Day Thirteen

Through all the questions I answer at work, today I fielded one that struck me as quite odd, as I had no idea what the person meant. Usually I have an idea of interesting wine terminology, but today...

The business that I work at sells a few bottles of wine and a middle-aged woman asked for some help with chardonnay. Of course. Why is it that chardonnay's biggest fans are women in that age bracket? And why do the oakiest, butteriest wines appeal to them so much? I'm sorry, I don't think that drinking a slab of wood drenched in butter sounds all that appealing. And I'm not a fan of most California chardonnay in general, because all the big names all taste the same: like a slab of wood drenched in butter. But do I despise all chardonnay? Of course not... wineries that use oak sparingly in their chardonnay, where I can still find fruit flavors, are quite nice. And white Burgundy? I'll take a well-aged Grand Cru any day. Chardonnay is very much influenced by its location... it picks up notes from its terroir quite easily... it also soaks up lots of oak quite easily too.

/winegeekspeak

I've heard that it's due to those Bridget Jones movies, but I haven't been able to nor do I want to confirm this fact.

I loathe another wine much more than mainstream California chardonnay, one that I've been told was Bridget Jones' original wine of choice in the novel, but we'll get to that in a future post.

Oh yes, the question. She asked, "Which chardonnays do you have that aren't spicy?" Now, I know spice exists in zinfandel, syrah/shiraz, and sometimes cabernet, quite a few reds, but in a white? Aside from gewürz and some viogniers... not so much. I thought she meant less oaky, but then she said, "I like my wines with a lot of oak in them." So, OK... no idea. I gave her the oakiest chardonnay I could think of. She was happy. The world goes on.

Tonight's wine is a 2007 Hahn Estates Syrah from the Central Coast. Syrah's got a wide spectrum of styles, from the fruit-driven-in-your-face style of Australian Shirazes to the balanced American styles to the austere, restrained, earthy Hermitages of France, it runs the gamut. As an American syrah, think of this wine as fruity overall with just a hint of leather (some degree of leather is pretty typical in most well-made syrahs/shirazes).

A little smoke on the water in this one... the color's deep purple. Scents of blackberry pie, blueberry, vanilla ice cream, and cinnamon. The flavor's a little flabby, though. I get some sweetness first, then some blackberry jam and leather on the finish, but only about a second's worth. The tannins are prevalent, but definitely subside as it opens up. It's a nice party wine or great for getting soused by yourself.