A Creamy, Buttery Chardonnay
I recently lambasted Concannon Vineyard for their 2005 Merlot, and their tasting room acumen. But I’m here today to mention a much, much better wine from this Livermore Valley mainstay.
The 2008 Chardonnay from Concannon is a delightfully creamy, buttery chardonnay.
It’s bright gold in the glass, a rich color that hints at things to come. On the nose are some great notes of cheese and straw. Kind of a “barnyard” thing that I attribute to sauvignon blanc, but much, much more muted. On the palate, the wine really does taste buttery and creamy–I literally wrote here in my notes, “butter,” and “cream”–but there is a pleasantly tart apple note, too.
Tart?
Doesn’t sound like it fits, but it was there, and I liked it. The apple note helped to spruce up what could have been otherwise drowned out by the rich, creaminess of this chard. Made it work, it did. Made it really quite good.
Verdict: B+
Sorry, Your Wine Tastes Like Feet
When I go to a tasting room, I assume a few things. I assume they will have those tumbled marble coasters with the winery’s logo on them. I assume I will deal with a handful of people who are there just to drink, and get drunk; I also assume the majority of my fellow tasters won’t be like that.
I also assume that whoever’s pouring, has tasted the freakin’ wine.
Apparently, that last assumption is just too much.
So, to be fair, I’m not convinced that the 2005 Merlot from Concannon Vineyards tastes like what I had on my recent visit to their tasting room. But, then, that is their fault. They poured that glass for me themselves, from a bottle they opened.
It smelled and tasted like feet. Kinda like a locker room, but drier. If this is what Concannon intended for their Merlot, then I feel sorry for Merlot drinkers who intentionally bought the 2005.
All I can hope is that this wasn’t intentional. And if that is the case, then someone needs to get shitcanned, because this bottle never should have made it to the tasting room floor. Or, perhaps, the tasting room floor is exactly where it belonged.
Verdict: D
Like Peppers In a Glass
Have you ever tasted a wine you didn’t think actually tasted like wine?
During a marathon tasting session the weekend before Christmas, the good folks at Concannon Vineyard surprised us with a couple library tastings, their 1998 and 1999 Cabernets. The wines are available from the winery now at steep discount.
I can understand why. The 1998 vintage was, well… disappointing. Not even bad per se, just definitely not good. And this, the 1999. Freakin’ weird.
But I liked it, quite a bit. Not enough to take advantage of their massive case discount ($10 per bottle when you buy the case on something that was $40 a bottle not long ago), but I liked it nonetheless.
So, what’s so weird about this wine?
It tastes like bell peppers.
Not even a little. I’m not saying that there is a hint or note of bell pepper. This wine tastes like bell peppers. Red ones, to be exact.
There are slight hints of other flavors, as well. On the nose I got kind of a fresh tomato, vegetable garden thing going on. But still, mostly bell pepper. Once I got past the bell pepper flavor after sipping, I noticed more of the tomato-y notes, this time with a bit of what seemed like garlic. Like I was tasting pasta sauce, a good, fresh marinara.
In no way does this make the wine “bad.” It’s just… weird. And, therefore, kind of difficult to recommend. But I did enjoy it, myself. Not sure how easy it is to get ahold of outside of the winery itself, but if you stumble upon some and are in for a walk on the wild side, go for it.
Verdict: B-