La Bataille des Bouteilles ~ The Battle of the Bottles
Chardonnay vs Sauvignon Blanc
The inimitable Chef Patrick Chazallet has asked that, as a follow-up to our blog appétit st. jacques et poireaux recipe, we now recommend a wine to go with our individual recipe so in homage to my old stomping grounds, I am recommending two wines from the Napa Valley. Also, everything I know about French wines could fit in a thimble, so I’ll stick to what (little) I do know….
These two whites are very different but I think both would go well with this dish. Chardonnay is the standard default for coquille st jacques but after a bad Hunter S Thompson-esqe experience with a wine-in-a-box of chardonnay in college, I have been hard pressed to even be able to smell it to this day. Same goes for gin, but that’s another story…
Since washing up on these fine french shores nearly a year ago I have tried to slowly wean myself back to this upstanding grape. I’m ok if it doesn’t have too much oaky taste to it and if it’s aged in tanks, as opposed to the oak barrels, well then bottoms up!
On the other hand, I love sauvignon blanc with it’s crisp, light, refreshing demeanor and no bad college “Fear & Loathing...” flashbacks to cramp it’s style. Rather than try to pick one, I took the easy way out and selected one of each. After all, when you have 3 friends over for dinner, you drink at least 2 bottles of wine…right???
So the first wine I selected is a St. Supery 2003 Sauvignon Blanc from the Napa Valley with a very light, crispness to it, some grassy, herby scents and flavors of citrus and kiwi, grapefruit, and tangerine. That I can do! The second is a 2002 Hess Select Chardonnay. I selected this for a few reasons. The first is that this chardonnay has a lot of tropical favors that I thought would lend itself nicely with the mango sauce.
Another reason is that the winery itself is spectacular—a 3-story stone winery built in the early 1900s greets you at the end of the winding driveway. A 20 minute video at the beginning of their tour showcases the history of the Napa Valley and the history of Donald Hess and the Hess Collection winery which in itself is fascinating.
This is followed by a walk through their 13,000 square foot museum filled with remarkable pieces of art personally selected by Mr. Hess, all with extraordinary stories behind them. One piece I will never forget from my last visit was an old fashioned typewriter with flames (real ones) coming out of the typewriter cartridge. From what my sieve of a brain can recall, the artist is from South America and he had a relative (parent? sibling?) who was a journalist that was killed for writing for an anti-government paper…. so a lot of very interesting art with even more captivating stories. A must if you ever get out to the Napa Valley.
Cheers! Santé!
The Hess Collection
4411 Redwood Road
Napa, CA 94558
877-707-HESS / 877-707-4377
info@hesscollection.com
St. Supéry Vineyards and Winery
8440 St. Helena Hwy.
Rutherford CA 94573
phone 1.707.963.4507 / 1.800.942.0809
divinecab@stsupery.com
Mmmmmmm. I love Sauvignon Blanc. I used to be a woman who only drank reds, but then the migraine beast stopped me in my tracks. I've never been a fan of Chardonnay either. (I think I have the same associations you have.) Sauvignon Blanc has often been the best option for me, and I'm starting to learn which ones I like. When it's two bottles for 3-4 people, I buy a decent one, then a cheaper yet decent one. My tastebuds are less discriminating after the first glass! (My tolerance is super-low.)
Posted by: Abby | Friday, 11 March 2005 at 02:00 PM