Chardonnay & Oak Aging
This dry white wine, made from the Chardonnay grape, is the most popular of its variety. Chardonnay ranges in style, with some oakier versions contributing to taste. The purpose of Chardonnay aged in oak is to add some of the oaks characters, along with helping the wine develop its texture. Winemakers may lightly toast the inner surface of barrels, allowing the smoky oak or toasty characters to be detected in the final product. Oak gives the taste a dimension of spiciness and adds a hint of vanilla or coconut to the grapes aroma. The oak and Chardonnay combination is a favorite that is sure to last!
Wine Tasting - The Sense of Smell
There are a few very important things to note when we "nose" a wine. It is suggested to first smell the wine before swirling, noticing the delicate aromas. Next, swirl the wine and smell again after it is at rest. Depending on the bouquet, you may then notice a profound difference in the odors emerging. Aroma is a smell that originates from the actual grape, with very clear cut characteristics. Aroma is most prevalent in young wines. The bouquet of a wine refers to smells generated as a result of aging; smells found particularly in mature wines that were aged in a bottle. The bouquet generally has much softer and complex characteristics than aromas. Identifying what you smell is usually the most challenging part in wine tasting. Although there are many smell categories used to describe characteristics of wine, none have been exclusively agreed upon.
Syrah (pronounced Sah-RAH)
The great red of France’s northern Rhone Valley, where it produces the famed wines of Cote-Rotie and Hermitage, syrah, in recent years, has become the darling of winemakers around the globe, especially in Australia, where it is known as shiraz (after the city in Central Iran where it is believed to have originated), and in California and South Africa.
This is easy to understand, because syrah is relatively simple to grow and vinify and produces a distinctive, richly flavored red wine that appeals to wine drinkers who find cabernet sauvignon too astringent. It also is an excellent blender with varieties as diverse as cabernet, grenache, and mourvedre. (Many of the excellent red wines emerging today from the vast growing regions of the south of France are blends of syrah and complementary grape varieties.)
Good syrah offers a captivating aroma of ripe black fruits, black pepper, and a distinctive gamey scent aficionados often compare to the smell of roasting meat. On the palate, the wine delivers rich, deep, black fruit flavors with big, but supple tannins reminiscent of zinfandel, with which it also shares an affinity for hearty, spicy foods.
