A Few Words about Chardonnay

Let me tell you, an International Wine Sleuth's job is not all strawberries & cream. As I'm writing this blogpost, I'm sipping a Californian chardonnay, bought from my local Safeway store from a choice of over 200 chardonnays, whilst sitting in the den of our Dublin apartment lunching on a toasted bagel topped with cream cheese and smoked salmon.

Once the most popular of white wine grapes, chardonnay suffered a backlash due its very popularity (in 2002 there were 54 British babies named Chardonnay and another 14 called Chardonay), and an over-production of well-oaked table wines, chiefly from the Californian Central Valley, and so the ABC (anything but chardonnay) movement was born.

It's time to rehabilitate this wine.

From my perspective there are 3 basic kinds of chardonnay wine:

• First up are the wines from Chablis, the northernmost wine district of the Burgundy region in France. You'll often hear the adjectives 'flinty' and 'steely' applied to Chablis, since the vines are grown in well-drained chalky and limestone districts and see vitually no oak in the making, being vinified in stainless steel tanks. So essentially a very dry wine.
• Secondly, at the other end of the scale, the wines from the Cote d'Or and specifically Meursault are grown in topsoil of up to 6ft on top of the limestone and sometimes aged in oak. The two adjectives often used to describe Meursault chardonnays are 'buttery' and 'full'.
• Thirdly, the New World Chardonnays. I think of these lying between the first two types, although this of course is a massive generalisation. In some cases the wines are matured in French or American Oak barrels to give a firmer, fuller flavour. Thankfully, most New World wine makers are now more subtle in their use of oak, producing anything from steely, flinty wines to those emulating the buttery and full Meursaults.

Just up the road from Dublin, CA is the Wente vineyard in Livermore. Now Wente developed the Chardonnay clone that was use to introduce the grape variety in Californian vineyards throughout the 1940s, so I was interested to taste their basic version. Wente's estate grown chardonnay is called Morning Fog, and was the perfect compliment to my lunch. It has aromas and flavors of green apple and tropical fruits, balanced by subtle oak, with a touch of cinnamon and vanilla from barrel aging. This wine retails at about £7 per bottle. My plan is to visit Wente soon, and you can be sure I'll report back with my finding.

At the Hogget we've selected four chardonnays for your enjoyment:

1. Concho Y Toro Chandonnay. 100% Chardonnay, gently oaked with a dry finish and tropical fruit aromas. Excellent with white fish, white meat, lightly-sauced shellfish and salmon.
2. Libertad Chardonnay/Chenin Blanc. Nicolas Catena has played the captain's role in modernisation and internationalisation of the Argentinean wine industry, and his Argento company produces this wine for the restaurant trade. Here you'll find a smooth wine with vibrant fruit flavours of peach and pear. A good table wine, but not typical of Chardonnay due to the partnering with Chenin Blanc.
3. Tyrrell's Old Winery Chardonnay. From the Hunter Valley region of Australia. Notice the stone fruit flavours with vanilla oak overtones. A medium bodied wine perfect with chicken, seafood and pasta.
4. Chablis Domaine Bois D'Yver. A light, fresh and very dry Chardonnay with the flinty, steely qualities typical of the Chablis area. Good fruit with a bright colour and excellent acidity. Particularly good with shellfish.

Just off for my afternoon nap, back with more sleuthing news next week.

Pete

Can alcohol be part of a healthy lifestyle?

Here at The Hogget, alcohol is a large part of our life. Our temperature controlled cellar is given over to the storing of beers, wines, sprits, and yes mixers and fruit juices too. Our cellar is there to deliver well kept beverages to your table for your maximum enjoyment.

But what of health? Is alcohol unremittingly bad for you? Research suggests that this is not so, and as more research comes in, the more we find that alcohol, in moderate amounts, is actually good for you. And the older you get, the better it gets. Let me explain.

Several research studies in the US have indicated that alcohol, and wine in particular, is one of the key five habits for a healthy lifestyle. For your interest, the others are: not smoking; at least 30 minutes of exercise daily; avoiding becoming obese; and following a healthy diet, rich in fruits, vegeatbles, grains and fish - all of which of course, you'll find on The Hogget's menu.

The conclusion of this research is that moderate alcohol consumption lowers the risk of heart disease, heart attacks and strokes, even for those with an already healthy lifestyle, and refutes the suggestion that moderate drinkers enjoy better health only because of they already have a healthy lifestyle.

Now, what about the geriatric angle? Numerous studies, from the US, Australia, China and the Mediterranean suggest that people over 60 who consume one or two alcoholic drinks daily are more likely to be in good health than non-drinkers. Dementia is shown to be reduced for light to moderate drinkers compared with non drinkers; cognitive function in Hispanics over 65 showed higher scores for moderate drinkers, and research has also showed that moderate consumption of red wine slows the symptoms of Alzheimers.

In a surprising result from a US study (look up Mukamel et al on Google) of US adults over 65, the lowest risk of strokes was in the heaviest drinking group, i.e. those drinking more than 14 drinks a week!

To balance this, the same study concluded that binge drinking, i.e. those consuming three or more drinks within 2 hours had a twofold risk of mortality compared to non binge drinkers.

The bottom lines appears to be that moderate drinking is more likely to be beneficiual than not, and that moderate drinking is more or less aligned to Her Majesty's Government's advice, which is:

The Department of Health advises that men should not drink more than three to four units of alcohol per day, and women should drink no more than two to three units of alcohol per day.

Based on the research presented above, I believe that drinking in moderation has many benefits, particularly for us older people, and where better to drink than The Hogget?

Cheers!

The Hogget's erstwhile sommelier prepares for the New World

The summer menu at The Hogget went live today, and I've only got 2 more weeks to propose wine matches for it, before I become the Hogget's Californian wine advisor.

I'll start with the ever reliable Stump Jump from d'Arenberg, this GSM (Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre) compliments our Roasted Rump of Lamb so well it'll seem that the match was made in a foodie's paradise. This Rhone blend is well known for its pairing with Lamb, Roasted Red meats, Charcuterie, Duck and Roasted or Grilled Pork, so it'll work well with our Sunday Roasts.

We also have another great blend from the d'Arenberg stable, the popular Hermit Crab. Another classic Rhone combination of Marsanne and Viognier, this will provide an ideal accompanimant for seafood salads, shellfish served with lemon and white fish dishes. So feel free to drink it with our Lobster, Lemon Sole or Crayfish Salad.

And don't forget our house wines, the best selling St Etalon Sauvignon Blanc, a deliciously dry Vin de Pays d'Oc, and the rustic Lamura Nero d'Avola, the Sicilian equivalent of a New World Shiraz. Both of these great value wines have their aficionados, and will soon find a place in your favourites list.

Until next time...

Pete