The wine for the evening was a Linden Vineyards 2005 Avenius Chardonnay. It clocked in at 12.8% alcohol by volume and had a real cork closure. This was a gift from a guest at our PS tasting back in December.On the nose of the wine I found pear, oak, butter, and toast. Or perhaps buttered toast. In the mouth the flavors were entirely of pear and apple. The wine had a slightly oily mouthfeel, and the flavors were smooth.
Overall I thought this was a well done VA white. It was not overpowered by the oak and butter that I found on the nose, but seemed to have just enough oak to give it a full body.
I served the wine with spaghetti carbonara, a recipe I was trying for the first time. I'm not sure if it was the recipe, or if I did something wrong, but it was quite dry. I don't expect my carbonara to be creamy per se, but this was just dry. I got the recipe from my Silver Spoon cookbook. I don't think I'll try that one again, but I will keep looking for a good recipe, carbonara is one of Matt's favorite dishes.
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I am hearing better & better things about VA wine these days. Think they're gonna be the next NY state in the wine world.
2/24/08, 11:26 AM
I had not thought of putting carbonara together with chardonnay but I suppose the underlying butter in the chard and in the pasta would work well together. Thanks for the suggestion.
2/24/08, 11:26 AM
I like reading about your local wines, even though I'll probably never see them here. Thanks for sharing!
2/25/08, 6:30 PM
Joe-Over the almost 5 years I've lived here, they have improved significantly and keep getting better!
Noble Pig, I thought it was a fairly good combo, even if my carbonara was not up to snuff! Thanks for the comment, and welcome!
Thanks Taster A, I love having local vineyards to visit, and it's fun to see the wines change over the years.
3/1/08, 12:08 PM