We had a heat wave this past week, though for many parts of the world, like Texas which I'm about to visit, it might be considered a cool wave. Here in Silicon Valley, it hit the high 90s (37C) and worse still it didn't get below 70F (22C) for a few nights. As someone with the luxury of storing wine in a box in the dining room, this kind of heat is a killer, as it hits 86F (30C) on a hot day and sits above 80F for many hours. We don't have air conditioning at home, so I'm beholden to large fans blowing in nighttime air.
My interest in red wine waned to near zero during this time because (a) red wine loses its luster in the heat, (b) I seem to be in at the end of my periodic "no red wine tastes that good to me" cycle, (c) none of the reds I've opened have been satisfying possibly because they got too hot, and (d) I want something cool to drink.
The upshot is I've had a lot of beer and in the last few days, white wine. I also went to BevMo to stock up on beer and here's what I got:
- Leffe - this is one of the best Belgian blonds and it's also one of the cheapest.
- Fullers ESB - very nice balanced bitter with slightly chocolately malt and no off tastes.
- Pyramid Apricot Weizen - didn't care for this too much but my wife polished it off pretty quickly.
- Dog Fish - Egyptian honey ale and a triple bock (or at least it tasted like one)
My go to beers have been the Leffe and the ESB.
Recently we shifted to white wines. In particular, big oaky chardonnays. Oh sure some critics have decried this style, but there's a reason so many chardonnays are made in this style.... because I love them. And so do many of you. Here's what we had:
- Logan 2004 Chardonnay Monterey Sleepy Hollow Vineyard - (WS 90) One of the few wines I've found to be too much. Hyper concentrated with honey, oak, ripe fruit and a honey-like acidity that I don't care for. Fortunately my wife loves this wine and she demonstrated this on her own one recent night. My score: 86.
- Columbia Crest 2006 Chardonnay Grand Estates (WS 90). This bottling has been my single favorite chardonnay over the years, but the 2006 has taken a while (aka 4 bottles) for me to fully appreciate it. Not quite as oaky/buttery as past years, it is wonderfully balanced. I know I'm buying at least another 6 to 15 bottles of this. My score: 90.
- Byron 2005 Chardonnay Santa Maria Valley (WS 93). The first bottle I had a bit back was decent, but this bottle was impressive. Intense and complex with varied fruits and oak. Some acidity. Rich body. I can see why it got a 93, and it almost induced me to have a hangover the next morning. My score: 92.
All of this still hadn't solved my red wine problem. I needed to find one that would be appealing. I had tried several fruit bombs in the past two weeks, and they just had not done the trick. I was looking for a Rhone, but couldn't find one I was willing to open, as I was saving the CdPs I had for a vertical. Digging around I found the Querceto 2000 Chianti Classico (WS 91). According to WS it should have been drunk a bit earlier. But it was just the antidote, tasting like a lovely Italian Sangiovese-based cote du Rhone. Medium dusty fruit with a minerally finish. Well balanced. My score: 90.
