Category Archives: Chardonnay

Okanagan Winery Visit: O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars Wine Review Chardonnay

Posted on November 16, 2020 by waywardwine

Hello! Follow me through Canada’s famed Okanagan Valley and check out the most extreme wines of the North. Today’s example, newcomer: O’Rourke’s Peak Cellars and their Chardonnay. Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Chardonnay, EMPTIED BOTTLES | Tagged bc, british columbia, bus, Canada, Canadian Boarder, Cave, cellars, chardonnay, construction, drink, Fine Vintage, Lake, O'Rourke, Okanagan, Okanagan Valley, Orourkes Peak, pinot noir, travel, vineyards, wine, Winery, WSET, WSET 4 | Leave a comment

Wine Review: Philippe Colin, Premier Cru, Chassagne-Montrachet, France “Les Chenevottes” 2012

Posted on October 5, 2020 by waywardwine

Philippe Colin is a terroir-ist. He produces up to 25 wines a year, mostly drawn from 13 hectares (32 acres) of single plots in Chassagne-Montrachet: Burgundy’s central heart of golden, powerful Chardonnay (and some Pinot Noir). He would make more if possible. Colin has shifted from traditional 228 litres to 450 and 500 litres oak barrels, 20 to 25% of which are new, to not overwhelm the fruit with wood. Continue reading →

Posted in Chardonnay, EMPTIED BOTTLES | Tagged 2012, barrels, Burgundy, butter, chardonnay, Chassagne-Montrachet, citrus, colin, drink, France, Philippe Colin, Premier Cru, terroir, wine, wine review | Leave a comment

Rock’In Bottle

Posted on February 2, 2019 by waywardwine

Want more minerality in your wine? Somehow this bottle of bright, chalky, organic white Burgundy also trapped a piece of gravel in its glass base: It looks like the wine should be fine…we’ll see.

Posted in Chardonnay, EMPTIED BOTTLES | Tagged bottle, Burgundy, rock, wine | Leave a comment

Canadian Chardonnay Eh!? Vancouver Island Wine Tour #1

Posted on August 26, 2018 by waywardwine

Check here over the next few weeks, I am touring Vancouver Island’s wines, ciders, and beer.

Wife, kid, and I (sounds like a musical) have driven a day to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. And yes, they grow enough grapes here to claim a Vancouver Island appellation or VQA. Sure, vines only started in 1992, today boasting 432 planted acres and 32 wineries (even Oregon’s tiny Willamette Valley claims 19,000 acres and over 500 wineries). But what that youth and extremely small scale means, however, is focus: most wineries are estate only, often organic, and handled by families from vineyard to bottle. Continue reading →

Posted in Chardonnay, Uncategorized | Tagged Canada, chardonnay, Cheese, Food, grapes, travel, trips, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, wine, Wolff Estate | 6 Comments

Thirsty Thursday: Olivier Leflaive, Les Setilles, Bourgogne Blanc, France 2011

Posted on June 5, 2014 by waywardwine

This Thirsty Thursday we drink Chardonnay. Wait! No! Keep reading! I lied. It is not Chardonnay, it is magnificent, fabulous, white Burgundy.

Now, yes, white Burgundy must be Chardonnay. But you try and grow any grape in Burgundy. Any grape. No matter how hard you try, the resultant wine will taste of Burgundy. Why?

The weather in this eastern French valley sucks. The soil sucks. Vineyards are smaller than American homes. Traditions and rules are painfully restrictive. Wine-making is stuck in the past. And everyone looks pale, angry, and old. Continue reading →