Modest Memories - Four Chardonnays

This is a column more about memories than about wine. If you’ve achieved the Age of Memory (that’s well after the “Age of Majority,” the “Age of Consent,” and – for those who ever achieve it – “The Age of Reason”) you may find something of use here. The other day, I was at a store here called Total Wine & More, a liquor store and wine shop with a huge stock; an adult beverage “big box store”. Max, with whom I occasionally play Texas Hold ‘Em, works there, saw me, and asked if he could help. Well, I was more or less “window shopping,” but pressed, remembered my white wines were pretty well depleted. I’ve bought some fine wine in my time, a cosmopolitan collection including some very good California (a Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Reserve Chardonnay we bought was given a 98 by Wine Enthusiast and priced accordingly; for those who appreciate a fine mostly cab blended red, the same vintners Cinq Cepage is exceptional ), but I’ve also said that any fool can find a good $50 wine. It’s much more difficult to find a good $10 wine. Anyway, there I was, uncertain, having been asked, “what chardonnay do you like?” Good question, and one I usually answer by describing something with definite fruit, some complexity, but not overly “oaked” (the flavor of a wine strongly influenced by its aging in “French oak barrels.”) French chardonnay – or white burgundy –is rarely so aged, stainless steel barrels being preferred to “American style” oak barrel aging. It occurs to me I can’t readily come up with the name of a wine I like, chardonnay or otherwise, though I’ve liked many –and disliked just as many – over the years. I’m not a “wine snob.” I can curl up with a book and a glass of “Two Buck Chuck,” and be perfectly happy. That’s Trader Joe’s house brand Charles Shaw, and lest any of you look down your patrician nose, Shaw's 2005 California chardonnay was judged Best Chardonnay from California at the Commercial Wine Competition of the 2007 California Exposition and State Fair. The Charles Shaw California chardonnay received 98 points, a double gold, and accolades of Best of California and Best of Class. In California Trader Joe stores, it really is just two dollars a bottle. Right there, in Total Wine & More, it occurred to me that I did remember some wines I liked – or rather some places and events of which a wine was part. Sometimes it was a “house wine” at a favorite bar or restaurant. Perhaps this wine warehouse had them - they did - and perhaps I would still like them - I did. So here are the memories and the modest wines to go with them. In 2001 Jeannie and I were covering the American Le Mans Series at Sears Point Raceway, just a few miles south of the historic town of Sonoma and on the edge of the Carneros Appelation that lies across the southern end of Napa and Sonoma Counties. Not far from the track is Gloria Ferrer, an elegant winery set back on a hillside. A large tasting room is set up like a wine bar, with a deck that provides a spectacular overlook of the vineyards. It was perfect for Yokohama’s introduction of the PTG BMW M3 GTR. Drivers Auberlen, Jönsson, Stuck, and Said, along with team owner Milner with the media and series dignitaries. Satch Carlson, my motorsports columnist icon, was there, the only time I met him. The next day there would be a good race with a memorable GT finish. But at Gloria Ferrer there was chatter and champagne, and there was chardonnay, too. The memory is of the event, not the wine. Perhaps a taste would bring it back? At $16 the 2006 Gloria Ferrer Carnaros Estate Chardonnay was too pricey (I’m not one who considers a $20 wine “a value buy”), but serendipitously, half bottles of the 2005 were on sale for $5 at World Market nearby, putting the Ferrer at the top of our price range, $10 for a full bottle. This wine lies squarely between an oak/butter California chardonnay and the stainless-fermented French style. It might have the best of both, with fresh aromas grapefruit and green apple, a weighty palate and crisp finish. When cold, the oak and acidity is prominent, but as the wine warms and breaths, it gains more fruit and brightness. A very pleasant wine that earned its laurels (the 2006 won a gold medal in LA and an 91 rating from Wine Enthusiast). There are two bottles of Gloria Ferrer’s Royal Cuvee champagne in the cellar. Further up the “Valley of the Moon,” through the quaint little town of Sonoma, is Chateau St. Jean. In the years we visited Sonoma for races or other business, we did our best see the wine country. We drove over to Napa, we sampled the many wonderful restaurants, and we visited wineries. Our close acquaintance with Chateau St. Jean came about in this way, but it started with a gift. My sister and her husband gave me a subscription to “Wine Enthusiast” and in one issue, I think it was about 2004, its top picks for Chardonnay ( Reserve Chardonnay Sonoma County) and for Merlot (Reserve Merlot Sonoma County) were both St. Jean. We visited that next summer, and bought both to be shipped home. Neither of those wines is cheap (inexpensive) enough to be included here. The “regular” Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County Chardonnay is, however. A note here. A wine labeled “Sonoma County” or “Monterey County” must derive most of its content – 75% - from grapes grown in those counties. The same, on a smaller geography, applies to “appellations,” a recognized growing area with certain conditions and characteristics, though in these smaller appellations the minimum is 85%, and if an individual vineyard is named, 90% of the grapes must have been grown there . “Carnaros” is one of these. California wines must be composed of wine exclusively vinted from grapes grown in the state. So a visit to a winery and a tasting is one of those “memories,” but more so because it’s associated with many other Sonoma adventures, from one of which we returned with a bear named Murphy. I found the current Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County (not Reserve) at Total Wine & More for $9, and tried it. Aromas were spiced peach and pear; the wine is medium-bodied with a round smooth texture. The spicy fruit flavors are rich, yet the finish is crisp, tart and dry.With that first taste memories of wonderful times came flooding back. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not a big deal to line up a tasting and pick something out at the local booze store if there’s never anything associated with the drinking of it, whether a place, an adventure, special friends – or all of that. A few years later we moved to the Monterey Peninsula. I was first there long before that, in 1966, and again in my first marriage from 1968 to 1970, when we discovered the Sardine Factory that became in 2006-07 our “neighborhood bar.” Though it’s a place where it wouldn’t be a big surprise to run into George Lucas or Norman Schwarzkopf, the Sardine Factory is a place where you’re always welcome, whomever you are – or if you are no one at all. Banter with head bartender “Big Mike” Kilpaczyk can run from economics to sports, and when regulars are on hand – which is often, to stories of forty years on “the Row.“ Mike and his friends might chuckle over the time Rod Steiger joined the staff in singing “Happy Anniversary” to a celebrating (and surprised) couple, or Clint Eastwood brought his own sandwiches while filming “Play Misty for Me” (with scenes at that very bar). Tiger might be in the house, or Paul Anka. The Sardine Factory has a world famous wine cellar (It won the 2006 Best Wine List in America award from Restaurant Hospitality Magazine), and that attention to quality extends to its house wines. For a chardonnay, the house was Jekel Vinyard’s Montery Gravelstone. The Jekel has a nice honey color and fruity bouquet. There’s a little acid zing when it first hits the tongue. The oak is subtle – hardly there – the wine is dry and delicate. The 2007 won a gold medal in a San Francisco Chronicle competition. Jekel’s 2006 chardonnay is $8 at Total Wine. This might be my favorite. More about the Sardine Factory from my friend Murphy here. Another haunt - Jeannie's favorite - was the Mission Ranch, near San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo Mission. We rarely got past the piano bar with jazz pianist Gennady Loktionov. The bar menu is reasonable, including an excellent hand-ground hamburger; they’ll even let you split it. You can sit by the fireplace, or at the bar, and later at the piano (no food at the piano). Gennady is there with jazz from 8 PM until the sing-along at 9 featuring talented locals, and sometimes your proprietor (this is Clint Eastwood’s place). If Clint does stop in, the bartender will pour the boss’ favorite, which also happens to be the house chardonnay, Lockwood Vineyard Monterey, $9 today at Total Wine & More. A 88 point wine in 06, it features flavors of ripe nectarines and peaches, a racy acidity, and a more definite, but not unpleasant, underlay of oak. The Lockwood chardonnay is a very good wine that we enjoyed at the piano or the bar many times. More about the Sardine Factory and other Monterey Peninsula attractions from Murphy here. Over the past decade, Jeannie and I covered the American Le Mans Series. Founder Don Panoz is known in part for his Chateau Elan properties and the vineyards and wineries associated with some of them. The cellar still has a Chateau Elan Merlot labeled for the 50th Anniversary of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Daughter Courtney took a bottle of Chateau Elan's Petit Le Mans-labeled American Chardonnay home from that race in 2007, as did we. It's a wine we can also recommend, described by the winery as a "full-bodied Chardonnay with a crisp, fruity and robust buttery character." So there are four chardonnays, $10 or less, plus Chateau Elan's American Chardonnay, and the “Two Buck Chuck.” They’re all good to me, especially so since they’re my memories. But as much as you might enjoy them, perhaps you should ask what that good white is at your favorite bar or restaurant. It’s likely pretty inexpensive when bought at a wine store, and it might also be a highly regarded wine. You already know you like it.