In fact, you will probably never get me to New York, at least not New York City. This is nothing against NYC, simply a statement of fact. I’m a semi-rural kind of gal: not quite ready for complete isolation, but thinking a town of 20,000 people is plenty, thank you. Step foot in the metropolis and you would probably have to scrape my quivering body off of the sidewalk, that’s how panicky I would feel.
     For other people, though, it clearly is the place to be judging by the millions who live or visit there, not to mention the many movies and TV shows filmed in the Big Apple (just saw Made of Honor on DVD, such a cute movie).
     As if NYC didn’t have enough going for it, what with Hudson River Cruises, Niagara Falls, Helicopter Rides, Broadway, wine lovers might also enjoy a trip to the state to re-fill their wine racks. Plenty of wineries make their homes here. This is also a hot bed of wine-related events.
     One such, the Chardonnay Open, is coming up pretty quickly. Mark August 18th, 6:30-8:30 on your calendars. No picnics that day, just chardonnay, and lots of it. In fact, this event brings you examples of the grape from around the world.
     Countries represented include Italy, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa. A blind tasting will include bottles with a ceiling of $100 and a vintage no younger than 2007. Call 1-800-404-9463 for more information.

Most white wines will fit nicely on a lovely wine rack and, until being poured into your glass, will go nowhere else. You wouldn’t usually consider cellaring a white, or so I thought. Turns out it depends on the varietal, what vintage, and who made it.
     For example, certain Chardonnays and Rieslings are deemed suitable for the cellar. The Domaine d’Auvenay 2002 Chardonnay is given a drinking threshold of 2035. Clemens Bush Rielsing, 2001, should be good until beyond 2060. Chenin Blanc features prominently among cellar-worthy examples (I’m back in my ‘1001 Wines’ guide by the way). One bottle, the 1989 Didier et Catherine Champalou, will apparently serve well until 2030. I wonder what bottle openers will look like in twenty years.
     I also wonder how hard it would be to select a bottle left sitting for so many years, like a family heirloom, growing in value exponentially, then finally open and drink it. One day it provides a talking point for below-ground gatherings and Halloween parties in the dungeon; the next, it’s gone.
     One can only hope that another bottle is still aging somewhere in that cellar, worthy of drinking some time soon, and another for a few years down the road. In fact, my suspicion is that anyone who can afford that 1989 Chenin Blanc and has a house big enough to build a cellar probably has a few good bottles hanging around in a dark, cool lair of wines.

The blinds are pulled to keep out the hot sun from our living room. We stay inside from 12-2 (11-3 if we can) to avoid the heat. Yes, we love summer, from dawn until lunchtime and mid-afternoon until sunset. We also do not cook during the months of July and August.
     I love cooking, you understand, just not the way our oven can make indoor temperatures sky rocket. Though keeping the heat out is easy, once in it doesn’t want to leave. For this reason, we eat a lot of sandwiches for supper during the summer. No one is complaining at my house. We don’t mind using the toaster oven so the kids can still enjoy grilled cheese.
     One great part about sandwiches is their versatility. Between the various breads, wraps, pitas and fillings choices are infinite. I plugged chicken sandwiches into Winedin and came up with Chardonnay as a typical pairing. In fact, Chardonnay came up in conjunction with a lot of fillings.
     You might not want to scan your wine rack for the most expensive bottle to open with a mere plate of chicken salad between two slices of whole wheat bread, but good bottles are available at a decent price. When in doubt, I always look to South America. Though not as solidly associated with chardonnay as California is, they produce good quality at a lower than expected price. Hence, a reliable winery like Marcus James gives the consumer a ‘01′ example at under $10.00. If you want to wait until dessert to break out the wine, perhaps pair your strawberry shortcake with a Banrock Station Sparkling Chardonnay.
     Though not a lover of this white in general, I do admire its variety.

I may have mentioned a prejudice against chardonnay before. Perhaps this stems from the fact that it is such a ubiquitous offering at dinner parties and on wine lists, becoming almost synonymous in restaurants with ‘white wine’, the way chablis once did. Still, thinking that popularity meant great wine I tried. And I tried. With one exception they were woody and just too dry for me. Whatever buttery qualities were supposed to emerge skipped my tongue and went straight to my hips.

     With this in mind I took note of some recent arrivals or highlighted bottles with a mind to perhaps give the big ‘C’ another shot. There’s no lack of choice. Peller Estates has one featuring apple, pear, pineapple with a creamy texture – apparently. An Inniskillin Chardonnay notes baked apple and citrus. Maybe. I could go for a Bellingham Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay blend and savor honey, melon and peach while tasting trout caught just hours before by my husband on a clean, cold lake in the woods.

     The most tempting bottle, the one most likely to make its way to my wine rack, is the Banrock Station Sparkling Chardonnay from Australia. Ranked ‘01′, some confidence comes from this off-dry promise. The wine tempts with sweet vanilla and tree fruits, so I’m told, though this is yet to be seen. Still, at under fifteen dollars I can hardly say it’s a risky venture.

     This is also as close to Australia as I’m likely to get any time soon, so what the heck. With it’s bit of fizz this white might sit nicely with a cheese plate, chicken, even the creamy pasta dish on our menu tonight. I’ll keep you posted as to my success with chardonnay.

White Burgundy? Isn’t Burgundy supposed to be red?

I had stumbled across yet another hole in my Swiss cheese wine education and had to start researching this oxy moron of the grape producing world. Because Burgundy means red right?

Seems a white Burgundy is one way of describing a Chardonnay from the French Burgundy region. It’s also the name given to expensive Chardonnays produced in America, Australia and Chile to name but a few. Also referred to as Bourgogne Blanc.

Okay then so where do I start and what can I expect to pay?

I cam across a New York Times article on the matter that stated there are several types of white wines grown in the Burgundy region. 

An expensive but hard to get a hold of on my budget white Burgundy is the stuff produced by the Montrachet vineyard. They only produce around 3,000 cases a year. But it’s right next to the Burgundy village and thus receives the same water. There are a number of producers of white wine in the Burgundy region including the makers of Chablis. It seems Chablis is a balance between white Burgundy and Champagne both geographically and taste wise.

Never being much of a fan of white wine I haven’t tried Chablis but it seems an affordable option. I’m always on the look out for recommendations. It seems the further out from the central Burgundy region the wine comes from the more affordable and thus perhaps inferior it becomes. It’s actually quite confusing to me when I consider the complexities and intricacies of the French grape growing regions.

Seems a vacation to wine country may be in order.

Okay so if I’m reading this article right it seems a white Burgundy at this blog’s price range would come from the town of Macon or thereabouts which is close to the Beaujolais region. Well I know I like the Gamay grapes from that area so that’s a good start. So it seems I need to find a white Burgundy from Macon, Pouilly-Fuissé or St. Véran for the wine rack out here in beautifully desolate rural Wyoming.

Wish me luck fellow vino fans. I think I’m going to need it.

Hot on the heels of a recent article comparing different types of chardonnays comes this review of a Naked Grape offering. I have enjoyed their wine before, since oak is not my thing. Sometimes a bit of woodiness blends well with the existing flavors, but mainly I prefer no wood. Chardonnay has often suffered, in my opinion, from too much oaky aftertaste. This is why I am glad for the Naked Grape Chardonnay which has opened my eyes to what chardonnay lovers have been talking about.
The bright color of this wine provides the first positive: very sunny and warm. I opened the bottle and was met with nuts, vanilla and melon. These scents were so beautifully intertwined as to form almost one smell deserving of its own name. On the tongue I tasted spicy citrus and some vegetable. My final decision on this is grapefruit and radish with a hint of lemon, though I had a hard time recognizing the flavors. Along with the beautiful aroma, this was no bad thing. I found this to be a lovely wine, full of character. The flavors could have incorporated a bit more of the melon or some additional component such as another citrus fruit, but for less than $10 I am very happy with this wine.
As far as recommendations for your wine cellars go, seeing my husband sip half a glass of this liquid quite happily goes a long way. He prefers the crisp, clean flavor of a North American lager. Not that this wine compares with an Okanagan Springs or a Kokanee, just so you can get a picture of the clean and drinkable quality of this affordable wine.

Chardonnay variety

A food pairing recommendation which leads to a Chardonnay will often qualify, indicating ‘Californian’ or ‘American’ versus ‘French’ Chardonnay or some other country. To my mind, the most popular Chardonnays around here derive from California and Australia, a perspective which originates from many sessions spent flipping through the pages of TASTE Magazine.
     The Wine Spectator notes that makers of French Chardonnay may adhere quite closely to traditional methods including oak barrels and certain expected flavors, hampering their ability to diversify. California, on the other hand, benefits from various micro-climates to produce a wide array of flavors and aromas. These range from vanilla and nut to honey, melon and cocont. You may discover mango, grapefruit or other citrus, while a buttery quality may emerge from your Californian selection.
     Australian Chardonnay also displays a range of tasting notes and smells, depending on which part of the country the grapes were grown in. Warmer parts will produce tropical Chardonnays. Cooler areas, such as Tasmania, may yield more subtle flavor dominated by citrus. Other notes include ripe fruits such as melon, grapefruit and peach.
     Another trend you may see emerge is towards un-oaked Chardonnays. ‘Naked’ varieties take the sometimes overpowering woodiness out of the process using stainless steel barrels to allow fruit to come forward.
     All of this fails to note the range of Chardonnays being produced worldwide. Take a look on the wine racks at your local liquor store for Chardonnays from South Africa, New Zealand, Canada and more.

While bread provides a neutral flavor to clear the palate between selections from your wine rack, there are some wines which go especially well with particular breads. The list of bread types is long, from sweet to savory; yeasty to caky; even muffins and donuts. I’m thinking particularly about hot cross buns, those sweet eggy buns so beloved at Easter (and year round at my mother-in-laws house for Sunday tea, toasted with swathes of butter. Yum).

     Sweet examples such as banana bread for example pair nicely with chardonnay. With the variety Chardonnay styles offering themselves for pairing, I would advise an un-oaked or fruity option, perhaps The Naked Grape Chardonnay. Where trial and error is concerned, however, I would say there are worse experiments (especially those involving food dye or glue, but that’s just the mother in me). Cabernet Franc provides another pairing option. Hester Creek Cabernet Franc sounds like a bold choice, with vanilla, blackberry and raspberry aromas to bring out the sweet flavors of fruit. Flavors such as anise and malt could potentially blend well with the nuttiness of a yeast bread.

     Given my druthers I would rather pair hot cross buns with just about any BC Riesling. This off-dry, crisp white cuts through the heaviness of bread in my opinion. The VQA Riesling provides good wine for a good price. Decide whether your hot cross buns will contain vanilla, lemon juice or both. Then, ask yourself which flavor you want most to draw out of the bread through your wine. The citrus quality of the VQA will emphasize citrus peel and currents in the bread.

    My only reserve concerns eating hot cross buns in the evening, while I’m sure not going to drink Riesling at 11:00 brunch. Then again, not everyone is a stickler like me.

The 2006 Peju is my friend’s Tibby’s favorite wine. She’s the one with the wine fridge and I appreciate her grape juice obsession. It means that finally I am tasting good California wines. Yes, okay they are not at bargain basement prices but apparently the good stuff from the region never is. You live and learn as they say.

The Peju comes in a simple yet elegant yellow green slender bottle with a simple label featuring a sketch of the vineyard. The back of the label explains that the wine is 100 percent estate made meaning the entire process and all of the contents originate from one place unlike so many other wines.  The wine is grown using sustainable methods which is always a bonus. The green age is truly upon us and to suggest otherwise is pointless.

The wine’s bouquet is nicely layered with an interesting combination of vanilla, nutmeg, citrus and a hint of fresh lettuce. A swirl around the stemless wine glass and the musty odor of English gooseberries joins the party. It smelled like most white wines smell yet there was a clean crispness to the scent.

Upon tasting I finally understood the difference between a cheap and a nice white wine. With reds, it seems lower price does not always mean lower taste but perhaps this doesn’t hold true for chardonnays. I was greeted with a smooth buttery sip of crisp white wine that displayed structured tannins and texture. Beginning with substantial smoothness and ending in a pleasant dryness, the 2006 Pijou lingers at the back of the palette for substantially longer than most white wines.

Which, in my oh so humble opinion is a good thing.

Will the 2006 Persephone Peju ever grace my wine rack? Well, only when dearest Tibby comes to visit. It’s a bit out of my price range but made for a pleasant diversion on a lazy spring afternoon in the proverbial calm before the storm.

We enjoyed enough sunshine yesterday in Revelstoke (where there was still snow on the ground in places) that my friend Chris and our children ate lunch outside on a picnic table after a swim. We had wet hair, yet did not turn blue immediately. This is a good sign. Wineries across the Okanagan Valley will soon be opening for the rush of tourists looking to stock their wine racks with our award-winning varietals. Beginning in April or May, many of these wineries put summer hours in place. Meanwhile, there are still a handful of wineries hardy enough to remain open for limited hours before then.
     See Ya Later Ranch in Okanagan Falls opens daily from 10-4. Their fame may eminate among the un-initiated from their tongue-in-cheek name or the haloed dog on their label, but their wines should not be forgotten. Jimmy My Pal bosts stone fruits, melon and pear. Their golden Ehrenfelser 2007 smells of baked peaches and ripe apricot, leading to spice, papaya and mango. Another reminder that summer draws nearer.
     California may have cornered the market on Chardonnay, but Township 7 Vineyards of Penticton makes its own versions well worth sampling. An un-oaked Chardonnay from T7 tastes of citrus and honey. They also make a Merlot with hints of chocolate and cedar. Drop in 11-5 weekends only.
     Finally, Peller Estates in Kelowna, a reliable choice for my finicky palate, opens Monday through Saturday from 9-5. Their signature series includes much sought-after ice wines, as well as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from 2004.
     I feel warm just thinking about these award winning wines and their Okanagan location. I feel even warmer when I drink one.