The other night we drank a bottle of 2005 un-oaked Hop Kiln Chardonnay. It cost us $16, is 14.5% alcohol by volume and had a real cork closure. I paired it with some leftover Zuppa Toscano, just trying to get a feel for what goes well with it. This did not go well at all.The wine smells like bananas and tropical fruits.
There are some tropical fruits in the mouth, but not nearly what I would expect based on the nose. At the end, just a tiny bit of peach could be detected. But overall, kind of flat. I wasn't impressed with the flavor of this wine. The taste is a little off for a Chardonnay, even for an un-oaked Chardonnay, which I usually like a lot. I can't really put a finger on what's off, exactly, but it just didn't work for me. Ordinarily, I would say it's the banana scent that put me off, since I can't stand bananas, but Matt also commented that he didn't really care for this bottle.
I've had a string recently of wines I've not been pleased with. Perhaps I need to take a drinking break for a few days.....well, that would just be punishing myself though! Thankfully, the bottle we drank last night was excellent and I can't wait to review it!
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Sonadora--Yuck, sounds like too much oak. Turn it into cooking wine or dump it.
2/15/07, 2:19 PM
You would think it was the oak, right, but this was an un-oaked bottle! I can't figure it out. I'm starting to wonder if more of my wine got cooked in the shipping process, which makes me unahppy. It's only been in the last 2 weeks that I've opened any bottles with problems. And it's by no means all of my bottles, just a rash of them these past days.
2/16/07, 8:30 AM
are those the AZD glasses?
2/23/07, 6:47 PM
That they would be. Though Matt put them in the dishwasher, so the logo is long gone.
2/24/07, 8:13 PM