2002 Knapp Chardonnay

[californiagirl]

Opened my first bottle from KC on 5/29. (Put this on the wrong forum originally, have to rewrite it.)

KC, IK- I need some help with this one. Very unlike any chardonnay I've had. Palest yellow in color. Taste even harder to describe. Medium body at the most. Green apple w/out the tartness. Slight banana?!?! Oh yeah, also a faint sweetness, more in the after taste.

Why so different? Seemed more like a pinot blanc than a chardonnay.

[Innkeeper]

You must be used to oak bombs. That one wasn't! Chardonnay is one of my favorite white wines so long as it tastes like fruit and not like wood.

[californiagirl]

I really enjoyed it. I don't like alot of oak either. Reminds me of Bartles and James from yesteryear. Yuck.

Is that what chardonnay really tastes like? Pretty sad you can't find much like that out here. 2 out of 3 from Monterey definitely had less oak, but it was still there.

I never used to like chardonnay...

[This message has been edited by californiagirl (edited 05-31-2004).]

[Innkeeper]

Here's my post on one from your neck of the woods: http://wines.com/ubb2/Forum10/HTML/000137.html

[Kcwhippet]

cg - Try some Kim Crawford Unoaked Chardonnay from NZ.

[Kcwhippet]

IK - I checked up on that Travis Chard. It's a wine Dan Kravitz has made for his Hand Picked Selections portfolio. Since he's from Maine, it's no wonder it's available up there, and harder to find elsewhere.

[Thomas]

Yep CG, that is what clean, fresh Chardonnay tastes like. Many people come into my store proclaiming how much they hate Chardonnay, and then they are enlightened by such wines.

As you noticed, the grape offers apple-like (sometimes pear) and a little tropical fruit qualities, when left relatively alone to do its own thing.

The destruction of those fruit qualities isn't only the fault of oak--injudicious application of malo-lactic (secondary) fermentation can strip the bracing acids and turn Chardonnay into butter juice.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 06-01-2004).]

[californiagirl]

It did have pear! I just have a hard time putting what I'm tasting into words. (otherwise I'd probably post more)
I'm reading Andrea Immer right now hoping it will get easier.

Thanks!

[Thomas]

...hoping that reading it will become easier or understanding it???

couldn't resist!

[californiagirl]

Graduated from that there readin' course bout a year ago!
Ahh, but of course the understanding it, I sometimes find it difficult to put the flavors/smells that I get from each varietal into words. Now Judy on the other hand, has a knack for it!
Anyhow, one can never be too short on knowledge

[Kcwhippet]

Judy's talents boggle the mind. She claims to be just a wine drinker and either likes a wine or doesn't, but she's far from that. Though she doesn't try to break the taste down into components, she can recognize them if you mention what you're tasting in the wine, and over the years she's become able to verbalize a larger number of taste components on her own. Totally untutored, and doesn't want to be. She's really good on grape varieties, though. Last week I opened a 2002 Coffaro ZP2C, and without having seen the bottle she said it must be a Coffaro because she could taste a lot of different grapes. I wish I could do that.

[This message has been edited by Kcwhippet (edited 06-02-2004).]

[Georgie]

Ya gotta admire a gal who can taste "by ear!"