Search Results for: chardonnay

Wine tasting with Matthew Horbund at Himmarshee Bar and Grille

Guests at Himmarshee Bar and Grille Twineup January 2010 It’s hard to believe that I’ve been host to five amazing food and wine events at Fort Lauderdale’s Himmarshee Bar and Grille. The old addage “Time Flies When You’re Having Fun” certainly applies in this case.  We’ve managed to bring together some of the most fun people…

New Grapes in the New Year – Carmenere and Albarino

Happy New Year! Though I didn’t make many resolutions this year, one of my goals is to finish my journey into the Wine Century Club, as each member has drank 100 different wine varietals. I started logging the wines I drank, cataloging each different grape the wines were made from, back in October 2008. Sadly,…

Wines that work for your holiday party and budget

Talking Wine on CBS 12 WPEC I love sharing great wine information with anyone who’s interested. Today I was on CBS 12, WPEC, in West Palm Beach, and spoke about four wines that I think work for almost any holiday party.  While we only covered two of the four wines on the segment, I’ll tell…

Do you know the way to Michel-Schlumberger

While the American Viticultural Area, or AVA, of Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma is synonymous with Zinfandel, there’s a lot of great wine coming from this area that you shouldn’t miss. To raise your awareness of what wines you can enjoy from Dry Creek Valley, I took a trip to three wineries in September, filming television…

Not another ordinary white wine – Sobon Estate Viognier 2008

One of the things that excites me about wine is the variety that is available. While many people don’t know there are white wines other than Chardonnay available, I love it when the opportunity to enjoy Riesling from Dr Loosen, Aligote from Steele Wines or a nice Viognier arises. Viognier is a very versatile wine,…

Himmarshee Bar and Grille Fort Lauderdale Wine Event

Twineup2 Will Be Oct 17, 2009 – The first Wine Tweetup – or Twineup – was a tremendous success. We had over 40 people show up at Himmarshee Bar & Grille to taste three different wines, paired with items on the appetizer menu. Guests had the opportunity to taste Bennett Family Russian River The Reserve…

Undurraga T.H. Sauvignon Blanc 2008

There is no doubt that when the weather heats up, Robin & I reach for white wine more frequently than red. As luck would have it, the PR folks of Wine Of Chile sent me some samples of Chilean Sauvignon Blanc wines to try and talk about. This week we got to try the 2008…

WBW 56 – Kosher Wine review

Chardonnay Wine Review – Kosher Wines for Wine Blogging Wednesday from Matthew Scott on Vimeo. It’s time for another Wine Blogging Wednesday installment. This month’s topic comes from The Cork Dork, and he’s picked Kosher Wines, to coincide with month’s celebration of the Jewish holiday of Passover. For those of you who aren’t Jewish, please…

Chillin with Chile – Caliterra Reserva Sauvignon Blanc

There is no doubt that I feel wines from Chile offer tremendous value. While many of you probably cut your “Red Wine Teeth” on Merlot or Zinfandel as first red wines, I was purchasing Chilean Carmenere two or three times a week when I first started drinking red wine. I always felt that for the money, you got a great wine with complex flavors while being very approachable.  That’s why I am very excited that I’ve got a shipment of 12 different wines from Chile to drink and discuss with you.  The first wine I had was Caliterra‘s Reserva Sauvignon Blanc 2008, and I’m excited to talk about it!

The name Caliterra is a fusion of words, calidad which means quality and tierra which means land.  Additionally, the winery was a fusion of the Robert G. Mondavi family and Viña Errázuriz, in 1996.  In 2004 Viña Errázuriz acquired the Robert Mondavi family’s 50% share in Caliterra, with the goal to craft premium environmentally friendly wines from one of the world’s most important winegrowing regions. It looks like the Caliterra Blog is just getting started, but it’s one I expect to visit.

Chile is the South American country occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. This wine hails from the Casablanca Valley, which is closer to the Pacific ocean than the Andes, approximately midway between the northern and southern boarders. During the “vegetative period” in the growth cycle, the temperature maxes out at 68 degrees (F) which helps create excellent growing conditions for Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. The US brought in over 6.2 million nine-liter cases of Chilean wine in 2008, making it the 4th largest imported wine in America. Ahead of Chile (in order) are Italy, Australia, and France. The next closest countries are Argentina (3.8 million nine-liter cases) and Spain (3.6 million nine-liter cases).

My tasting notes on this Chilean wine are in the short wine vlog below, but I’d like to make one small comment before you watch it.  It occurred to me that using words like “acid” in describing a wine may cause a negative reaction in someone who’s just being introduced to wine.  When I mention the acidity of the wine, please think of the acid you’d find in a pineapple, or citrus. It’s not battery acid, at least not in this wine! While some Sauvignon Blanc wines will have bright citrus fruit, the Caliterra definitely has more of a minerality to it than fruit, but it’s really nice.  With 13% ABV, it’s made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc grapes, the wine is cold fermented and unoaked, aged on yeast lees. It’s similar in some respects to the Secreto Sauvignon Blanc, which is also from the Casablanca Valley in Chile.

Chillin with Chile – Caliterra Reserva Sauvignon Blanc from Matthew Scott on Vimeo.

In trying to help you with food and wine pairings, we had the Caliterra Reserva 2008 Sauvignon Blanc with a chicken ceasar salad. It was a nice compliment to the meal, and actually the wine overshadowed the meal.  For about $12 retail, I’d have no problem serving this wine at a summer party. I can see a bucket, brimming with ice, and loaded with this great value wine from Chile in my backyard sometime soon. We’d probably serve cheeses and maybe shrimp cocktail  or grilled shrimp with a citrus/garlic marinade. And you can be sure, everyone would have a good time with wine!

Summer Time, Summer Wine – C.B.S.B

Since it’s summer time, I thought we’d go with another nice, backyard sipper to beat the heat. I’m not an a-typical white wine only in summer kind of guy. However, I came across a few good Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc wines that I want to share, and will do so with abandon! Today’s review…