As promised, here's the review of the $28 Rombauer Chardonnay. No, I didn't pay for it (I wouldn't have bought it if it were up to me...), but my friend Chris bought it for his birthday! He was willing to share the bottle with me and let me review it for my blog. Thanks bro. :] He strongly disagrees with my practice of drinking white wine at room temperature so he chilled this one before drinking. I usually like to keep whites at room temperature to get a feel for what they taste like without the effect of temperature, despite the fact that they'd probably taste better chilled. Anyways, on to the good stuff:
Chardonnay, 2007
Rombauer Vineyards, California. $28
Consumed: June 29, 2007
Nose: Apple, hints of longan (a tropical fruit from South China/South East Asia); a very prominent fruity aroma that reminds me of smelling pure apple juice. Palette: Fruitiness (exactly like the aroma), transitions into tannins, tannins disappear quickly, leaving a short-lived, slightly buttery aftertaste. Very smooth, simple, extremely easy to drink.
The only other chardonnay I've had was the Yellowtail chardonnay, and that didn't leave a good impression on me. I've heard that Yellowtail's stuff was bottom of the barrel, so I wasn't surprised. However, this Rombauer was the complete opposite, in my opinion - extremely easy to drink, much more expensive. There's a bit of a catch to this contrast though: the Rombauer was cooled, the Yellowtail was not. Since I drink my white wine at room temperature, a few of my roommates have been telling me that this is the wrong way to go about it. Upon further research on the internet, I've concluded that the coldness simply hides imperfections in the wine, and thus cheaper wines taste better. I'm sure if I chilled the Yellowtail, it would have not been so terrible for me.
The crisp apple is characteristic of chardonnays. The tannins weren't too harsh and they faded quickly anyways. What I didn't like about this wine was that for close to thirty bucks, it was simple. A bit too simple - no depth, no shifting flavors, very straightforward. Chris said it was "high quality simplicity", where the subtleness of the quality really shines. He also said that it had the perfect amount of fruitiness without going overboard, making it delicious and drinkable. He liked this more than I did, but he's been drinking whites for a long time. Maybe I just need more experience with Chardonnays?
Final Verdict: Fruity, extremely easy to drink. Stay away from this one though, it's too pricey for what it's worth... unless you're trying to impress. While quite nice to drink, it's too boring - I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed by it. I'd pay $15-18 for this wine, nothing more. I'm sure there are white wines out there that are equally easy to drink, but without the price tag.
I always like to chill my wines before I drink them. I guess it was intrinsic awareness about how temperature can control the noticeable imperfections in the wine *shrugs*
ReplyDeleteThis is really pricey though; I got a handle of goldschlagger for about the same price, but I suppose it's the apples and oranges business lol
Yeah, I realized that if I bought nice $40 bottles of scotch every month, it'd be cheaper than wine LOL. Whatever though, wine is more fun. And yeah, you can't compare wine to hard alcohol, they're just in completely different worlds... though we can talk hard alcohol too if you want, I'm quite knowledgable on that too :]
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