WTN: Quintessential California Chardonnay

2005 Grgich Hills, Chardonnay, Napa Valley, California, $40, 31,861 cases. Sporting a brilliant gold color, the wine displays a complex nose – pears, honey, lemon creams and toast. It is full and lush in the mouth, with an acidic backbone that carries the wine with style. Complexity and balance is what it’s all about here. This is not my style of wine, but I can appreciate it for what it is; 92/92.

In the early 90s I was working frequently in California. I had just turned 30 and my drinking style was finaly transitioning from beer driven college behavior into something a little more refined - wine.

I was drinking mostly mass market chardonnay when one time at dinner an older colleague said I had to try this grgich chard - and the rest is history. It was the first time I noticd how different - and better - wines can be. I still buy a bottle of Grgich now and again.

It was the first time I noticd how different - and better - wines can be.

John, my defining moment was in Napa Valley as well -- a bottle of 1980 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Lemmon-Chabot Vineyard. Sadly I find most current Beringer wines too oaky for my preference.

John, my defining moment was in Napa Valley as well -- a bottle of 1980 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Lemmon-Chabot Vineyard. Sadly I find most current Beringer wines too oaky for my preference.

My (our) defining moment was in December, '77 with a bottle of '67 Lafite. Another one I liked from that period was the '74 Raymond Cabernet Sauvignon.

With California wines the red for me was a Ridge Lytton Springs and the white was a Sonoma Cutrer Cutrer Vineyard (how about that Hoke?)
Internationally it was a Montrachet (delivered by mistake when the wine class educator was looking for an example of the region-- i.e., Chassagne-Montrachet or Puligny-Montrachet) and possibly a Clos de Beze or Bonnes Mares.

Dear Randy,

By coincidence, I just tried that wine Saturday afternoon. I was much less impressed, it wasn't overdone with butter or oak, but still seemed clumsy with OK flavors but certainly not worth anywhere near the price offered.

The circumstances of this tasting were odd, to say the least. My Safeway now has a tasting bar, so I showed my ID to the bouncer (in Safeway?) and tried the current releases of Grgich chardonnay, merlot, and cabernet sauvignon. Then, I went over and had Mike Grgich sign my bottle. He was in high spirits, chatting about his wines to anyone who would listen. He didn't have much to say about the Zinfandel plantings in Croatia, though.

Walt

I was much less impressed, it wasn't overdone with butter or oak, but still seemed clumsy with OK flavors but certainly not worth anywhere near the price offered...Then, I went over and had Mike Grgich sign my bottle.

So you were unimpressed with the wine but still purchased a bottle?

Or did you have him sign something else you had in the cart..

Dear Rahsaan,
Sorry, I should have been more clear. I really liked the merlot: 14.3%. Extraordinary balance, structured, dense core of fruit, backed with acidity. In my opinion, superior to the correct but less interesting cabernet. Not a great value, but well worth it to get a signed bottle from an icon of American wine. Very Good.
Walt

[Jenise]

The circumstances of this tasting were odd, to say the least. My Safeway now has a tasting bar, so I showed my ID to the bouncer (in Safeway?)

How different we live. The lone Safeway in our area is in ultra-conservative Lynden, 12 miles away. It will probably be the last Safeway in the universe, or at least the universe outside of Utah, to get a tasting bar: they actually close the wine and beer aisle with yellow/black barricade tape on Sundays.

How different we live. The lone Safeway in our area is in ultra-conservative Lynden, 12 miles away. It will probably be the last Safeway in the universe, or at least the universe outside of Utah, to get a tasting bar: they actually close the wine and beer aisle with yellow/black barricade tape on Sundays.

Hah! Don't you love that? In Cleveland they had the booze covered with plastic sheeting until noon or so on Sundays.

Safeway is more or less turning into a quasi-Whole Foods, at least in Livermore. Wine tasting, sushi to order, bread made and baked on site, oh, and a refrigerated wine room with badly overpriced wine. Yours might be the last, but I bet it will happen eventually.

My sister lives up in Oak Harbor, and she never mentioned the conservatism. Maybe all the alcoholics at Whidbey Island NAS keep them at bay.

Walt

[Jenise]

My sister lives up in Oak Harbor, and she never mentioned the conservatism. Maybe all the alcoholics at Whidbey Island NAS keep them at bay.

Walt

Regionally speaking, Western Washington's not conservative but there are pockets, and Lynden is religiously conservative of the Dutch Calvinist variety. Since that's the town's chief drawing card, that store won't change. But I was in a Safeway just outside of Portland a few months ago which was more the type of Safeway you mention, complete with a grand piano in the eat-in deli.

Walt -

The best tasting bar in the Sacramento area back in the late '90's was a Safeway in Davis. The guy who ran the wine department had carte blanche over his choice of distributors and such. Most Saturdays, I'd head to the tasting bar with a couple of friends and we'd go through whatever they had. We tried everything from cheap Chilean wines to first growth Bordeaux. Sadly, it all ended when Safeway made a corporate decision to centralize all of their wine buying. The last tasting was amazing, with bottles of Diamond Creek, Lafite, etc. getting poured. The next day, there was a huge sell-off. I missed it, but I heard that several other wine merchants showed up at opening time and filled numerous carts with wine. All very sad.

With luck, the Livermore store will keep going for many happy tastings to come.