chardonnay
2023 Cellar 13 Chardonnay – Award Winning Chardonnay With A Heritage
Photo courtesy of Cellar 13
The Winery
Cellar 13 is owned by Darin Winton and “13” is Darin’s lucky number and thus the name of the winery. Also, Darin’s heritage is Cherokee Indian and many of the wine names reflect the native language. Even before retiring from a local municipality, Darin got his start doing volunteer work at 3 Steves Winery in Livermore on his vacation, since he enjoyed their wines and even volunteered for two weeks in Chile during harvest. There he learned “old world” techniques in winemaking, especially for Carménère. The fascination of harvesting by hand and using gravity to move wine around aroused his curiosity. In 2017, this winery where he was doing his training, allowed him to make a few small batches of wine with Livermore Valley fruit. He is indebted to 3 Steves Winery for allowing him to experience winemaking from the ground up and their subtle oversight and tutelage. Pictured below is Darin and Gail Henderson, his fiancée who assists in the marketing and sales for Cellar 13.
Photo from Cellar 13
Just two years later in 2019, his 2017 Chardonnay won Double Gold at the San Francisco Wine Competition – a real accomplishment and validation for his new venture. So now in 2023 he has won the following awards for his Chardonnay:
* 2017 Chardonnay – Double Gold – 2019 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
* 2018 Chardonnay – Gold Medal Winner 94 points – 2023 Sunset International Wine Competition
* 2019 Chardonnay – Best in Class Winner – 2021 Livermore Valley Uncorked Wine Competition (Best Chardonnay in Livermore), Gold Medal Winner – 2021 SF Chronicle Wine Competition
Recently he won the following awards/score from Sunset International Wine Competition:
Photo from Cellar 13
In 2017 Darin produced 180 cases and in 2019 production increased to 475 cases. Beyond 2020, Darin has created a wine club and in 2023 produced about 800 cases. He has introduced many new wines into his portfolio (Albariño, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and both white and red blends. All his wines are winning awards from various organizations! He is a man on mission to bring some extraordinary wines to market in a very short time!
The Wine – “Wine is bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This is the 4th vintage of Cellar 13’s award winning Chardonnay. It was aged 8 months in 20% new French oak, 60% in neutral oak and 20% in stainless steel. The wine provided a good acidity and balance with the fruit. The grapes came from the Kalthoff Common vineyard in Livermore AVA.
First, on the eyes a medium tone of gold glistened in the glass for the fresh and clean Chardonnay. The wine had a medium viscosity with a slight bent towards medium-heavy. On the nose unmistakenly green apples rose to meet the imbiber. On the palate the same green apples were the dominant taste in the mouth. Secondary flavors were debated during the meal as being similar to a faint Sauvignon Blanc with lemon and even lime being present in restrained quantities. On the finish only a hint of oak with an earthy and stone fruit providing a complete finish.
The wine is 13.9% alcohol and sells for $33/bottle.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The food pairing was a lemon chicken dish with lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, white wine and butter. Accompanied by long and short grain rice and sautéed snap peas. The wine paired extremely well with the lemon chicken and the fresh zesty Chardonnay for a very nice meal.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
That said, I was really looking forward to dessert! A freshly made pineapple upside down cake made the meal complete! Note: the wine was not paired with the cake!
Sláinte,
Michael
A Food and Wine Pairing Dilemma
The Set Up
Last evening the wife prepared a Spinach, Dried Tomato, Feta cheese stuffed chicken breast. As is our custom to select a wine to go with the meal it was no easy process. Chicken is usually a straightforward selection with Chardonnay or other well-known whites being the go-to wine of choice. However, a pairing with sundried tomatoes with Chardonnay is a known “no-no”! Tomato and tomato sauce-based foods go well with Chianti, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc. Wine that are rich in tannins and high acidity are the wines known as the best companions. The dilemma being to pair wine with the chicken or the ingredients of spinach, dried tomatoes and feta cheese? Would like to hear your thoughts on which you would choose to pair it with? We ended up choosing a soft Pinot Noir and it worked very well.
Background on Pinot Noir
The name Pinot Noir derives from the French word’s “pine” and “black” as the grape’s tight pinecone clusters and dark color. Pinot Noir has origins dating back to the first century AD. Roman’s most likely expanded the plantings of Pinot Noir during their empire reign. The phylloxera crisis devastated vineyards across France and did not spare Pinot Noir. In the following years, many Pinot Noir clones were introduced with each having specific attributes including resistance to certain diseases, yield levels, distinct aromatics and flavor profiles. The most notable clones and commonly found today are 115, 667 and 777.
Geographically, California Pinot Noir presents more upfront fruit flavors, ripeness and a fuller body due to the warmer climate. Oregon cooler climate has a subtler fruit with pronounced earthy and mineral qualities.
In California Pinot Noir is the second largest planting of red wine grapes being 16% of the acreage (46,134). Number one being Cabernet Sauvignon with 92,364 or 33%. Zinfandel and Merlot follow with 37,601 and 32,978 respectively from the 2023 United State Agriculture Statistics Report. The latest numbers show Pinot Noir being the 5th most planted red wine grape in the world.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The grapes for this Pinot Noir come from the Nella Terra vineyard located at the top of the Sunol grade with views of San Francisco Bay. This area gets the cool breezes from the San Francisco Bay in the late afternoon and is typically much cooler than Livermore Valley, but both being in Alameda County.
On the eyes a semi-transparent ruby red coloring and medium viscosity. On the nose red berries and tart cranberries are predominant. On the palate the wine provides a mouthful feeling of texture along with the strawberry and cherry fruits. On the finish, the tartness pepper and clove. We chose this wine as it was one of the “softer Pinot’s” in the cellar.
This inaugural wine was available on July 18th for their summer release event. Only 65 cases were produced. Aged 9 months in 100% neutral French barrels. One unique process was saving about 10-15% of the grapes as full grape clusters without destemming. This was added to the destemmed fruit for fermentation to increase the complexity and fruitiness of the wine. The wine is $50/bottle.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Paired with a sliced chicken breast stuffed with Feta cheese, fresh spinach, sun dried tomato and first seared in a skillet and then baked. Ingredients included kosher salt, paprika, garlic powder, chopped baby spinach, chopped sundried tomatoes in oil, crumbled feta cheese, shallot, minced garlic, chopped fresh basil, panko, fresh oregano, grated Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Accompanied by a spinach salad with bacon, red onion slivers and baby spinach with stems removed. The dressing was prepared with a small portion of bacon grease, red wine vinegar, sugar, Dijon mustard and salted to taste. Also, jasmine rice was plated.
The texture of the chicken, both from the skillet and being baked filled the palate. The flavors of the other ingredients provided complementary and contrasting flavors that circle the mouth with satisfaction. It turned out to be a very good food and wine pairing.
Would like to know other suggestions?
Sláinte,
Michael
2022 Cakebread Chardonnay – A Consistently Solid Chardonnay
Background
A long-standing solid wine for me since 1981. It was then, through a mutual friend, Jack invited my wife and I to have lunch with him at the winery and that was my introduction to this fine winery. Forty-three years later, I have consistently purchase Cakebread Chardonnay at restaurants as it is always a good quality wine.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This wine is from the Napa Carneros region with the cooling winds coming off San Pablo Bay. The wine is aged in French oak barrels and left on the yeast lees for months to add to the complexity and texture. The bouquet is light and fresh with honeysuckle and stone fruit. An extremely crisp and rich wine with a clean finish.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Fast forward to last week’s Friday Night Wine & Dine group, I ordered the special which was a pan roasted Swordfish with fennel relish, rice pilaf and sauteed seasonal vegetables. Did not have a Chardonnay at the ready, so ordered this good standby wine from the wine list. Besides the meal being very well prepared, this wine brought back so many memories. Wine is always about a place, time, friends and food and this sure was enjoyable.
An excellent food and wine pairing!
Slainte,
Michael
2022 Raeburn Sonoma County Chardonnay – Perfect Warm Weather Chardonnay
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Winery
Photo ©Michael Kelly
A friend recommended I try a reasonably priced Chardonnay that he felt was a solid everyday wine. That wine is Raeburn Wines with the winery inspired by Phyllis Benham. Derek Benham founded the winery in 2014 paying homage to Phyllis. Phyllis, an avid outdoors person, always focusing on bird watching conservation. Those two traits are the essential core of Raeburn. Her legendary bird watching inspired the Raeburn label of the egret which was heading towards extinction in the 1990’s. Human intervention and care can change the course and assist in the preservation of nature.
Photo from Raeburn’s Facebook page
For their wine making, Derek tries to appreciate nature’s gifts and to leave well enough alone when selecting the grapes. Their goal is rather than engineer the winemaking process in Derek’s words “guide the grapes towards the best version of themselves”. That motif coincides with the Old English word Raeburn meaning “the river where one drinks”. While drinking at the river one is to observe and appreciate nature’s surroundings.
Today Raeburn Winery produces Rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, High Flier Pinot Noir, their Sonoma County Chardonnay and High Flier Chardonnay.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The 2022 Sonoma County Chardonnay acknowledges a classic California Chardonnay. It was rated 90 points by Wine Enthusiast and 91 points by James Suckling. The wine is available at various retail outlets and shows a list price of $22.99. However, several large wine retailers and shops significantly discount the price to the $15-16 range making this an ideal “everyday Chardonnay”!
First on the eyes a light golden and energetic wine in the glass with a medium viscosity. On the nose, with aromas of pear being dominate with intensity. On the palate, the wine shines with complexity of minerality, brioche and almond. On the finish a heavy and mouth filling wine delights the culmination of the partaking of this wine. Structured and with slight oak tones but not over the top oak flavors. This balanced with a creaminess and slight vanilla provides a delicious Chardonnay. This wine comes in at 14% alcohol.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
This wine was chosen to go with this evening dinner of baked Swiss cheese chicken and a twice baked potato. A fresh chopped salad, not shown, also accompanied the meal. The food pairing was spot on bringing forth the wine characteristics without engulfing the wine.
Going forward will need to taste Raeburn’s Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon.
Sláinte,
Michael
2022 Vermilion Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir Rosé – A Delightful Surprise!
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The Winery
Picture from Vermilion Valley Vineyards
Recently I have authored several stories on Vermilion Valley Vineyards and The Winerie at Sandusky (both labels are the same ownership and winemaker). The Vermilion Valley story was on how delicious their Pinot Noir and who knew that quality of Pinot Noir could be grown in Ohio.
The second story was on a wine seldom seen in California that many have never tasted, Lemberger wine.
https://californiawinesandwineries.com/2024/03/10/the-winerie-at-sandusky-2021-lemberger-wine
Vermilion Valley Vineyards has one hundred planted acres in four different locations. With microclimates, this allows all his wines to be 100% estate grown. What is interesting about Ohio is that 370 wineries exist but only nine hundred acres of grapes are planted! Doing the simple math, removing the five largest vineyards in the state, you are left with each winery having a one-acre parcel! Thus, many wineries in Ohio rely on importing juice from various areas like the Central Valley of California and Washington. That is one of the unique characteristics of Vermilion Valley Vineyards and their estate wines.
Currently they produce the following red wines: Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Dorsa, Cabernet Sauvignon, Lemberger, Chambourcin, Dornfelder, Nebbiolo, Malbec, Pinotage, and Merlot. Ditto for their white wines producing: Muscat Ottonel, Riesling. Gruner Veltliner, Müller-Thurgau, Traminette, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer, Valvin Muscat, Ribola Gialla, Petit Manseng, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Albariño, Pinot Blanc and Arneis. That is a wide variety of wines and all estate grown!
You can read their webpage about their important level of sustainability incorporating land use and their buildings. Link at the bottom of the page
The Wine – “Wine is bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
In full disclosure, any Rosé is not my go to type of wine. I don’t have any in my cellar and have never purchased a Rosé. So now I am writing about this one! Joe had sent me this bottle and I held off opening it as long as I could to taste it, and if good I would write about it. I now wasted a complete summer not enjoying this delicious wine!
First on the eyes a translucent and curious copper color and light viscosity. On nose strawberry was the dominant aroma. Now on the palate, this wine bursts forth with flavors of cantaloupe, brioche and nectarine. A light flavorful wine with more punch than expected in a Rosé. The finish was cool and refreshing, especially with the meal we enjoyed with it. A strong minerality and stone fruit completed the tasting experience and was very dry. It is 12% alcohol.
The wine lists for $18/bottle and for this robust flavor and taste I would buy a bottle! Joe may have moved me off my stance on Rosé wines!
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Pulled this wine as I thought a lighter wine with the meal would work this evening. The dinner was chicken stir fry with some unique ingredients. The stir fry sauce used soy sauce, chicken broth, corn starch, honey, minced ginger, minced garlic, and Momofuku Chili Crunch. The stir fry portion with the chicken pieces also included broccoli, Ramon Noodles, and cashews. Topped off with sesame seeds for a tasty and spicy dish. The wine served chilled was perfect combating the heat of the food and added a soothing touch to the food as well as introducing fruit flavors. An excellent food and wine pairing.
Sláinte,
Michael
Wine Tasting, A Warm Night, Chinese Food, 2023 Chardonnay and REUSACUBE
Went to a wine tasting of Morgan Wines in Angels Camp at The Cellar last evening. Tasted their Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and a modified GSM blend. Then decided since we were in the “Big City” (population 3,786) with a least a couple of choices of restaurants, went to Far East China restaurant. Ordered a combo fried rice, orange chicken and honey walnut prawns. Just had water with the meal as we needed to drive home so no wine pairing.
Photos ©Michael Kelly
Once home opened a bottle of one of our favorite Chardonnay wines, Wood Family Vineyards.
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Since it was warm both in the house and outside, we opted to try some recently acquired REUSACUBE squares to keep the wine in the glass chilled. The full story was published earlier at:
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The REUSACUBE worked like a charm to chill the Chardonnay in the glass and we settled in for the evening with chilled Chardonnay, watched a little television and munched on left over Chinese food.
Sláinte,
Michael
2018 Smith-Madrone Vineyards Riesling – A Slice of Heaven on Spring Mountain
The Winery
Looking east across the upper Napa Valley Photo ©Michael Kelly
Smith-Madrone Vineyards is located on 200 acres on top of Spring Mountain west of St. Helena with 38 acres planted in vineyards. The vineyard elevation ranges from 1,300 to 2,000 feet. The Founder, managing partner and enologist is Stuart Smith, Charles Smith is the winemaker. Truly a family affair! All the wines are estate grown and dry-farmed on top of the mountain. Annual production is between 3,000 to 4,000 cases a year. Currently they are producing Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and their iconic Cooks Flat (blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc).
A quick background on Riesling shows it is the 20th most grown variety and in “terms of importance for quality wines, it is usually included in the “top three” white wine varieties together with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc planted worldwide” per Wikipedia. Riesling is adaptable to growing in both warm and cool climates with the flavors varying per temperature respectively of citrus and peach notes for warm, apple and tree fruit for cooler temperature regions.
In the California Dept of Food & Agriculture Grape Crush white wine harvest in 2023 was 1,709,270 tons. Riesling was only 34,057 tons, but it showed an increase of 6% outpacing Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
Stuart on the left and Charlie on the right Photo ©Michael Kelly
While producing various wine varietals, they are known for their dry and exotic Riesling throughout the world! On this recent visit, I was given the opportunity to taste various previous vintages to access their aging ability. It was startling how well a solidly produced Riesling can endure having tasted 2003, 2010 and 2019 from Smith-Madrone.
The Wine – “Wine is bottled Poetry” – Robert Louis Stevenson
Photo ©Michael Kelly
The 2018 Riesling is extremely aromatic with floral notes and green apple on the nose. A light radiant golden yellow color and medium viscosity. On the palate, hints of lime, mixed with stone fruits (white peach and apricots) tame the lime citrus. On the finish, the minerality comes through strong and pure from either the volcanic soil, or sandstone, limestone or the general rocky soil found on the property. The minerality and acidity is jovial and enticing with a semi-sweet crescendo. Very low residual sugar (.7%) and coming in at 13.3% alcohol, Smith-Madrone Vineyards produced 1,611 cases. The current release is their 2019 and listed on their website for $40/bottle.
The Food and Wine Pairing – “Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost. United and well matched, they are as body and soul: living partners” – Andre Simon
Photo ©Michael Kelly
Chose this wine for this evening’s meal of seared Ahi tuna. Rubbed with soy sauce and patted on all sides with a combination of black & white sesame seed, black pepper, garlic salt and sugar. Then placed on the 1500-degree BBQ for one and a half minutes on each side including edges. Plated on an Asian chopped salad/cabbage with Asian dressing. Pineapple slices placed on top of salad and the cut slices of Ahi tuna placed on top. Drizzled with a homemade wasabi, ginger, honey and lemon sauce. Then garnished with slices of green onions and cilantro. This was an enjoyable food and wine pairing with the Riesling being crisp with sufficient acidity to complement the delicate flavors of the tuna.
This wine along with their 2019 both made my annual Best Tasted during the year 2024. That list comes out mid-December and represents about 2% of the wines tasted during the year.
Sláinte,
Michael
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