Mondavi's Woodbridge Wines

[barnesy]

I will drink riesling over chardonnay almost every time, given a good selection of each. To me, chardonnay has a univeral quality that takes extraordinary land to make it unique. You can take an oaked chard from italy, australia, california, south america or some of the new style french and it will taste the same. Blah!

To me, chardonnay is at its best when its filled with bracing minerality that you find in chablis, but then you have to either look really hard to find a good priced one or take a 2nd or 3rd mortgage out to afford the primo stuff. I love chardonnay in its french stylings of burgundy, as long as its traditional.

But riesling is a true connection to the land. In Alsace, the riesling is bold, powerful and minerally. A few hundred miles to the east, in Germany, it is softer, sweeter, acidic but also conveighs its own minerality. In new zealand, you get a riesling that is different still from the previously mentioned zones, but equally enjoyable.

You had an accurate tasting on the basic Loosen. The mosel wines almost universally have a strong green apple quality to them. The aftertaste was probably due to the mineral notes. Maybe you should step up a notch and try a Kabinett level from Urziger Wurztgarten region of the Mosel. It means the spice garden of Urzig. Or get a gewurtz from Alsace, France. You will get quite the snoot of spice there as well as some bold fruit. Since gewurztraminer means spicey grape.

Barnesy

(prepares to be burned in effigy by the chardophiles.)