On Apr 5, 1:04�am, (Hunt) wrote:
> In article .com>,
> says...
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> >Last night with Chicken Picata (Giada's), roasted garlic couscous and
> >grilled veggies I opened a couple of Chards.
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> >1997 Latour Corton Charlemagne-Deep gold in color. *The nose showd a
> >fair amount of raosted hazelnut and a touch of oak. *Quite rich on the
> >palate with pear and golden delicious apple coming through a fairly
> >opulent mouth feel. *Plenty going on and the wine has probably
> >peaked. *No oxidized notes.
> >A- on the Dale Scale.
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> >2000 Domaine Laroche Chablis Les Blanchots-Pale shimmering gold in the
> >glass. *Creamy lemon curd and exotic spices mixed with a thick
> >minerality across the palate. *While a bit tight on the nose, it
> >really opened up on the palate. *A on the Dale Scale
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> >2002 Shafer Red Shoulders Ranch Chardonnay-While this is ususally one
> >of my favorite California Chards, compared to the two French Burgs it
> >was just too much of everything. *Fairly heavy aromas of oak and
> >butter with some orange/lemon marmalade. *Ripe fruits pears, peaches
> >and citrus fruits dominate leaving a mouthcoating heaviness that was
> >almost cloying. *B on the Dale Scale.
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> About the appraisal that I would have expected. The Shafer is very, very high
> on my list too, but I would expect the outcome.
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> Now, I'm really curious how these paired with the Picata. We had a similar
> pairing recently, and I was going to go with a King Estate Reserve Pinot
> Grigio, but could not get to that part of the cellar. I did lesser Puligny-
> Montrachet, and it was good, but not great. I'd have loved to have had a bit
> more citrus and mineral, but would have had to move about 10 cases out, just
> to get there. My second choice was going to be a Sullivan Napa Chard (very
> Montrachet-like), but, again, I could not reach it, so I opted for an older
> Zind-Humbrecht GW. It was surprising, and with a bit of time to open up in the
> glass, did very well.
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> Thanks for the notes,
> Hunt- Hide quoted text -
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> - Show quoted text -

The Shafer is an excellent wine but in the context of the other two it
was almost thick and gloppy while the other two were well balanced.
The Chablis was the best match with the Picata given the lemony/citrus
notes and the zippy acidity which cut through the sauce. It also
complimented the piquant capers which was unexpected.