Chardonnays: Old World vs. New World

For the month of December the wine club convened at Nancy Walworth’s spacious digs on Morning Street. Our task was to drink "old" and "new" world chardonnays. We learned that it is very difficult to differentiate between white wines of the same varietal- note how close together the scoring was for these wines as opposed to last month when we drank burgundy.

We had a fine time, and other than a few cigarettes surreptitiously smoked on Nancy’s roof deck, were very well behaved. Our guests were Nancy’s future co-worker and Preti Flaherty superstar Carlie Tuggey and her boyfriend Duncan, Vassalboro native Sarah Browne, Courtney Beer of Beer & Bishop, based in Cherryfield, Maine, and Maine Law alum Justin Weiss.

Nancy made amazing spinach latkes (I ate about ten of them), white bean dip and smoked salmon involtini with chipotle mayonnaise. Unfortunately, Duncan’s notes have gone missing.

First Place.
Shooting Star, Chardonnay, Santa Barbara, California, ‘04. $12.
Average score (out of ten): 6.72

What they say:
Shooting Star is the more affordable label for Steele Winery and Jed Steele. The grapes come from vineyards on the banks of the Sisquoc River, and are fermented in both stainless steel and French oak. www.steelewines.com says, “The wine has juicy, luscious, peach tones along with honeysuckle and candied pineapple on the nose. The palate reveals more ripe tropical fruit, particularly pineapple and mango, with the barest hint of butter and lemon on the palate.” www.vino.com says, “Intensely fruity and full bodied, this is an appealing chardonnay for near-term consumption. It tastes of pineapple, honey, roasted nut, and toast.”

What we said:
PHIL: Butter! Melting! This is smooth, and you know how I like it smooth. The wood is here, it has only touched the wine, but there it is on the second sip. Oak. This may be the grapefruit, but a mellow grapefruit.

JUSTIN: I could smell it from this [hands wide] far away! Apple---> Really good. I’d like this with rich fish in large volumes. This is the first one I’d want a full glass of. Crunk.

SARAH: Buttery-oak? Large flavor.

FRANK: Pungent bouquet. Sweet pea. Numbs the tongue. Gertrude Stein drank this with oysters in the afternoon. She paced the room, glass in hand, waiting for the inspiration to come.

COURTNEY: Good with almonds, but not alone. Nasal aftertaste.

CARLIE: Oaky. Minerals. Sharp and crisp. Flavorful. Creamy. This fills my mouth. I’m starting to wonder if perhaps I don’t like Chardonnay.

NANCY: This wine just smacked me upside the head. I think I just lost the lining of my nose. However...once it hits my lips...it’s so good. Big caramel flavor, creamy finish. Lingers...maybe too long.

EMILY: I don’t like this one very much. Bitter. Makes my nose wrinkle and my best friend [Sarah] laugh at me.

Runner Up.
Novellum, Chardonnay, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, ‘05. $9.
Average Score: 6.56

What they say:
www.thesavorygrape.com says, “the Languedoc is a vast area of warm days and nights that helps to produce wine with great body and weight. A totally unoaked Chardonnay, it is crisp with exotic aromas of peach and honeysuckle. Lauded as a great value Chardonnay.”

What we said:
PHIL: I like you. Slightly up the back of the nose, but subtle, smooth. Guava.

JUSTIN: Limeade. Green Day. Cheese, please.

SARAH: Strong flavor, but good.

FRANK: Frosty. Light- super light. Grass. Easier than hell to drink. Wimpy- in a good way. Ernest Hemingway set his pole against the rock at the side of the stream. He pulled a half empty bottle from the frozen rapids and drank from it. He lifted the bottle toward the sun, toasting his good fortune.

COURTNEY: Tastes like alcohol, sharp, maybe good with cheese.

CARLIE: This hits the top portion of my mouth. Crisp.

NANCY: This wine is tightly compact. (Is that negative?) Almost buttoned up. It wants to taste more rich and complex, but it’s not quite there. It’s chardonnay with training wheels.

EMILY: Banana! Until you taste it. Another easy drinker. Full of flavor. Flavor of love- cheap love on a microfibre sofa. Forgivable.

Third.
Morgan, Chardonnay, Santa Lucia, California, ‘05. $23.
Average score: 6.44

What they say:
www.morganwinery.com says, “The wine exhibits a brilliant straw-gold color. On the nose, notes of minerals, cinnamon and toast follow tropical fruits and Fuji apples. Rich, yet lively on the palate, the wine shows the Santa Lucia Highland’s style of balanced, integrated, flavorful Chardonnays with fresh cream, ripe peach, apricot, cantaloupe, orange blossoms and sweet toasty oak, with a ripe pear finish. Don’t be afraid to lay this wine down for a few years!” info.detnews.com (Detroit Free Press) says, “Bright and lively characterizes this wine from start to finish. Apple aromas, especially, waft from the glass. On the palate, it's all cantaloupe, peaches, sweet toasty oak and lots of pear that follows through to the finish. It was fermented in 30 percent new French oak, and about 65 percent of the wine underwent malolactic fermentation. The fruit is so generous, it holds up well to the wood, and the malo is not really noticeable. It's a pure delight.”

What we said:
PHIL: Butter, cream up front. Then it burns off into utter blissfulness. I like this a lot. Wow. I might have found it. This kind of dissipates into nothingness, and I feel at ease. This is liquid meditation, leaving a beautiful nothingness. Honeydew melon.

JUSTIN: A lotta tooth pain. Feel better now, but can’t hold my attention. Hello, Christina Aquilera.

SARAH: Another butter. Likey! Aftertaste overpowers. Round.

FRANK: Warm, toasty, rich. Holy shit rich. California? John Steinbeck looked miserable in the Hollywood heat. A production assistant handed him a glass of white wine. He sipped it and handed the glass back to her. “Too buttery,” he said. He was ready to leave Hollywood behind, for good.

COURTNEY: Big bodied, creamy, would make a good night great.

CARLIE: Crispy, dry, smooth fruit.

NANCY: Mmm. Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...I need someone to snuggle with, or better yet, rub my feet. It’s California chardonnay, but restrained and in control of its oak.

EMILY: Not so pungent. Not romantic. Acid reflux.

Fourth.
Verget, Saint-Vernan, France, ‘05. $20.
Average score: 6.28.

What they say:
www.northberkeleywine.com says, “this comes from some of the best terroir sites in the villages of Saint-Vernan...completely tank raised it combines a nose of toasty almonds and bright floral aromas with a lush mouth of flint and fruit.”

What we said:
PHIL: Pure simplicity.

JUSTIN: Hana-corpi [sic] all over the wall. Familiar old friend. Red Hot Chili Peppers ballad.

SARAH: Grape Kool-Aid and feet, but okay.

FRANK: Zero bouquet. Earth, dirt, dense. Filthy. Hard to drink. William Faulkner stormed out of his study into the heat. He was shocked by the oppressive weight of the afternoon. “All is lost,” he said to himself.

CARLIE: Different. Stings tongue. Sharp, crisp, bright, flavorful.

NANCY: Visions of gold, honey, wheat...golden colors. I like, but doesn’t bull me over.

EMILY: I smell fruit. I taste sour. Basically, I’m not a chard girl.

Fifth.
Heitz Cellar, Chardonnay, Napa Valley, California. ‘05. $20.
Average score: 6.22

What they say:
www.heitzcellar.com says, “wrapped in aromas of pear and green apple with a slight note of vanilla.”

What we said:
PHIL: Okay. We’ve found the grapefruit juice. You are two buck chuck. I like ya, but you know what I mean.

JUSTIN: Betta B. FIne. I don’t need to be involved in this at all. Changed my mind- won over by the finish. Love it like grapefruit juice. Gwen Stefani.

SARAH: Pee smell? Asparagus. Um, e.coli. PU. Ick.

FRANK: Litterbox. Poop. Foul. Really stands out, but dangerously so. Nancy wants to flog someone. Cheese, hearty, strong. Albert Camus was drunk. The cops found him in North Africa, howling at the moon. He felt like Sisyphus.

COURTNEY: Booty call- pretend you’re uninterested, but like waking up next to.

CARLIE: Oaky, intense flavor. Minerals. Different than the others. A lot of flavor.

NANCY: Dreadful. Yeast on the nose. Not getting any hotter on the second and third taste.

EMILY: Smells like an old lady in a house full of cats. Scared to taste, but WOW what a flavor! Refreshing, clear, crisp, winnah.

Sixth.
Verget, Terroirs de Cote d’Or, ‘05. $20.
Average score: 6.17

What we said:
PHIL: Broad and strong. You are a workhorse. This would work as a good, solid, unobjectionable, dinner party cocktail wine. The guard of the table, the one no one hates, quietly doing its job, however, it goes unnoticed and doesn’t get an Xmas bonus. Kiwi, unripe.

JUSTIN: Tart at the start, but ends like a glassa wata...TLC.

SARAH: Cool, crisp, very mild aftertaste. No zing.

FRANK: Mineral. Bitter. Better with food, I’m sure. Anais Nin poured this for Henry Miller at brunch, just to piss him off.

COURTNEY: Kind of bland, but moderately appealing- like a cute boy lacking personality.

CARLIE: Subtle, wet, smooth- only my first sip? Weird. Changed as I drank it, from subtle to crisper for some reason. Minerally. I like this one a lot. No fruits.

NANCY: Smoooth. Subtle. Shy, but not retiring. Definite peach and apple, but with a toasty finish. Why am I thinking of gruyere cheese? Did I mention smooth? De-li-cious.

EMILY: Ooh. This is light, crisp, tart, and could easily be downed in a way that would lead to a bad scene at an office holiday party. It’s also cold. Brrr. Yeah, it’s boring and safe.

Seventh.
Catena, Chardonnay, Mendoza, Argentina, ‘04. $20.
Average score: 5.94

What they say:
Stephan Tanzer of International Wine Cellar says, “Full yellow-gold. Rather exotic aromas of apricot, orange, honey and smoky oak. Then sweet but firm, with very intense flavors of apricot, peach, kiwi and minerals.”

What we said:
PHIL: Here’s the oak! I knew you were out there. A slight tickle at the back of the throat. You, my dear, have long legs, and yes I’m looking. But there’s not much up top.

JUSTIN: A buttery finish, reminds me of a softer smoother [McWilliams: see below]. Old Sade.

SARAH: Mild; acidlike aftertaste- peach? Peach.

FRANK: Bigger bouquet- something warm and decomposing. Pungent, iron. Orson Welles dumped this out the window on a trade ride across Europe. He thought of tossing the manuscript on his lap out with it. He caught his reflection in the window and reconsidered.

COURTNEY: Buttery like dessert, fun with friends.

CARLIE: Oak, more complex. Fruits- apples. Annoying to drink because I taste some new flavors right in the middle, but don’t know how to describe [them].

NANCY: Hello, sunny California. I taste California, sunny hills and surfers. Can I drink this with a guy in board shorts and blonde hair? Oak, toast! Despite how traditional it tastes, it’s not offensive. Me likey.

EMILY: I smell pear. NOT blossom. Drinks smooth. Silky. Like one of those taking a bath in Dove chocolate ads. Kind of odd, but...I like it. Thick.

Eighth.
Olivier Savary, Chablis, France, ‘04. $27.
Average score: 5.89

What they say:
www.cellartracker.com says, “Fresh green apple and light white flowers on the nose. On the palate, nice, up-front acidity, with slightly sharp/ tart green apple fruit and minerals. Would probably have been better with food.”

What we said:
PHIL: Peach and butter! Peanut brittle! Perhaps a more sophisticated way is to call it caramel. I’m flopping here. I want to figure out why.

JUSTIN: Whateva. Phil tastes a flavor, but I don’t. Shout out to Flava Flav.

SARAH: Cement. Cellar, I guess that means mossy. Cool. Grass; 420. Drinkable.

FRANK: Smooth. Easy. Drink, drank, drunk. Ken Kesey sat on hilltop overlooking San Francisco Bay. Someone handed him a bottle of wine. “How is it?” he was asked. “Good enough,” he replied.

COURTNEY: Tasteless, but a bit tingly. Burnt. Like a bad date.

CARLIE: Oak. Wet finish. Creamy. Bitter. Slight mineral.

NANCY: I think I am tasting the spinach latke I just ate, and not the chard...Nope, it’s just quite tart and thin. It’s stone, flint, mineral. I’m building a stone wall with this wine. Oh, wait, so does this mean it’s a Chablis? I love Chablis- why don’t I like this one then? I am so disappointed!

EMILY: I’m rather embarrassed to say that this one I could drink all night long. Smells like funk. Is also bland, but like I said, I’ll drink it.

Ninth.
McWilliams, Hanwood Estates, Chardonnay, Southeast Australia, ‘04. $12.
Average score: 5.44

What they say:
www.mcwilliams.com.au says, “Colour: Green to pale straw. Aroma: Distinctive white peach aromas typical of Chardonnay have been accentuated by the subtle clove and cashew nut oak. Palate: Sophisticated mix of primary tropical fruit and classic complexity by partial malolactic fermentation. Crisp acid gives length and structure to the generous palate.”

What we said:
PHIL: Sweet. But how far will it go? Well blended. I want to pick a fruit, and if forced it would be a Granny Smith, but it’s just really pleasantly fruity.

JUSTIN: Don’t need to taste based on aroma (nothing there). Creed.

SARAH: Crispy, fruit, dry.

FRANK: Limited bouquet. Creamy, light effervescence, easy to drink. Appetizer friendly. F. Scott Fitzgerald drank this in a New York grotto as Zelda wept in the alley, waiting for a cab.

COURTNEY: Tongue numbing, slightly musty aftertaste.

CARLIE: Sharp on tongue. Fruity aroma, soft ending. Relatively balanced, crisp.

NANCY: Bland taste, despite slightly round nose. No apple and no butter- what kind of chard is this? It’s a distant relative of California chard.

EMILY: Long finish. Thick- can whites be spicy too? Tasty and puckery, but does not quite inspire a story.

Last place.
Scagliola, Casat dan Vien, Piedmont, Italy. ‘04. $16.
Average score: 5.39

What they say:
www.cellartracker.com says, “Nose and palate of green apple with good acidity and minerality. Not quite enough fruit so the result seemed a little thin.”

What we said:
PHIL: Apple juice with a throat burn. I can taste the alcohol, but I don’t want to. Leave me alone! Ouch! White grape. I’m wincing, but sometimes things that make me wince secretly intrigue me.

JUSTIN: Much softer, more mixed. Aspirated. Many different fruits. Sharp and acidic finish (lemon?). A little rindy! Nelly Furtado.

SARAH: Fruity smell, apples.

FRANK: Limited/ no bouquet. A little cat pee. Light, light, toasted. Nothing on the tip, big on the back of the mouth. Jack London drank this with smoked boar in the shade of his apple orchard, his sheep dog panting at his side.

COURTNEY: I like it, delightful, could drink with a hangover.

CARLIE: Creamy aroma. Dies on my tongue- no flavor toward the end.

NANCY: Definitely crisp, with a softer, toastier end. Not sure it’s even a chard, so probably means it’s old world. Since I can’t make up my mind, I give it an average grade.

EMILY: This one hits you on its way out. Starts quiet, incognito, but when it says goodbye it asks for a second chance. Nah.