Hey everybody, welcome to the 8th episode of California Wine TV. Thank you so much for tuning in. I'm your host Scott Sheldon, pleasure to be here.
So for episode 8, we got two chardonnays that we’re going to do for you. Some people are wondering, do we ever taste white wine on this show? We do. I do have a personal preference for red wine, let’s admit. But we got to get into both of them. And part of doing this show, I hope to expand my love and appreciation for white wine as well. So there, that being said.
Chardonnay, let’s talk about the origin. 1100’s, its first cultivated in burgundy. It’s in the eastern region of France. It’s the primary grape used in shevli and some of the other iconic white wine of the burgundy region. It’s also widely used in champagne and sparkling wines. Other fact, it’s the second most planted grape in the world. The first most planted grape would be Irene in Spain. The grape called Irene. And it’s another white wine varietal.
Chardonnay is planted in more different areas of the world than any other grape. Only cabernet sauvignon, I think is second to that. And for this country, basically, this guy Charles Went, he was working for the Charles Krug winery. And he started he's own winery here. And when he went back to France and he brought back this cuttings from chardonnay vines from the Mt. Callier agricultural department. Brought them back here in the 30’s.then after prohibition, growers started planting these clones, these cuttings and started growing chardonnays. And that’s how it got started. And one of the things that was really popularized it was Robert Mondovi in the 60’s. Started making real high quality varietal wines. One of them being chardonnay. And several other wine makers kind of got on the band wagon because the wines that Mondovi was doing, they were selling well. Getting good praise. And so that’s kind of how that movement started. With a single varietal wines. Before, you know, it’s more like a table wine. More blends.
So that’s what happened. So if you ever hear someone say like, that’s like a Went clone descendent. Those vines are descendent of those original cuttings that Went brought back over from France and plant them in the 40’s.
So the first one we’re doing today is Cambria, Katherine’s Vineyard 2007 chardonnay. Give you an extra stretch on that for super zoom. In the back. And I got to say, I drink their pinot noir all the time. I love their pinot noir from the Julia’s Vineyard. I haven’t had this from Katherine’s vineyard, I think their named after the wine maker’s daughters, the different vineyard. They're located about 15-16 miles away from the ocean, the Pacific Ocean. So they get great fog rolls in. they got the breezes coming in the afternoon, cool this down. So a great place to grow chardonnay or pinot noir also, for that matter. Its state run and bottled. Let’s check it out.
One wine glass today. Let’s going to share. That’s alright. Little wine there. Just bright golden, kind of straw yellow color. See that? Very clear and bright. Got that bright green apple smell. Citrus. Little bit of lime syrup. Little vanilla caramely smell going on too. Typical chardonnay aromas. And let’s give it a taste.
Got some mineral characteristics. Little stony, little flint. A lot of citrus and apple on the palette. Not balanced though. And little flat. Little flat, not much going on. Got little fruit, hits you on the front end. Let’s give it another shot.
Very nice fruit on the front end with the apples they have going. They're very balanced as far as getting into that mid palette and then its little bitter and flat. It all ends up after all said and done. Not spectacular, this one. About $22. I'm not impressed really. Little quick rinse here.
Okay, so the second one we have come from Rusack. I've not have any of their wines before. Give you a close up, Santa Barbara County. Great resource from two different areas, Santa Maria Valley, also the Sta. Rita area. My favorite pinot noir area. A little bit cloudy. Little bit cloudy. Not quite as bright golden as the other one. I'm referring to the cloudiness. This is very faint. Bright nose. You got the Fuji or green apple, lime, orange, peach on the nose. Lets wake it up a little bit. Very nice bright nose. I like it. Let’s give it a taste.
That’s really nice. Great powerful fruit on the front end which extends to the mid palette and then. In the end you have this great lemony curd thing that kicks in. and real bright acidity. Throughout. It really just going to wakes you up. It’s one of the things I have to say that I don’t like about some of the chardonnays I've have. There's a little flat for me. And little too heavy and buttery. I like something with little more minerality that kind of wakes you up. This definitely have it. Because you know, the styles vary in California chardonnays. And yet the final kind of appeals to everyone. Some have more of a tropical fruit sensation. Some of them are oaky and heavy, buttery. Some are more brighter. More of that minerality to them. This is great, I like it a lot.
Let’s score them up, the Cambria, I’ll say 82 points on this one. Both their $20-$25 range. This one I’d go, let’s say 85 on this. I really like this wine. It’s a good wine. Food pairings, shellfish, shrimp. It’s always great, anything with a butter sauce. Chicken is fabulous. To both chardonnays. And cheese. Got to have some cheese.
So I got two different cheeses we’re going to do. One is the goat brie and the other one is a Kerrygold Irish cheddar. Let me start with the brie. I f you haven’t had brie before, it’s kind of a creamy with a consistency of a butter or cream cheese. It’s obviously better to throw in a cracker in most times. If you do it in your own, that’s what I'm talking about.
This is nice. Little stronger than I thought it would be. Just going to let it cover that palette. It’s pretty good, the cheese is a little overpowering. Little overpowering those wines.
Okay, next up, Kerrygold Irish cheddar. It’s funny, because I thought the goat brie will actually be little milder than it was. Let’s see how this cheddar goes up. This is sitting out for about 15 minutes, so they have their nice softness to them. Very creamy. These cheese, some of those cheddars, they have a little granular pieces going in there. You got some varying texture. I’ll have a little more Rusack with this.
So the winner of the bunch gets to attend the cheese tasting. Sorry Cambria.
That’s a great combo. Kind of a backwards of what I thought what would happen. I thought the cheddar would've been too much. But actually the goat cheese is a little too much for this wine. That cheddar is perfect. I’d recommend that.
So, I picked this one. I have chosen between the two. They're relatively same price point, within a dollar or two of one another. Cambriawines.com. Rusack, shame on you, no URL on your bottle. Can't tell the fans what site to go to. I guess its Rusackwines.com, I'm sure it is. Wine makers men, get your website on your bottle. I tell you.
So I hope you enjoy this episode, a little chardonnay. I appreciate you guys tuning in. please, I want to hear your feedback. If there's a wine that we’re missing out on that you like us to showcase. Maybe there's something you like to try, but maybe you don’t want to spend the money. You want us to try it for you. We can probably do that as long as it’s not too far out of our budget.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this episode and until next time. You guys take care.