Tasting Washington State Chardonnay

Gary Vaynerchuk tastes 2 interesting Chardonnays from Blackwood Canyon in Washington State.

Hello everybody and welcome to Wine Library TV. I’m your host Gary Vaynerchuk and this my friends is the Thunder Show a.k.a the internet’s most passionate wine program and we are nerding it up today with two wines. Chardonnays from Washington State from Red Mountain in Columbia Valley, Washington State, and one of them is a 1990 reserved Chardonnay from Red Mountain and the other is a 2005 state bottled Chardonnay, Blackwood Canyon. Blackwood Canyon, 1990 Reserve Chardonnay, USD75.00. This wine was in barrel and extended in least aging for eight years, eight years of lease. Now, I will explain this in a second. These wines are not released until they’re ready in the opinion of the winery. This is this culty place mentioned at Tom Clancy novel Mott. I mean, like weird stuff. Look at the color of these wines, Mott zoomy, zoom, zoom with a boom, boom. I mean just old school Chardonnay style leased, a lot of the wines sitting on lease barrels. The best way we can put it is—and this is on their website actually and I’ve used this terminology in the past as well, apple cider Mott. You know, if you put apple cider, real apple cider in the fridge, if you let it sit for two weeks, you notice what happens? The top and the bulk stuff, now if would just drink the clear juice on top of that bulk kind of, you know, you’re going to get a very clean apple juice flavor. But if you were going to take it and shake it up, you’re going to have a totally different experience. And that’s what these wines did. Eight years in lease is unheard of, it’s weird, it’s wacky, it’s mad scientist, it’ genius, it’s idiotic. It really depends on how you want to define it. I’m just extremely excited about trying this, 1395cases made of this wine released in 2004, of all places. Let’s sniffy sniff these together. This one is a $45.00 wine. This is a $75.00 wine and not inexpensive by any stretch of the imagination but when you hold them, the economic impact of holding wine as long is substantial. Let’s sniff the sniff the ‘05 first. You’re going to get this kind of like motor oil, olive oil kind of thing going on, very much smells stinky in a lot of ways, gasoliney, smell this Mott and you see what I mean, getting this aged Chardonnay thing going on. You see where I’m going? Very auto shop, right? Now, let’s go over here to 90 Reserve. This smells really nice actually. This a totally different smell, much more. Well, it smells like kind of like golden apples with a little bit of like butter sauce. Kind of like old golden and green apples. Look at little Misha. I’ll call Kevin back. So what do you think of that? So dynamite nose without losing first. Dynamite nose very, you know, kind of like golden apples—apple sauce with butter popcorn on top of it. You know, just very, very elegant. Let’s go to the first wine and see what’s going on here, actually I’m going taste the 90 first. So, one more time, Blackwood Canyon 1990 Reserve Chardonnay, decadent yet delicate. This Chardonnay follows the tradition of Blackwood Canyon Chardonnays requiring at least 10 years of age prior to consumption and never chilled. That’s right. This is reminiscent of the classic white Burgandies from the early 1900s to which Blackwood Canyon Chardonnays are compared. Blackwood Canyon Chardonnays are enhancing all meals for seafood, steak, serve the Chardonnay like a red because it’s not about color, it’s about the grape quality and extraction. I love it. Do not chill in bold. I love it, I love it, Mott, you know this thing in my language, sniffy, sniff it up. I mean, this is what—I got very lucky in my early 20s to meet a man by the name of Steve Rowland who is one of the great wine collectors in the world and, you know, I very much miss him. His passing was very sad and very, very sad, just way too early and we did an episode and tribute him before you think you were a cameraman right, Mott? This was a long time ago, actually now unfortunately. And he allowed me to drink a lot older white Burgandies, you know. So when the ‘96 were out and the ‘98 were out, I was drinking some white Burgs from the 60s and 70s. And it’s very much just oxidized kind of style that this wine bring to the tables, it’s a very different profile. It’s very distinct. It’s a very, very different style, complexity, nuttiness, very distinct and awkward, Mott? “It’s really different?” and “within acquire taste.” That’s a very good point, right? Maple syrup, nuttiness. Why is it everybody calling me. Oh, this is for the elimination pool. Who are the Chief playing? They’re playing tomorrow? Oh, that’s right, I’m here by Thursday. I’m always betting on Chief, who is the Chief playing? Perfect. They’re not beating the Steelers. All right, I’ll take the Stealers. Listen, I cannot believer your Broncos are 2 and 0. I don’t know what’s going on, you’re lucky. I’ll talk to you later. I’m taping the show right now. That’s my friend, Glen, bye. Very wild show. This is wild stuff like a nutty, maple syrupy kind of thing going on, a very creamy very acquired taste, not everybody is styled by any scratch of imagination, though very apple-ly, really good acid but it’s still holding up. This wine is not dead. There’s a 1990 Chardonnays, that’s important to understand. I like it. This is very much an acquired taste but when I learned to acquire at a very young age, and I do like it. This is not for everybody, not by any stretch of imagination, but if you’re a hard core nerd, you want to go and find the stuff because it is so different, you can’t even imagine. I’m going to score is wine 91 points, I like it. It’s my style. I like the nuts meets olive oil meets viscous kind of like, take an apple, put it in your gas tank, take it out. Put some nuts on and some olive oil and vitamins —taste it. You know, it’s kind of just wild funktified kind of deliciousness, very intriguing stuff, very different. Two thousand five, a state Chardonnay from Blackwood Canyon renowned barrel fermented, USD45 bones. Let’s see what’s going on here. Getting a lot of that stuff like full leaves come to mind on this nose, very autumn right with these apples and nuts and again there’s a sardine fishiness to this nose. So there’s something of fish component which is going to turn some people off. Smell this, Mott. You’re going to smell the fishiness, kind of like sardines. There’s really like a fish kind of –“I’m not getting that, I still get the gasoline though.” Yeah, I mean its petroly, it’s all that. Let\’s give it a whirl. So it has a little bit more body believe it or not that the 90 reserved. Just some intensity very similar flavor profile again. Again, aging Chardonnay leased, this thing is going to have this kind of style, oxidized kind of near the —, you know, things of that nature up in Northern Italy, we see this kind of style. You sort of getting into what we call the orange wines, very acquired taste, very nerdy. You know, I like it. It’s different but it’s definitely not for everybody. This one’s a little bit more disjointed. I’m going to score on this one is 89 points. I like it, it’s just not bring in the same kind of thunder to me, but a very wild, totally off the wall kind of style, again if you’re Northern Italian wine drinker, this is a novice kind of style. You’re going to probably like it. Although the 90 Reserve Chardonnay. I think is quite interesting. I’m really fascinated that there are people out there still doing unique different stuff. That’s what needs to be commended. A big shout out to for these guys for doing that, I like it and I’m motivated. I’m driven by people’s creativity and this wine brings creativity to the table like very few others. Question of the day: What is the most unique wine you’ve ever had in your life? That’s it. You with a little bit of me, we are changing the wine world.