Chardonnay Archives - The Grape Pursuit

Bloomer Creek Chardonnay & Gruner Veltliner 2016 Review

October 7, 2020

When we visited the Finger Lakes for a weekend getaway in late 2020, one winery, Bloomer Creek, was not open for tastings (only bottle sales). We placed an order at this one all the same at the request of a friend who wanted some bottles and decided to pick up a few for us to try at home thanks to their great reviews and that one of our favorite local wine shops carries them as well.

It very much was a case of “if it is good for them, it is good for us”.

The first bottle we opened was their naturally fermented, skin contact, unfiltered Chardonnay and Gruner Veltliner blend- a more unusual grape combination than we're used to but one that we have to admit, we really enjoyed.

Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne NV Review – Lime and Wild Nose

September 10, 2020

Nicolas Feuillatte's Reserve Exclusive Champagne is an alluring bottle with a wonderful aroma, a slight funkiness, and strong flavors of lime and tropical notes on the palate.

Consider us pleased.

Kershaw GPS Lower Duivenhoks River Chardonnay 2017 Review

August 4, 2020

We're quickly becoming fans of Chardonnay from South Africa, and when we purchased an assortment of bottles from a local wine shop, we were intrigued by the offerings from Richard Kershaw Winery.

Part of this is simply because we like this varietal from the country. But the other part was that Kershaw focuses on single clonal grapes in isolated growing regions similar to what one of our favorite US-based wineries, Boundary Breaks, does for Riesling. So we picked up a bottle of the GPS Series from the Lower Duivenhoks River and paired it with a lovely sous vide salmon dinner.

Bodega Uvairenda 1750 Torrontes 2018 Review – A Mellow Torrontes

July 16, 2020July 16, 2020

We absolutely adore the varietal Torrontes as grown in South America, and when we found a winery producing it in Bolivia of all places, Bodega Uvairenda, we knew we had to pick up a bottle.

The 1750 Torrontes here is grown at a relatively high altitude (above 5,000 feet) and is blended with about 15% of other grapes including Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pedro Gimenez. Together, this wine ends up being a bit more mellow than what you'd typically expect for this otherwise potent varietal.

Ataraxia Chardonnay 2016 Review – A Truly Fabulous Chardonnay

July 14, 2020July 14, 2020

Every so often we have a wine that we fall in love with at first sip. The South African-based Ataraxia (in Hemel-in-Aarde) offers a Chardonnay that, for us at least, won us over right away.

If an intensely acidic and fruity Chardonnay is what you see, Ataraxia's entry will certainly deliver.

Chamisal Vineyards Chardonnay 2018 Review – A Straight Forward Wine

July 10, 2020July 1, 2020

We're diving into the world of Chardonnay thanks to a modest collection in our cellar, and recently cracked open a bottle of Chamisal Vineyard's Stainless Steel Chardonnay 2018.

While we wish this one would've had a bit more going on when sipping, we have to admit it went down fast all the same.

Heritiers du Comte Lafon Macon-Milly Lamartine Clos du Four 2016 Review

June 16, 2020May 28, 2020

We recently celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary, and so naturally we were looking for a wine to pair with a special dinner. Our menu included a cheese and charcuterie board, crab cakes, and black cod so we were looking for a dry white wine.

We chose a 2016 Heritiers du Comte Lafon Macon-Milly Lamartine Clos du Four, a Chardonnay from the Maconnais region of Burgundy (arguably the region's most popular grape, and our first Chardonnay from Burgundy). While we didn't end up being terribly big fans of this wine, it did pair nicely with our seafood dinner.

MacRostie Dutton Ranch Chardonnay 2016 Review – A Mellow Californian

July 10, 2020May 13, 2020

MacRostie Winery is one of those places that is near and dear to our hearts as we had a chance to personally visit the estate when traveling around Sonoma in early 2019. We were one of the first appointments for the day and got a prime outdoor seat on their patio (complete with complimentary blankets as it was quite cold) and enjoyed our wine with some of the finest views we had on that trip.

We picked up some bottles to take home, one of which was the MacRostie Dutton Ranch Chardonnay 2016. We held off on drinking this one for about a year and cracked into it in mid-2020- just under four years from the point of harvest.