Category Archives: White

May 12, 2017 by Andrea

Michael Picard – Vouvray, 2015

• Basic info: Michael Picard, Chien Blanc, Vouvray, France, 2015
• Type: White
• Price estimate: $21 (at local wine store)
• Look: Light yellow; transparent. Very few legs, probably lower alcohol.
• Smell: Mainly wine with some lemon or citrus when it warmed up just a little. (Bob got lemon right away)
• Taste: Crisp, slightly tart with a light texture. Green apple noticeable on the first sip. Very refreshing.
• Conclusions: This wine may get me to drink more white wine. There was a smoothness to the wine that I didn’t expect. While tart, it wasn’t sour and it didn’t have the grapefruit overtones I don’t like. I may have to pick up a few more bottles of this for the summer.
• Other notes: Our local wine store doesn’t shelve wine by grape, they shelve by category. The owners taste every wine in the store and decide if it is a big, bold wine, a fruity wine, a crisp wine, etc. When we did a wine tasting the other week, I had a wine that was in the same category and I loved it, but it was a little more than I wanted to spend on a bottle. Since this was in the same category, I decided to try it and I am so glad I did.
• From the bottle: No tasting notes on the bottle, but from the website: “Off-dry in sweetness, this Chien Blanc has freshness on the palate with hint of apricot and stone fruit. Its hint of sweetness is counterbalanced by a high level of acidity making this a wine that is round and fresh easy to drink now or a wine that can age well.” 11.5% alcohol by volume.

April 26, 2017 by Andrea

North Valley Chardonnay – 2013

• Basic info: North Valley (Soter Vineyards) Chardonnay, Oregon, 2013
• Type: White
• Price estimate: $30 (from vineyard)
• Look: Pale yellow in color. Very few legs evident
• Smell: Coconut, pineapple, vanilla (Bob agreed on the smells, surprisingly.)
• Taste: Pear and apple initially. (Bob got pina colada, which I got as a secondary taste, but he got it upfront.) Nice acidity, but still a soft wine. Long finish.
• Conclusions: Love this wine. Great body – not heavy, oily or okay, but still soft and fuller than most white wines. The acidity is softened by the texture of the wine.
• Other notes: Bob and I bought two bottles of this when we were in Oregon last summer and were saving them for a special occasion. I decided that we really should just drink a bottle since we had it, so we opened it. I don’t usually go for Chardonnay  (see first wine post) but both of us loved this one the fist time we had it, and it was just as good as we remembered this week.
• From the bottle: No bottle notes on this one, but from the website: “Aromas of Meyer lemon, Asian pear, fresh apple with hints of vanilla bean, custard, hazelnut and a trace of match stick. Sleek and silky with a vibrant, juicy quality. Rich and mouth coating, the fresh fruit flavors are echoed on the palate with hints of stone fruit (white peach). There is an unmistakable mineral element on the finish as the flavors linger.” 13.4% alcohol by volume.

April 21, 2017 by Andrea

Mellen-Meyer – Brut

• Basic info: Mellen-Meyer, Brute, Willamette Valley, Oregon, no vintage
• Type: Sparkling, white
• Price estimate:$35 (from winery)
• Look: pale yellow, light. Fine bubbles with low viscosity and few legs. Low to Medium alcohol.
• Smell: Vanilla and wine. Bob smelled grapefruit.
• Taste: Fine bubbles lead to great mouth feel. Dry, but not overly so.  Tastes reminiscent of hard apple cider – fruit, and citrus, but can’t tell which fruit or citrus specifically. Clean and refreshing. Bob called apricot and grapefruit on the taste, but I didn’t get those.
• Conclusions: “Pitch perfect” was how Bob described this one. Probably one of the best sparkling wines we have ever had and that includes actual champagne. Not sweet, but not dry, it is refreshing and clean tasting. The bubbles are fun – fine, and not overpowering. If I had a party or occasion that called for sparkling wine, I’d try to get a case of this.
• Other notes: Bob got excited when he saw this in our wine club shipment from Oregon. We only get six bottles every six months, but we love the different varieties and producers that we would not normally try as we live about as far from Oregon as you can get while still being in the U.S. We thought about saving this one, but decided to just open it and have it with our cheese box this month (see next post for more on that) and we are so glad we did. It went perfect with the rich cheeses and we loved every taste of this.
  • There are no tasting notes on the bottle but the wine club notes say, “it has a beautiful toasty biscotti nose with green apple and pear notes and a lively effervescence that creates a nice, fluffy mousse.”
• From the bottle: “Brute, Willamette Valley AVA 35% Chardonnay & 65% Pino Noir. Disgorged Aug. 2, 2016, 315 cases” 12.5% alcohol by volume.

April 14, 2017 by Andrea

Olema – Chardonnay 2014

• Basic info: Olema, Chardonnay from Sonoma County, California, 2014.
• Type: White wine
• Price estimate: $14 (at Total Wine)
• Look: Pale yellow. Very few legs, probably low alcohol wine.
• Smell: Wine. Maybe a tiny bit of grapefruit. Bob got hints of vanilla.
• Taste: Light mouthfeel. Bright. Good acid. Finish isn’t long and it is not a fruity wine. Has a touch of green apple in the taste and a fresh, clean, crisp taste.
• Conclusions: It’s a decent wine and good for a summer day. For a Chardonnay, it is really good without the the heavy taste and feel. Would drink again.
• Other notes: Bob tried this wine when we went to the Wine Walk in March. We  generally tried different wines at each station, then tasted each other’s wine, so we got a good mix. I liked this one at the Wine Walk and was really surprised that is was a Chardonnay. I have a general dislike of the heavy, oily, thick, oaky Chardonnays that dominate most wine lists, so I reflexively stay away from them. This one doesn’t have the heavy oil mouth feel. (As as aside, it is the same reason I just can’t eat foie gras, in addition to my general philosophical opposition to it.)
  • When Bob and I tasted this, we did so sitting on the back porch. He had his chartreuse mixed drink and I had a glass of wine. At one point while we were sitting there talking, I took a sip, a tiny sip, of his drink since he bragged how good it was. When I went back to the wine, it lost the bright acidity and became much more rounded. It was still light, but I got the hint of vanilla and a much smoother wine. For the rest of my glass, I had the rounder, softer wine to drink. It was a little weird to note such a different after one sip from his drink.
• From the bottle: “Flavors of apple, citrus and a hint of toasty oak lead to a long, rich finish.” 14.2% alcohol by volume.