When in Napa a couple weeks ago a store opened a bottle of Mt. Eden
Chardonnay-Estate Bottled that I tried a sampling of and fell in love with.
They sampled at Room Temp.

Very linear flavor profile. Long pronounced finish. Truly other than El
Molino(a wine I consider my favorite white) one of the nicest whites I have
had.

That said I found this same wine in Porland at a small wine shop that did
quite a bit of business and found the fruit to be off. But I had
refrigerated and it was cold.

So, tonight I tried in Charlotte and it was outstanding. But at room temp.

I drank the Mt Eden the first time at Room Temp vs chilling it down. Why
would some Chard be better at room temp than chilled. Does chilling
diminish the fruit/complexity?

Respectfully.

Dick

Why
would some Chard be better at room temp than chilled. Does chilling
diminish the fruit/complexity?

I'm not much of an expert, but I have found that the flavors tend to be
stronger when wine is warmer. There is more nose, and more... uh...
thickness, to the wine. Chill it and it becomes more crisp, more sharp.

I prefer my reds wamrer for this reason; they are more flavorful.
However, some of the pleasure of white wines is the crispness. The
sharpness lends a bit to the flavors and sometimes the full palate of
flavors at room temperature is overwhelming and blurs the wine. (I
prefer to be blurry =after= the wine.

I would speculate that in some cases, the specific flavors in the wine
don't blur - they complement nicely even when amplified by temperature,
and what you had was an example of this. Perhaps it's a case of having
=fewer= flavors, and thus a cleaner warm palate, sort of like hitting
fewer notes when striking a bass chord as opposed to a chord in the
treble range.

Jose
--
The monkey turns the crank and thinks he's making the music.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Well, my eyesight was definitly blurry after the wine...does that count :-)

dick


"Jose" wrote in message
et...
Why would some Chard be better at room temp than chilled. Does chilling
diminish the fruit/complexity?

I'm not much of an expert, but I have found that the flavors tend to be
stronger when wine is warmer. There is more nose, and more... uh...
thickness, to the wine. Chill it and it becomes more crisp, more sharp.

I prefer my reds wamrer for this reason; they are more flavorful. However,
some of the pleasure of white wines is the crispness. The sharpness lends
a bit to the flavors and sometimes the full palate of flavors at room
temperature is overwhelming and blurs the wine. (I prefer to be blurry
=after= the wine.

I would speculate that in some cases, the specific flavors in the wine
don't blur - they complement nicely even when amplified by temperature,
and what you had was an example of this. Perhaps it's a case of having
=fewer= flavors, and thus a cleaner warm palate, sort of like hitting
fewer notes when striking a bass chord as opposed to a chord in the treble
range.

Jose
--
The monkey turns the crank and thinks he's making the music.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

In article et,
says...

[SNIP]

I drank the Mt Eden the first time at Room Temp vs chilling it down. Why
would some Chard be better at room temp than chilled. Does chilling
diminish the fruit/complexity?

Respectfully.

Dick

Dick,

Not sure exactly what you mean by "room temp," but bigger Chards show much
better when warmer. I usually open these out of the cellar (55F). Lighter,
chrisper whites seem to benefit from a bit more chilling. It really depends on
the wine, but Montrachets, and similar, both domestic and imported really show
their stuff, with a bit of warmth. If the wine is too cool, cup your hands
around the glass (yes, I know, fingerprints, etc., etc.), but give it some
time, and see what develops.

Hunt

Hunt,

Thanks. I have been drinking mostly reds until a New Years party for
99-2000 when we had a hugh bash here at my house. At that time we tasting
sparkling wines. My favorite was a $9.00 spanish cava called xenius. Which
we bought cases of due to the amount of people coming.

The Xenius arrived in late October and freinds came by that got engaged and
we drank some, then other friends had a baby, we drank some...and on when
December was around the corner we had consumer 2 of the 10 cases we felt we
needed. So back to buy more.

We loved this wine and then saw it on TV when they were showing New Years
choices for parties. They did a sparrkling tasting and ours won. GREAT....

We have never seen this wine again.

Morale of story: I spent all my big bucks on reds and ignored whites for
years. Now, I find I missed out and whites can be every bit as enjoyable as
reds.

I just don't quite understand my taste preferances yet on whites and why I
like some over others. Temps, etc.


"Hunt" wrote in message
...
In article et,
says...

[SNIP]

I drank the Mt Eden the first time at Room Temp vs chilling it down. Why
would some Chard be better at room temp than chilled. Does chilling
diminish the fruit/complexity?

Respectfully.

Dick

Dick,

Not sure exactly what you mean by "room temp," but bigger Chards show much
better when warmer. I usually open these out of the cellar (55F). Lighter,
chrisper whites seem to benefit from a bit more chilling. It really
depends on
the wine, but Montrachets, and similar, both domestic and imported really
show
their stuff, with a bit of warmth. If the wine is too cool, cup your hands
around the glass (yes, I know, fingerprints, etc., etc.), but give it some
time, and see what develops.

Hunt

In article et,
says...

Hunt,
[SNIP]
Morale of story: I spent all my big bucks on reds and ignored whites for
years. Now, I find I missed out and whites can be every bit as enjoyable as
reds.

I just don't quite understand my taste preferances yet on whites and why I
like some over others. Temps, etc.


"Hunt" wrote in message
...
In article et,
says...

[SNIP]

There are so many wonderful wines, of ALL colors, that it can be limiting to
just go with one. My wife broke me from the Rose, red rut many years ago, and
introduced me to many excellent sparklers, plus a ton of whites. I have since
developed a taste for more "exotic" whites, than she ever has, but I've also
introduced her to many reds, that she is likely to not have tried, otherwise.
I still cannot get her into NZ SB's, but she does like many "domestic"
products - guess that the grapefruit turns her off a bit. Maybe she did too
many grapefruit diets in college?

While we each have some favorites, I comb the shelves for interesting-sounding
wines from all regions of the globe. I'm not usually looking for truly obscure
wines, or regions, just ones that pair well with my meals, or are enjoyable,
by themselves (yes, I know, one is NOT supposed to just enjoy a wine by
itself... ).

I've been working with my wine group here, to bring them along toward an
appreciation of Roses, and some lighter reds (1er Cru BJ, as per another
thread), but they are kicking and screaming. I guess that the "stigma" of
White Zin scares them off. Life is not just Cab & Chard, but much, much more.

And to your Cava - I have not had that producer's wine, but love many. I lean
a bit (now) toward Tattinger's for the toasty elements, but do a fair amount
of Brut Rose for food pairings. In PHX, one doesn't see that much Cava, but I
keep looking.

Hunt

Agreed...time to venture out.

2 years ago I found I like most Alsace whites excl Gvertz. Do no like
those. But like the Pinot Gris and others.

Will keep trying. When it comes to Chard there are only certain profiles I
seem to care for. Very limited.


"Hunt" wrote in message
...
In article et,
says...

Hunt,
[SNIP]
Morale of story: I spent all my big bucks on reds and ignored whites for
years. Now, I find I missed out and whites can be every bit as enjoyable
as
reds.

I just don't quite understand my taste preferances yet on whites and why I
like some over others. Temps, etc.


"Hunt" wrote in message
...
In article et,
says...

[SNIP]

There are so many wonderful wines, of ALL colors, that it can be limiting
to
just go with one. My wife broke me from the Rose, red rut many years ago,
and
introduced me to many excellent sparklers, plus a ton of whites. I have
since
developed a taste for more "exotic" whites, than she ever has, but I've
also
introduced her to many reds, that she is likely to not have tried,
otherwise.
I still cannot get her into NZ SB's, but she does like many "domestic"
products - guess that the grapefruit turns her off a bit. Maybe she did
too
many grapefruit diets in college?

While we each have some favorites, I comb the shelves for
interesting-sounding
wines from all regions of the globe. I'm not usually looking for truly
obscure
wines, or regions, just ones that pair well with my meals, or are
enjoyable,
by themselves (yes, I know, one is NOT supposed to just enjoy a wine by
itself... ).

I've been working with my wine group here, to bring them along toward an
appreciation of Roses, and some lighter reds (1er Cru BJ, as per another
thread), but they are kicking and screaming. I guess that the "stigma" of
White Zin scares them off. Life is not just Cab & Chard, but much, much
more.

And to your Cava - I have not had that producer's wine, but love many. I
lean
a bit (now) toward Tattinger's for the toasty elements, but do a fair
amount
of Brut Rose for food pairings. In PHX, one doesn't see that much Cava,
but I
keep looking.

Hunt