Chardonnay

Cool crisp Chardonnay.  Whether it's the Summer heat a crisp Fall evening around the fire pit or a Winters night watching a movie, this wine is sure to please.   Why is this grape so popular.  According to the Agricultural Department’s California grape acreage report from March 2013; Chardonnay is still the number one planted grape in California.  At just over 95 thousand acres planted, it tops the highest planted red grape varietal; Cabernet Sauvignon by nearly 15,000 acres.  Chardonnay can be light to medium to full bodied.  The grapes flavor and aroma are fairly neutral.  Before the winemaker’s manipulation it exhibits simple green apple and mineral notes.   Due to this fact winemaker’s have subjected this grape’s juice to a wide variety of winemaking practices.  They may implement malolactic fermentation, barrel  fermentation, sur lie aging or lees  stirring to create more assertive flavors in the wine.  Typical aromas for this wine are:
                                                 flint/stone               green apple
                                                 citrus                      pears
                                                 melon                     nuts
                                                 pineapple               honey
                                                 banana                   peach
                                                 apricot                   ginger
                                                 butter                     vanilla
                                                 smoke                    oak
                                                 burnt sugar             butterscotch                                                                                                                    caramel                  nutmeg

Chardonnay is indigenous to Burgundy France.  Although this grape  grows best in limestone soils in a cool to moderate climate; it is versatile enough to have been planted around the world in all soil types and a variety of climates.  Because this grape is so adaptable and so readily changed by the craft of the winemaker; it is often described in two styles.  Old World and New World.  Old world is high in acid and typically long lived.  The flavors tend to be more green, minerally and have very little wood.  New World tends to have much riper fruit qualities, a lot of oak, low acid and a much shorter life span. And thus the debate begins and battle lines are drawn over what style you prefer.  We tasted 14 Chardonnays and will let you begin your own debates over which style you prefer.  Look for tasting notes to come.

"Wine is bottled poetry"
          -Robert Louis Stevenson-
 

Tom Cook

#Chardonnay, #California, #France, #OldWorld, #NewWorld, #wine, #aromas
















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I don't like this wine

If you live here on the East Coast, you may have recently been stuck in your house due to a snowstorm.  I can think of no better time to get together with a few neighbors and taste some wines.  I recently did just that.  As the snow swirled and piled up outside, we laughed, joked and tasted 5 different Zinfandels.  While the company and comradery were great, some of the wines were not.

What do you do if your out and get a wine you really don't like?  If you're out at a restaurant, most places will pour you a taste of the wine before they pour your glass.  Don't be shy at this point to let them know this really isn't for me or isn't what I was looking for.  If your forced to order a glass blind, ask for recommendations and let them know what type of flavors your looking for.  If either of you are not sure ask if you could get a taste before ordering?

Perhaps your not out to eat.  Instead your in a social setting and your host just poured you something you find really distasteful.  How do you handle the situation?  I guess it all depends on how well you know your host.  If you don't think they'll be offended, let them know this is drier or oakier than I usually like.  Then politely ask if there are any other choices?  I think in most party politics the host would be happier to satisfy you with something you would like.  Out in a restaurant it is definitely there goal to please you.  They want to sell a second glass.  In a social setting it is always much trickier because we don't want to offend anyone.

Hopefully you find yourself in a circle of close friends as I did the other night.  We were sampling different wines for the purpose finding what we like.  In this setting there were two wines that we found none of us liked and did not wish to drink at all.  To that we all poured the two glasses into the spit bucket except one friend who replied she didn't want to let them go to waste.  I can think of no better way to spend a snow storm than sampling wines with friends.  After all, this is the best and only way to learn what qualities we truly like or don't in wines

Take the advice of Norman Kiken of Reverie Winery.  He once told me, "life is too short to drink bad wine."  You should never be afraid to say I don't like something.  No means no?  Or are we destined to be polite?


Tom Cook,
            never stop wining!

#SnowStorms, #Zinfandel, #SocialEtiquette, #NormanKiken, # ReverieWinery

New Jersey Wine Industry

I have been asked often over the years if there truly is  a wine industry  in New Jersey. The answer is a mixed response of yes and no. First and foremost lets face it, the climate in New Jersey is not truly the best for growing wine grapes. The growing season is fairly short lived. I mark the growing season from late April to the very beginning of October if you are truly lucky. What tends to do more harm than good is the hot summer temperatures,the spiking humidity and the insane weather changes we have had over the last 15 years and last but not least the sudden late hard frost.
New Jersey is not known for its cool,  less humid nights that a wide variety of wine stock require to mature. There are more then 40 vineyards producing whites such as Chardonnay because it appears to be the best suited for the weather conditions in NJ. I get it, I truly do, but I am so sick and tired of NJ produced Chardonnay.  I would prefer personally to see more vineyards attempting to grow reds such as the French hybrid Chamourcin. Yes, I understand its a sound business choice to create the best chance for the greatest return but sometimes there are options that are overlooked such as the Chamourin.

The other aspect I would like to address about the New Jersey wine industry is this, for many many years an individual would plant a  few hundred  root stock and call it a winery. Well, I guess it certainly would meet the guidelines but it would never become a active producer of wine. You may be asking how can they be selling local New Jersey wine? Think on it and you will come to the realization they would source grapes or  juice almost 100% from California. This gives me concern that what is being pushed out as New Jersey wine is marketing for most part. The State of New Jersey has now had the same concern on what they call the credibility and authenticity of a "New Jersey"wine. It appears changes are moving forward to expand the required acreage to obtain a plenary winery license. Of course this is general in nature and I am not saying wineries are not being honest. They simply are working with the limitations of the weather.

Until next time,

Drink up, but drive responsibily.

... Marcus Padulchick