D'Vine Wine

Lone Star Chardonnay

A close friend of mine, who lives in Texas, sent me a wonderful care package after I had surgery back in March. In that care package was a bottle of wine from D'Vine Wine of Texas. This white wine was from their Vintner's Select Wines and was called "Lone Star Chardonnay." According to the website, it has a peach flavor. Last night, my husband and I finally got around to popping the cork and giving it a try.

Why did it take so long? Because I am not a huge fan of Chardonnay. I normally find them to be too dry for my taste. But my husband needed a white wine to cook with so he opened this one up and we imbibed on the rest with dinner.

The first sip was actually quite delightful - very fruity and light - not dry at all. Unfortunately, the delight didn't last long for me - I thought the aftertaste was a tad bitter, though my husband thought it was fine. Would I buy this one again? Probably not, but it was a nice change from the usual Chardonnay.

3 out of 5 grapes.

Zind

Hello fellow wine enthusiasts! My name is Joe and I am a stay at home dad. Along with rearing my 3 daughters I enjoy wine and have worked in the wine industry either for retailers or importers for a number of years. I have also worked in fine dining restaurants as a server through my college years where I learned the impact of wine on food choices. I am pleased to give my first of surely several (hundred?) reviews with my latest and greatest find.

I was fortunate enough to pick up a bottle of Zind-Humbrect Zind this weekend and I was very thankful that I did so. Ok, lets start from the top. First, this wine is from is from Alsace. For all of you in the "know" you will recognize that region of France as a large producer of intense and highly acidic (see freaking awesome) Rieslings, Gewurtztraminers, and Pinot Gris's. The climate of this region is cold and the most northern of all the growing regions in France. It is renown for producing wines, generally known for their hint of sweetness, in a bone dry and intense fashion. Because the growing season in Alsace is often cut short due to preemptive winters some of the wines are chaptilized. This is the process where sugar is added to the juice so that during fermentation there will be enough sugar to produce enough alcohol in return or you would have an out of balance wack job of a wine. That being said, one grape that is often overlooked or not included in the "Alsace hype" per say is Chardonnay. Taking that a step further, another grape overlooked is "Auxerrois." For all of you who don't know, Auxerrois is a close cousin of Chardonnay and recent DNA tests have proven that both grapes hale from the same lineage. Auxerrois is not to be confused with another name for the Malbec grape which is used in other regions of France. This grape is white, full-bodied and full of character.

"Auxerrois is a close cousin
of Chardonnay
and recent DNA tests have proven
that both grapes hale from the same lineage."

Ok, wow, where am I? Let's see. Who I am. Check. The region. Check. Ok, the wine. HOLY CRAP! This wine was through the roof! I enjoy new tastes sensations as much as the next wine nerd, but this one is something special. Let me take it from the top. Ok. <----So excited! First, price point. This wine retails around $25 a bottle. Not your everyday wine, but something you get for yourself instead of renting a movie and buying microwavable popcorn. Instead of having a night filled with regrettable calories or a lackluster movie and you want a treat...try this. Period! Now that I made justifying it clear, here are the details. First, like any very good wine from that region, you will notice the nose right away. As you pour the honeyed colored wine (see great sign) into your glass, you will begin to notice the aromas of petrol (slight but awesome) and some floral notes as well. The wine is 50% Auxerrois, 35% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Blanc. For all intents and purposes the wine is a Chardonnay (Auxerrois being basically a Chardonnay and Chardonnay being Chardonnay we only have a 15% remainder of Pinot Blanc another close relative of the Chard family), however it is listed as a white table wine. The flavor of the wine.....wow! First, when you drink wine remember to allow your entire tongue to take part. The tip of your tongue is where you will pick up and enjoy the refreshingly crisp acidity of this wine. It has the bubbly effervescence of acidity that screams "spicy foods!" like a blackened shrimp alfredo perhaps as a paring. Second, it has the flavor profile of a typical Chard consisting of Pear, Grapefruit and Lychees, but you get some other atypical flavors like peaches/apricots and nutmeg along with a honied butter mouth feel in the prolonged finish. Overall, a wonderful wine to experience on its own or with a nice meal. Suggestions include, blackened chicken alfredo or a cajun seafood dish. Enjoy!

2005 Hess Chardonnay

I picked up this 2005 California chardonnay (Hess Vineyards website is down tonight otherwise I'd link to it) because it was:

a. cheap (about $9.99 or so); and
b. Californian

We enjoyed it with an assortment of pickings (or tapas, depending on how formal you want to be!). After being in the fridge for about a month or so, the first very cold sip was nondescript - really I couldn't detect any taste. So we popped in the first of two John Cusack dvds (One Crazy Summer, followed by Sixteen Candles (look carefully, he's one of Farmer Ted's friends!)).

Once the wine warmed slightly, there still wasn't much to write or blog about. It was crisp, and dry, with no detectable fruit flavors. Really, it was very disappointing. Sure, we drank the whole bottle but when followed by an Australian chardonnay, the difference between the two was very noticable (the Australian was much better!). I can't see us buying this one again.

Off the Wall

Ok - this has nothing to do with July's assignments. And, it's not like I/we haven't been drinking either. I've just been experimenting with some microbrews and getting reacquainted with some old favorites (I had forgotten how good Magic Hat #9 actually is). Anyway, when I was at the packie a few weeks back looking for a South African selection, I stumbled on something that only people in the five New England states (and Connecticut) might enjoy/appreciate.

CaberKnuckle. That's right. CaberKnuckle. And there, on the label, Tim Wakefield. I thought it was pretty cool - Wake's got his own vintage. Sweet. Then I see the unmistakable visage of Manny on another label. Manny being Merlot. And there's Schill - Schilling Schardonnay. Ha, such clever word play all around. Ok, ok I'll admit it - I am a fanboy. Sue me.

What's that? Of course I bought a bottle. The wines are distributed under the Longball Vineyards label through Charity Wines (VinLozano Importers). The sales proceeds benefit each player's selected charity: Charlee Homes for Children, Curt's Pitch for ALS and Pitching in for Kids.

Like I said, I picked up the CaberKnuckle and brought it home to try that night with Mrs. Big Dubya. She's not that big a fan of Cabs and only had one glass. I finished the bottle - surprise, surprise. It was okay. I'd love to be able to throw in some knuckle-ball metaphors here, but I think I'll let them go for now. It wasn't an impressive bottle - not one that made me say, Wow or anything. I picked it up for its novelty factor, not because it was a rare vintage and I was hoping to collect it. It was, by far, better than the vitamin water we had at the end of June. It was smooth, light on the tannins (a huge plus for me) and subtly fruity. Not one that I'd call a Bold or Big red, but mild.

However, it didn't stop Mrs. Big Dubya from picking up the Manny Being Merlot. Hopefully it's big and bold and not lackadaisical and aloof.

We Cheated a Little

Sue and I went for the extra credit assignment even though we hadn’t separately completed the May and June assignments. (We still have another bottle of South American wine waiting to be tasted though.) I think that’ll we’ll just take it month by month to see whether we’ll each review a bottle of wine each month or just take turns writing about one bottle.

We also cheated on the extra credit assignment itself. There are wineries that are more local (we actually have two that are just one town away), but we went to a liquor store and bought one from a vineyard that’s in southeast Connecticut. Stonington Vineyards had the best selection of our state’s wines and choices other than blends. We also spent $16.99, which is a little more than the $15 we were limited to.

We’re not huge fans of white wines, but we picked a 2003 Chardonnay. According to the vineyard’s site, the wine “has been fermented and aged in both French and American oak barrels. This adds to its complexities, and gives an up front yet not overpowering oak finish. There are also wonderful tones of pear and butter. This wine is wonderful with classic French cuisine.”

We didn’t have our Chardonnay with French cuisine. There may have been some French bread involved though. If we had thrown some French fries into the oven and gotten some French dressing, we’d have created “dinner mon dieu.” (We’re good with the John Cusack movie references too—even though we totally missed the boat on appropriately titling that last review of the Peruvian wine “And to drink…”)

Sue liked the wine more than I did, but I didn’t hate it. Actually, it’s a wine that I’d try again—especially if we’re ever at the vineyard to get it. It wasn’t too dry, wasn’t too fruity, and who could resist “tones of butter.”