Hello all, I am very excited to be posting day 1 tasting 1 for my daily wine tasting blog! What better wine to start with than the most popular wine in America, Chardonnay.
I selected the Sonoma Cutrer Russian River Ranches Chardonnay 2008. This bottling is currently the #1 Chardonnay in restaurants in America, so finding it is extremely easy. It retails for around $20 a bottle.
This wine has a light golden straw color with a moderate level of intensity to it. The wine has a definite coating quality on the glass, giving off definitive 'tears' on the side of the glass. This tells you that there is a moderate to high level of alcohol. The wine also shines very bright in the glass; the brighter the wine the younger the wine.
Aromas of Yellow apple and tropical fruits are the initial fruits to the Cutrer, very classic for a California Chardonnay in this style. Also firm aromas of buttered popcorn and cream are prevailent to the palate. Subtle aromas of honey and pineapple linger with delicate spices like ginger on the finish. The floral and mineral flavors I am used to with this wine in past vintages are not very strong here.
The flavors of this wine are confirmed with a full bodied fruit forward palate with the golden yellow apple and pineapple the strongest. Hints of honeysuckle and cream round out with the buttery popcorn lingering. The wine is well balanced with firm acidity to counteract the alcohol in this wine, and the baking spices and ginger linger on the palate.
Try this wine with a fatty white fish like sea bass, either grilled or pan roasted, over a bed of butter beans, fennel, and tomato pulled together with some cream or butter to richen it up and pull it all together.
Hope this is fun and informative for all. Salute!
http://www.sonomacutrer.com/russian_river.aspx
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