Had this with the Caesar Salad course at dinner this past Saturday night. Straight pop and pour.
This is NOT your typical Napa/Cali chard as Jean is trying to make something that is both age worthy and yet accesible in its youth. Missing is the big, buttery, in your face oak attack that plagues most Napa Chardonnay. This is more restrained and has more acid to go along with the fruit…which was very clean. Not as steely as a Chablis, but no where at all flabby. Everything was in balance and I will be interested to see how it progresses down the road.
As for a match to the salad, it went very well and wasn’t over powered by the dressing’s acidity or fat content. I guess the best compliment is that Bowden drank all of his glass…let it be known he is a White Burg fan, so this is saying something.
As one of the other parties there to taste this wine I would say this note is quite accurate. I have gotten more and more away from drinking California wines over the last few years, mostly due to the overwhelmingness that some Cali wines can offer. That being said, this isn’t a White Burg by any stretch, but its not a typical cali-chard either. Lacking some acid here, but I would expect this from this vintage.
I would be happy to have some of this in my cellar as I do think it will get better with some bottle age on it.
Jean Hoefliger is the Winemaker-GM at Alpha Omega. We tasted with him back in October and he gave us a very passionate view on his winemaking styles and goals. Count me as a fan.
Met Jean at the winery last week. Great guy and I totally agree about the passion and dedication to his craft.
I tried his chard and also did not find it over oaked or over buttered either. It was definitely Cali but had the minerality and acidity that I liked. It was drinking well. I also like what he is doing with the red blends.
Ramon, I drink very little chardonnay, domestic or otherwise…I have a grand total of four bottles on hand right now. This came in the club shipment and I was quite surprised that I liked it, and that Bowden did as well. I am a huge fan of what they are doing with the reds at AO. If the whites keep on this track, then I might have to actually purchase and cellar some to see how they progress.
I think you both will like the unoaked Chardonnay he does. Not sure if there is a current version or not, but there is another one in the works and it is fantastic.
Thank you for your kind words. It was great to meet some of you and for the tothersd the door is open, always open.
As far as the Chard is concerned my thought is always to find a balance between both world, I try my best that is all I can pretend.
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