If you’re ever invited to dinner at a wine broker’s house DO NOT, under any circumstances, turn down the invitation. There will most likely be a wine cellar involved, or at least a wine garage. And since wine dealers spend most of their day anxiously trying to please individual palettes, you can guarantee a table full of superstar wines, as part of an attempt to have ‘something for everyone’. Oh, how we need more overachievers in the wine world!
During a such an evening, I arrived to a house filled with the aroma of homemade pizzettas: lemony chicken, pesto and melting mozzarella. Hmm, I’m sensing a glass of buttery Chard coming on, and, viola! There is was: a 2006 Walter Hansel “North Slope” Russian River Valley Chardonnay...golden and glistening in a frosty goblet, flaunting it’s voluptuous bod.
I must admit, as pretty as that picture was, I was not itching to slug the stuff. It's not that I'm an anti-chard gal, but there are countless other wines I would rather sip on. You’ve heard the complaints: enough oak to splinter your throat, and malolactic worthy of drenching your movie theatre popcorn in. Poor Chard has developed a nasty, yet well-deserved reputation for trying too hard. Finding a demure Chard with a delicate balance of fruit and oak is quite a coup. But the search is so worth the prize. And thank goodness I had Wes the Wine Broker to do the searching for me!
Wes has tasted up and down the California coast, scouting out wines with stunning character and copious drinkability. He appreciates subtleties and respects small production, hand-crafted wines that can only be found by hunting them down. I trust his selections, so I was optimistic about the straw-colored Chard placed before me.
And down it went, like a cyclone of pleasure. Juicy apple and pear, toasted brioche, salted caramel, and spring roses dancing on the tongue (yes, I am officially a cork-dork now). A round velvety body, and satiny smooth finish complete the masterpiece. Clearly, Walter Hansel is the kind of Chard that begs for sip after sip. The subtle harmony is so stunning, you must experience it over and over again to believe it's actually happening. Still!
And so, yet another lesson in "don't knock it until you try it". But the real moral of the story is: keep your friends close, and your wine broker friends closer. Thanks Wes:)
