sonoma chardonnay's suitability for indian summer
At its most basic, life is really like an aggregate of bits and pieces of humanity and of the earth, a textured weave of moments in time; a textured weave of ephemera. It is an amusing phenomemon to observe how much of this aggregate for each of us, in each fleeting moment, is molded by our own abstractions. Our subconscious is usually at work to create and maintain a parity for us as life unfolds, a parity among all the elements involved in making up our existences each day. It is like we sometimes pick and choose bits of life to try to create that parity, that symmetry.
I observe this very clearly through the concepts of seasonality, wine and food pairing, and then of course through the aim of a sommelier. Here the abstractions enter to create an experience. In desirable weather or a desirable setting, with each of these concepts we tend to draw in elements to realize an abstraction--subjectively pulling together those bits of ephemera--If one feels spritely and vibrant, then a glass of sparkling wine or a light and exciting white makes sense. Then if weather or context is the opposite, that is, less desirable, we may make more equalizing choices. Here, it may be that one chooses a full bodied red to combat the cold. Of course, not all wine decisions are this clear, which is where intuition of the wine savvy is valuable.
It was that endlessly beautiful, but often beleaguring entrance to fall, when our tempertures swing so dramatically through the course of a day, and humidity levels swing with like volatility. To us on the Coast, this is typical of October; to anyone else it is Indian Summer. Warm in the brilliant sun, chilly in the shade, the middle of the day, with a crisp breeze and equally crisp sunlight. A meeting of warm and cool, a dichotomy. The time of year where reds are overwhelmingly appropriate as soon as dusk approaches, but whites still cling to their favorability from summer in daylight hours. So, amidst October weather like this --clean and clear sunlight, with the tease of warm and cool dissonance --and in an incredibly playful, lighthearted, but frank context with a friend, my subconscious led me to choose a wine I seldom choose with any regularity. But the wine was appropriate : appropriate for my food, for the weather, for the sunlight and the breeze,and somehow appropriate for the frankness of conversation and events of the day. The wine: Alexander Valley Vineyards' 2009 Estate Chardonnay, alongside a duck confit and beet salad. The most luscious setting: Bay St. Louis's Sycamore House .
While I am fully aware of the level of beautiful potential in Chardonnay-based wines, my white choices tend to steer around them. Intuitively, I wanted to pull this wine into my present experience to resonate with that Indian summer experience--the wine did so indeed. This Chardonnay completely picked up the brilliant early fall light outside: a wine bright and energizing, its flavors crystalline, but also one with softened edges. It seemed as though the wine blended seamlessly with the feel of the crisp air, with brisk acidity as its blending agent. Typical Chardonnay flavors took my mind immediately to the freshest of fall fruits-- pears and apples--and lemon peel, but a subtle minerality grounded the fruit, and the fruit was even further tempered with oak. Alexander Valley made this Chardonnay with only 30% of the wine aged in French Oak--a discernable but easily understood presence. This elegant kiss of French oak, a touch of weight, brought this wine into a parallel with fall. Enjoying this wine with my salad supported this parity again--this balance of experience-- a richness in the wine met the duck confit beautifully, the juiciness and acidity in the Chard echoed the vinegarette and the subtle bite of the wild greens of which the salad was made. Beets in my salad fell in step with the mellowed quality of the wine--mellow indeed, however bright and uplifting.
Open conversation and pure enjoyment in the day, an earnesty to the day, just as an earnesty to the wine: an incredibly clear and enthusiastic representation of Sonoma County's Chardonnay fruit. Sonoma County is largely known for its excellent quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay production. As the AVA-- American Viticultural Area, divided further into six valleys-- is subject to dramatic temperature shifts and cooling influences of the Pacific and the Russian River,the grapes result with amazing balance. Similar to those from neightboring Napa, wines from Sonoma feature generous ripeness in the fruit, but are met with brilliant acidity and minerality, as dramatic fluxes in temperature are paramount for grapes. Sonoma wines exist in their own state of parity and balance. One of the world's most prolific wine regions contemporarily, the viticulture did not even begin towards its state of illustriousness until the 1970s.
Alexander Valley Vineyards is situated at the home of the county's namesake (Cyrus Alexander), and thus, there exists Alexander Valley AVA, a Northerly point in Sonoma. The Wetzel family of Alexander Valley Vineyards was an initiating and elevating force in the history of the County's winemaking. While California is imagined immediately as having a warm climate, it does indeed, but relative to other regions in the state, Sonoma is blessed with that geography so conducive to balanced wines. The cooling air from the Pacific Ocean and the Russian River Valley impart a vibrancy, a crispness to ripe fruit flavors.
So enjoying an afternoon meal with this wine, one so energetic with qualities of sunshine but really quite grounding: with such clarifying acid, but at once tempered with delicate French oak aging, I intuitively found a dichotomy in a glass, a dichotomy in that air. I felt as though I was letting my reality--my consciousness--be as it was. No combatting the temperature, neither desperately clinging to the Coastal heat of summer nor treading too far into fall. That is simply where the moment was: a beautiful, calming and fresh moment in Indian Summer, a wonderful candor amongst friends, a lightness, a joy. A wine to maintain balance in this desirable state. A wine straddling two diversities, a diversity and a balance in and of itself. Sonoma Chardonnay built of flavors of ripened orchard fruit, kissed by the light, grazed by the breeze, was a sumptuous match with both the ever so delicately proportioned, luxurious duck confit as well as with the delightful company of a close friend.
I observe this very clearly through the concepts of seasonality, wine and food pairing, and then of course through the aim of a sommelier. Here the abstractions enter to create an experience. In desirable weather or a desirable setting, with each of these concepts we tend to draw in elements to realize an abstraction--subjectively pulling together those bits of ephemera--If one feels spritely and vibrant, then a glass of sparkling wine or a light and exciting white makes sense. Then if weather or context is the opposite, that is, less desirable, we may make more equalizing choices. Here, it may be that one chooses a full bodied red to combat the cold. Of course, not all wine decisions are this clear, which is where intuition of the wine savvy is valuable.
It was that endlessly beautiful, but often beleaguring entrance to fall, when our tempertures swing so dramatically through the course of a day, and humidity levels swing with like volatility. To us on the Coast, this is typical of October; to anyone else it is Indian Summer. Warm in the brilliant sun, chilly in the shade, the middle of the day, with a crisp breeze and equally crisp sunlight. A meeting of warm and cool, a dichotomy. The time of year where reds are overwhelmingly appropriate as soon as dusk approaches, but whites still cling to their favorability from summer in daylight hours. So, amidst October weather like this --clean and clear sunlight, with the tease of warm and cool dissonance --and in an incredibly playful, lighthearted, but frank context with a friend, my subconscious led me to choose a wine I seldom choose with any regularity. But the wine was appropriate : appropriate for my food, for the weather, for the sunlight and the breeze,and somehow appropriate for the frankness of conversation and events of the day. The wine: Alexander Valley Vineyards' 2009 Estate Chardonnay, alongside a duck confit and beet salad. The most luscious setting: Bay St. Louis's Sycamore House .
While I am fully aware of the level of beautiful potential in Chardonnay-based wines, my white choices tend to steer around them. Intuitively, I wanted to pull this wine into my present experience to resonate with that Indian summer experience--the wine did so indeed. This Chardonnay completely picked up the brilliant early fall light outside: a wine bright and energizing, its flavors crystalline, but also one with softened edges. It seemed as though the wine blended seamlessly with the feel of the crisp air, with brisk acidity as its blending agent. Typical Chardonnay flavors took my mind immediately to the freshest of fall fruits-- pears and apples--and lemon peel, but a subtle minerality grounded the fruit, and the fruit was even further tempered with oak. Alexander Valley made this Chardonnay with only 30% of the wine aged in French Oak--a discernable but easily understood presence. This elegant kiss of French oak, a touch of weight, brought this wine into a parallel with fall. Enjoying this wine with my salad supported this parity again--this balance of experience-- a richness in the wine met the duck confit beautifully, the juiciness and acidity in the Chard echoed the vinegarette and the subtle bite of the wild greens of which the salad was made. Beets in my salad fell in step with the mellowed quality of the wine--mellow indeed, however bright and uplifting.
Open conversation and pure enjoyment in the day, an earnesty to the day, just as an earnesty to the wine: an incredibly clear and enthusiastic representation of Sonoma County's Chardonnay fruit. Sonoma County is largely known for its excellent quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay production. As the AVA-- American Viticultural Area, divided further into six valleys-- is subject to dramatic temperature shifts and cooling influences of the Pacific and the Russian River,the grapes result with amazing balance. Similar to those from neightboring Napa, wines from Sonoma feature generous ripeness in the fruit, but are met with brilliant acidity and minerality, as dramatic fluxes in temperature are paramount for grapes. Sonoma wines exist in their own state of parity and balance. One of the world's most prolific wine regions contemporarily, the viticulture did not even begin towards its state of illustriousness until the 1970s.
Alexander Valley Vineyards is situated at the home of the county's namesake (Cyrus Alexander), and thus, there exists Alexander Valley AVA, a Northerly point in Sonoma. The Wetzel family of Alexander Valley Vineyards was an initiating and elevating force in the history of the County's winemaking. While California is imagined immediately as having a warm climate, it does indeed, but relative to other regions in the state, Sonoma is blessed with that geography so conducive to balanced wines. The cooling air from the Pacific Ocean and the Russian River Valley impart a vibrancy, a crispness to ripe fruit flavors.
So enjoying an afternoon meal with this wine, one so energetic with qualities of sunshine but really quite grounding: with such clarifying acid, but at once tempered with delicate French oak aging, I intuitively found a dichotomy in a glass, a dichotomy in that air. I felt as though I was letting my reality--my consciousness--be as it was. No combatting the temperature, neither desperately clinging to the Coastal heat of summer nor treading too far into fall. That is simply where the moment was: a beautiful, calming and fresh moment in Indian Summer, a wonderful candor amongst friends, a lightness, a joy. A wine to maintain balance in this desirable state. A wine straddling two diversities, a diversity and a balance in and of itself. Sonoma Chardonnay built of flavors of ripened orchard fruit, kissed by the light, grazed by the breeze, was a sumptuous match with both the ever so delicately proportioned, luxurious duck confit as well as with the delightful company of a close friend.
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