A Couple of Chards

This time last year I wrote about 2 Chardonnay’s battling it out. Tasting those wines side by side proved to be an interesting experience. Recently, I had another chance to taste 2 more Chardonnays side by side, this time it was a blind tasting so only their “fruits” of their labor could influence me.

“Brand X” Chardonnay (Napa Valley) 2011: You’re immediately hit on the nose with smoky oak, and butter. If you concentrated enough you could almost get vanilla, and a hint of rich cream. Medium to full body, with concentration, this extends itself with flavors of citrusy honey, vanilla, and minerality. Sounds good eh? Nope. It was not balanced well – It was hard to get past the smoky oak and butter in the aroma and flavor. The finish was long but I wanted it to go away – Basically a buttered-popcorn campfire in your mouth. I guess you could skip the butter and pour this over your lobster…   

Robert Mondavi Chardonnay (Napa Valley) 2011: Unbelievably vibrant aromas of sweet citrusy juice, honey crisp apple, and honeydew melon. A Lighter body wine with elegant flavors of pear, crisp minerals, and lemon-lime. The finish is long that made you yearning for another sip. It was delicious! You can easily drink this with or without food (paired with tilapia, grilled shrimp, or roasted chicken).

I don’t normally give any wines bad press, I only write about what I like. In all seriousness I sincerely respect wine makers and what they do and that’s why I decided to leave the vineyard name out of the first Chardonnay and name it “Brand X”. Here is the catch; “Brand X” is a $40 bottle while Robert Mondavi’s is $19 proving the fact that cost does not guarantee you what you’d like. Listen to your taste buds, they know!

Sláinte! TCW