Being a child of the 1960s I hit my impressionable years at the time when Monty Python's Flying Circus was in its prime. I have always had a good memory and I put this to good use in my school years by learning, verbatim, the dialogue from the Python sketches that appealed to me most. I was not alone in this endeavour, but I do think I was better at it than most. On reflection, half a century later, I do wonder how different life may have been if I had devoted just a little more of my time to whatever it was my teachers were trying to teach me and a little less to the frivolities that I enjoyed so much.
Why is this relevant? Arguably, it isn't and that illustrates the point that this particular leopard has retained its spots rather well. The tenuous link is that, much to the surprise of many by-then twentysomethings, in 1985 John Cleese took the role of Sherrif Langston in a western movie called Silverado and that is the Californian town where the following is produced:
I like Chardonnay and have in these notes previously poured scorn upon those who take pride in drinking ABC (Anything But Chardonnay). I don't need to repeat myself here, their folly is their loss.
I like Chardonnay for the same reason that it has become one of the world's leading and most popular varieties. It is immensely versatile and can, and is, used to produce steely mineral Chablis, mellow and smooth White Burgundy and a wide range of styles between those two and the tropical fruit flavoured wines from warmer regions.
Bread & Butter produce a range of single varietal wines, red, rose and white, sparkling and still, which they market with the advice 'don't over think it' and 'a good wine is one you like'. I rather like that. The downside for me is that advice puts in a nutshell why this blog and so many like it are almost entirely pointless. At least pointless from the point of view of the reader. And that's you. I get something out of it and that is the simple motivation to try more wines for my own pleasure rather than settling always for a few that I know I already enjoy. If you want to stick with me, please do but don't blame me for its quality. A good blog is one you like.
I appear to have gone off the point again.
My bonus daughter introduced me to this week's wine. It was rather pleasing to have another member of the family enthuse about wine, as that doesn't happen very frequently. Daughter No 1 enjoys Sauvignon Blanc and, indeed, other bright and fruity wines, but she would not agree about this one.
The key point of disagreement would be the use of Oak, which also happens to be the reason it qualifies for Week Q as Quercus is the genus which defines Oak trees. There are over 500 species in the genus, which like the wine, makes my head spin.
Oak really features in this wine. It is not at all subtle, instead choosing to be up front and allowing the drinker to decide whether this is a good wine or not. In terms of the style of Chardonnay we are certainly not dealing with a Chablis wannabe and the oak is so prominent it is more like the wines produced 20 years ago in Australia than those from Burgundy. My first taste was a bit of a shock. It would be going too far to say that it was like being hit in the face with an oak plank although it did have a powerful effect. I like delicacy in wine, usually, just like I like dark and malty beers rather than larger, but there are times when a cold larger hits the spot better than an Old Ale. That's why I choose to call this a good wine. Not for its subtly, but for its attitude. To quote Gloria Gaynor, 'I am what I am and what I am needs no excuses!'.
Buy again? Yes, for the right occasion and to wine brownie points from the bonus.
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