
Ashley's Vineyard
Santa Rita Hills
Santa Maria, California, USA
2007
14.1%
$21.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Lovely medium gold
Nose: Yellow pear, marshmallows, a little heat, lime
Body: Full
Front: Meyer lemon
Middle: Honeydew, some minerality
Back: Cinnamon, key lime pie, wood
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

This is a delightful Chardonnay. It is balanced, intriguing, and tasty; rich without being too buttery. There's a strange little alcoholic thing at the very end of the palate, which is oddly around the time that you sense a little unexpected cinnamon in it. This is what I mean by intriguing.

I have no pairing advice to offer tonight, as I had this with a hot dog and a tomato salad! It's hot out there. But at this price and with this bigness and balance, this wine will make many people happy.

Chateau St. Jean Belle Terre Chardonnay

Chateau St. Jean
Chardonnay
Belle Terre Vineyard
Alexander Valley
Sonoma
Kenwood, California, USA
2007
14.4%
$13.99 -- Costco, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Wood, banana, salt cod
Body: Full
Front: Lemon-lime
Middle: Soy sauce, butter
Back: Oak, white pepper
Burns clean?: Mostly
Cap: Cork

It's been late April since I reviewed a Chardonnay--and there are so many great ones out there yet to taste! So I get off the unusual-white-varietal train for a bit.

This is a big, almost frightening sort of wine. It's neither charming, nor particularly elegant. Both the nose and the palate feature things not normally encountered in Chardonnay, including fishy and salty odors and flavors, which I confess I find attractive. In fact, it tastes a lot like a parmesan-encrusted, baked sole with plenty of lemon juice. Partly this is because the acids in this one aren't particularly strong, so as a wine it feels a smidgen out of balance. As a fish I love it.

If you like the ripe oak bomb, you will find this wine to be a big bargain. But there is a hint of nail polish, late in the mid-palate, that will put some folks off.

Loyal readers have demanded my review of Austin wine bars. It's an interesting time here on that score, so I'm going to pony up soon, I promise. A teaser: how often do you find a wine bar where the music is as good as the wine? Or where you can listen to the sweet sounds of a drive-through burger joint next door as you sip? And the kicker: how many of you have been to an Irish wine pub--in the U.S.?

Robert Keenan Wine Dinner

ONE OF THE BEST RESTAURANTS in Austin, Mirabelle, is just around the bend from my place (or was; it closed in 2012). The food is excellent, and a few of the entrees are among the best in town. The wine list is really, really good: not vast, but well-designed. It pairs well with the menu, and there are always good deals to be had for someone with a little wine knowledge. Those without such knowledge will be thrilled.

Keenan Vineyards on Spring Mountain, Napa Valley, CA

"You get infected...with this thing in your blood," Michael Keenan told us, about getting into the wine business; "it's like a virus." I agree, and I ain't even in the wine business. I've reviewed Keenan wines before, so I was delighted at the opportunity to meet Michael Keenan and to taste some of the winery's other offerings.

Before reflecting on the event itself--a different experience from my previous wine dinners--let me run down the wines, for surfers looking for opinions about how these wines were drinking:

2007 Keenan "Spring Mountain" Chardonnay: On the nose, some buttercream, a little pineapple, but reasonably tight. On the palate, excellently balanced, with lime, pineapple, butter, even a hint of mint, which was delightful, on the finish. Bourgogney. Splendid with a little crepe, prosciutto and gruyere canape. Circa $25 retail.

2006 Keenan Napa Valley Merlot: On the nose, licorice and cherry, with a hint of cinnamon. Chocolate, violets, and black cherry on the palate. I really liked this--I think it was my favorite. For a comparison, see this entry. Even better, as it's still young, with the arctic char and fava bean puree. They cheated by doing a Merlot reduction alongside--but I saw that coming, and tried the wine with the fava bean puree first, and it was a charming combination. Circa $30 retail.

2005 Keenan Napa Cabernet, circa $50 retail: On the nose, briary, smoky, plum-ridden; really intense. On the palate, the usual cherry, licorice, and plum, harmoniously balanced. A caveat: I favor  mountain wines from the Napa/Sonoma areas, as you'll see from some other entries. And this is an '05: it's still young, and it had not been open long--yet it was damn tasty. And the same goes for...

2005 "Spring Mountain" Cabernet, Reserve: Pepper, plum, bell pepper, blackberry, and tar on the nose--though not tremendously focused. On the palate, more focused plum, licorice, smoke, and  charming sage at the close. A charming wine in general, though worth the $90 price tag? Hard to say. Both Cabernets were delightful--and showed better--with the lamb enchilada and espresso crema sauce.

2005 Reserve Merlot, "Mailbox Vineyard": This has the hallmarks of a young vineyard. On the nose, black fruit, but a little sweetness in the aromas, and fascinating desert sage. On the palate, chocolate covered raspberry, plum, orange, and a hint of cilantro. Those with less affection for the mountain style, with its briary smoke, will like this one more, I think; and too, it's young. These wines are built to age, as my previous encounters with them suggested. This paired well, though not perhaps as elegantly as the previous courses, with a beef filet topped with foie gras.

The genre of the wine dinner is still a bit of a mystery to me. I'm tempted to say that its characteristics are not generalizable--that each wine dinner tends to show its peculiarities in relation to the venue. Mirabelle is in a comparatively wealthy, comparatively suburban neighborhood, and its chef is a player in Austin's food and beverage realm. So perhaps it's not surprising that this dinner saw a fascinating combination of established, older folks with younger, mover-shaker business types. I'll do another of these dinners before long, and to test my theory, I'll choose an utterly new venue to me.

I had the good luck to be seated with a charmingly clumsy photographer (who, I suspect, also preferred the Merlot), some mover-shaker folks (who, appallingly, left behind most of their wine and decamped early), and some longtime fans of Mirabelle. I was struck by the appreciation that Mirabelle's owner and head chef, Michael Vilim, showed for his staff, both by introducing them to us during the dinner and by naming all of them--servers, buser, and sous chefs--on the menu. A big small thing. (New York City peeps: please do post a comment if you have been to a restaurant-hosted wine dinner at which you learned the full names of all of your servers and sous chefs.)

Michael Keenan has done a million of these things, you can tell, and he got up three times to talk about the wines, but otherwise hung back or cruised among the tables, informally chatting. That, it seemed to me, was an ideal approach--no pitch, no bullshit, no anxiousness, just passion. Or perhaps, a virus.

Martin Ray Chardonnay

Martin Ray Winery
Chardonnay
Russian River Valley
Sonoma
Santa Rosa, California, USA
2008
14.5%
$13.99 -- HEB, Austin, TX

Color: Light straw
Nose: Pineapple, Big League Chew
Body: Full
Front: Mango
Middle: Butter, honey
Back: Oak, toasted marshmallow
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Screwcap

This is a pretty, pleasant wine. It's not charming, nor particularly elegant, but you would invite it to a party if enough people were coming. For my palate, it's a bit too sweet; I'm drinking it on a hot afternoon that followed a difficult workday, and it's perfect for that. If you hate oak, there's a bit too much of it for this to please you--but if you aren't a woodhater, the tropicality of the wine balances the oak nicely. Acid, however, is not dominant.

Eyrie Chardonnay

The Eyrie Vineyards
Chardonnay
Willamette Valley
Estate Grown
McMinnville, Oregon, USA
2002
13.0%
$20.99 -- Spec's, Austin, TX

Color: Medium gold
Nose: Grapefruit, chorizo, a hint of poo
Body: Medium
Front: Lemon Now or Laters
Middle: Caramel, graham cracker
Back: Cedar, stone
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork

In a raging downpour, I drink some Chardonnay. This stuff is fascinating. True to the label, it's more Frenchy than New World. The poo on the nose really took me by surprise, but it's distinctive--maybe with another year in the bottle (I can never figure out when to drink Chardonnays that age well) that will become something...earthy!