Whine Notes

Ryan Patrick, 2008 Columbia Valley Naked Chardonnay, $8. Okay, that’s more like it. A nude Chardonnay. One neither fermented nor aged in oak. A completely un-oaked (naked!) Chardonnay. And what do you get? Apples, good, juicy red delicious apples. Hint of pear. But no vanilla, no butterscotch –no oak. And yet it remains a luscious, full bodied wine. And owing, no doubt to the warmer climate, it’s what we call a bit fat –that is, lacking in acidity. All that means is it’s more of sipping wine than a food wine. And at $8 a bottle, I can handle that.

Louis Latour, 2006 Le Chardonnay, $11. This one you can sip, pair with foods, take on a slow boat to China, anything you want –it’s a delight. Floral, lemony aromas, tight, crisp texture, with exotic flavors of green apple, citrus, and hint of roasted pine nut. Like any good white Burgundy (it doesn’t say it on the front label, but it is), it sees little or no oak. What distinguishes this from the above wine is the bright acidity, making for an excellent seafood –especially shellfish- wine.

King Estate, 2007 Domaine Oregon Pinot Gris, $25. Well, another case of Hemingway’s Notebook. I sampled this wine a month or so ago, and was blown away by the beauty, elegance, and tastiness of it. Then I lost my notes. Or maybe Matt Kramer stole them! More likely, I simply misplaced them on that slow boat to China. In any case, trust me, this is a fantastic Pinot Gris, and keeping with today’s theme, no oak.

Confessions of a Semi-Professional Taster: Man, I’ve been having a run of bad luck recently. Last week I opened a bottle of our Spudders Crest, 2007 Sunnyside Vineyard Pinot Noir, Priceless, and it was corked. My own wine…corked! Then, the very next day, I popped into one of my favorite snugs, and ordered a glass of Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir. The barkeep poured me a smidgeon from the bottom of one bottle, and while she opened another bottle, I snuck a sip, and it was good. She poured the remainder of the glass full, and I took one whiff, and it was oxidized. How could a just-opened bottle of wine, a 2007 at that, be oxidized? Only thing I can think is someone back in the kitchen sat it next to, if not in, a hot oven. And finally, while blind tasting the two Chardonnays above, one of them was corked! I won’t tell you which one, not their fault, but corked. I had to run to Whole Foods (pleasant exchange) for another bottle.

The real problem here, and I’m not saying I’m a freakin’ genius, but what if someone not acquainted with ‘off’ aromas and flavors had one of these wines? You know what they’d say; ‘Well, that’s a crappy wine, I’ll never buy that again.’ Lost sale, forever. All because of a tainted cork. Or, bad storage.