Dear Reader, I hope this is not the first time you’ve heard that the CA sales tax goes up tomorrow (4/1/09). As of April 1st (and no, I this is no April Fool’s joke), residents of the Golden State will send an extra penny to Sacramento for every dollar we spend. And many of us will send a few pennies more to our city governments.
The wise wine buyer saves by purchasing today, not tomorrow.
Click Here and save before higher tax rates kick in!
TODAY’S FEATURED WINE – Scherrer Winery 2004 Chardonnay, $39.00/bottle
This is one of three wines we sent out yesterday to our Grand Cru club members. Even if you’re an enthusiast of the “Anything But Chardonnay” movement, you owe it to yourself to put prejudice aside, and taste this wine. Just taste it. And you’ll re-discover how great this grape can be – rich and lush AND refreshing.
How? The vineyard is in cool-climate Sebastapol, within spitting distance of the vineyards for Dehlinger and Kistler. Perhaps no more need be said, but as usual, I will.
Read on… Or click here to buy the 2004 Scherrer Chardonnay
The Wine
“Yes it’s a 2004, and YES it’s still showing well!” This was the reply I got after calling to make SURE the vintage date in my notes was correct.
California Chardonnay isn’t normally a wine for the ages unless it’s from the likes of Hanzell, Mayacamas, Mer Soliel or a handful of other great, cool-climate producers. Well, count this wine among them as it has quite a bit of life left. And a great deal of pleasure waiting to be plundered.
It is rich and full, just what one expects from a barrel-fermented wine softened further by 100% Malolactic Fermentation and then 18 months in barrel. Such wines can be flabby and cloying, but Scherrer retains the critical refreshing quality through hints of lime zest and tangy star fruit that compliment that elusive minerality / wet stone quality that makes white Burgundies so appealing.
The barrel-aged wine was then bottled unfined and unfiltered, as is my preference. Look for a trace of cloudiness in the glass (this is normal) and perhaps some tartaric crystals on the bottom of the cork or bottle (this is too!) These clear/white crystals are harmless, but leave them in the bottom of the bottle as you carefully pour the last glass – their grittiness is off-putting. Despite these inconsequential drawbacks, bottling without fining or filtering preserves a wine’s true essence.
This wine is fairly full on the palate, but (thankfully!) contains a refreshing liveliness that is the hallmark of the Helfer vineyard.
The Vineyard
And speaking of Helfer Vineyard… you’ll find it in the Vine Hill area of the Russian River Valley, out towards Sebastopol and within spitting distance of the Pacific (assuming you spit for distance). The vines are so densely planted that each vine yields less fruit than a vineyard with more traditional California vine spacing. The cost is lower fruit yield, but the payoff is greater flavor development.
Winegrower’s Notes
“This Chardonnay was whole-cluster pressed and stopped at very low juice yields, giving more fine elements. With my two manually operated ‘bladder presses’ (please forgive the connotation) this requires an amount of valve turning, button pushing, lever moving and general scurrying about that is reminiscent of the man behind the curtain in ‘The Wizard of Oz’. But this is important to making high quality Chardonnay (using only the first and finest juice, not the scurrying), and especially critical for making a long-lived Chardonnay.”
Purchase Scherrer Winery’s 2004 Chardonnay, Helfer Ranch Vyrd
Non-Member pricing = $39.00/bottle or $421.20/case
Wine Club Member Pricing = $35.10/bottle or $397.80/case
Not yet a member? Click here for wine club member info.
It's hard work, but somebody's gotta do it
Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
Dave@SidewaysWineClub.com
866-746-7293
Two weeks from today, on the 8th of April, many families around the world will celebrate the Jewish Passover. I have only attended one Seder dinner in my life, memorable for many reasons, not the least of which was the Kosher wine. It was an otherwise interesting and enjoyable meal.
