After all of my years of working late in a retail wine store on Christmas Eve, the “Chardonnay Queen” came up with a great meal that could be ready no matter what time I got home for dinner. Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner is a wonderful seafood salad composed of lobster, king crab and shrimp on a bed of mixed greens, with boiled egg, pickles and olives accompanied by a rich and spicy Louis Sauce, and a bottle of good Chardonnay. This year’s wine choice was the 2012 Napa Cellars Napa Valley Chardonnay.
The Napa Cellars Chardonnay can be described as a medium bodied wine that opens with a zesty aroma, which reminds one of a large basket filled with apples and pears on a warm summer night, offering a pungent but clean fragrance which drifts across the room just as you open the bottle. The flavors abound with sweet apples and poached pear accompanied by a crisp and tangy presence of lemon. The finish lingers with the suggestion of toasty oak and a delicate balance between the fruit and acidity. It has a rich and creamy texture which remains in your thoughts as you enjoy another sip. Norm’s score is 90.
This wine was very enjoyable with our seafood salad, and would also be a good choice for broiled salmon or perhaps a dish of veal piccata served with ange hair pasta. It is a good bottle of wine for a fair price.
score: 90
price: $15 -$18
By: Norm Bentley
North Georgia Wine Advisor
normwine@bellsouth.net
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