TN: A CalChard wins wine of the week!

I agree with you Tom. I've lost my notes from my recent Ca trip but Kistler was one of the wines that impressed me most favourably.

What I was trying to tell you Tom is that Chalk Hill is the most over manipulated Chardonnay that I have ever come across. Another is Murphy Goode reserve Chards.

Kistler and Matanzas Creek are my two favorite Chardonnays.

I guess I'll just have to try a bottle. I think Trader Joe's carries Chalk Hill, and it isn't very expensive.

Tom S

I also question the statement that Limousin oak is a different species of oak from "what the rest of the wine world is now using". My understanding has been that there are actually two different species of European oak that are commonly used for wine barrels. These two species differ only with regard to things other than grain structure and are therefore considered interchangeable as far as their suitability for wine barrels.

Vino To reply, add "x" between letters and numbers of e-mail address.

Hmm. I'm not personally familiar with any of these wines, but I can't refrain from making a couple of observations. Chalk Hill, which presumably makes an abominable SB, is still in business and, presumably, is profitable. Sonoma Cutrer, OTH, which tried to emulate "Burgundian methods", lost money until they were sold. What are we to make of this?

Vino To reply, add "x" between letters and numbers of e-mail address.

No idea, I haven't tasted wines directly from the barrels yet. But I will ask growers and report in due course.

M.

Chalk Hill makes that buttery Chardonnay that threatens to clog your arteries with one glass and sells like mad.

Sonoma Cutrer, run by Bruce Jones, was a cooperative venture to loose money for tax write offs as far as I can tell. They planted Cabernet and then found out the soil was not right. Then plant Chardonnay and had to rip it out because it was not aligned with the sun. Then their wine maker told them to get rid of all the modern stainless steel equipment that they had built the winery around and they did. So you have a mentality of doing everything wrong except their marketing. They reserved 88% of their wine for restaurants originally so a broader range of people would get to taste it.

I am aware that barrels made from Russian oak have been offered for sale to several (I have no idea how many) US wineries. I don't know if any have actually been purchased. I know of no good reason why Russian oak could not be used since presumably what is being offered for sale is made from the same species of oak that barrels from France and Hungary are made from. OTOH, the French have done a good job of managing their oak forests for several hundred years. Under the communists, the Russians didn't manage anything well.

Vino

To reply, add "x" between letters and numbers of e-mail address.