Wines of FreshDirect: A Recession Proof New York White
Times are tough and we here at AmericanMadness want to help our loyal readers. Continuing on the theme of “Recession Proof Your Wine Portfolio,” I present to you my latest discount find. Chateau Lafayette has produced a crisp, tight white wine with lots of pear and apple flavors. This Finger Lakes wine bring together the best parts of Chardonnay and the best parts of a Seyval blanc to give a well rounded white for $8. A must buy, particularly as the temperature starts to rise.
Winery: Chateau Lafayette Reneau
Grape: Seyval Blanc & Chardonnay
Region: Finger Lakes, New York
Year: Undetermined
Source: FreshDirect.com
Price: $8
Color: Light yellow
Nose: Melon, grass and butter scents right out of the bottle. With a swirl, strong bubblegum notes join pear and vanilla in the bouquet.
Taste: Crisp and controlled, the seyval, chardonnary blend enters with big pear and apple. The medium-bodied wine has a nice mineral balance, giving a slight fizziness to the tasting, particularly when you spend some time slurping it through the mouth, enhancing the grass, celery, pear and apple flavors mid-palate. At the finish, more of the chardonnay’s characteristics come forth, giving a mango flavor, with kiwi, before a nice, crisp lingering finish of pear and watermelon.
What I like: For $8, this is a nice find. Sure, it won’t win any awards, but it is an easy to drink, easy to enjoy white wine. And, if you are in New York, it is local. This might be just the kind of thing to have lying around as a nice white, daily drinker.
What I don’t like: It didn’t go so well with my shrimp creole. Oh well, some days chicken, some days feathers.
March 31st, 2008 at
I want to know if there is added sugar in this wine, or has the growing season in the Finger Lakes extended to the point that they can really grow wine to match Long Islands product. Is this a good time to be setting up vineyards upstate? How much has the climate changed. Also, $8 for a good bottle of wine; that’s like a good nickel cigar.
April 3rd, 2008 at
Joel,
I prefer Long Island to Finger Lakes, which is one reason this one was such a surprise to me. Doing a bit of research, I attribute the overall enjoyable drinking to the 50/50 blend of chardonnay and seyval. Seyval is a North American indigenious white grape, which has done well growing in traditionally cold climates such as upstate New York. It did a good job balancing out some of the butteryness of Chardonnay to present a wine with more sweet fruit flavors. Thus, I don’t believe there was sugar added.
To you point about the price. I admit upfront this wine won’t wine any awards. But, for $8 it is a great find. It falls under the category of “daily drinker,” because it is not necessarily price prohibitive and it will go with a wide variety of food dishes.
If price were no option, I’d go with a blanc sec from Bordeaux or a montrachet from Burgundy as my white of choice. I’m just trying to help folks find an affordable white that doesn’t take like butter-oak kool aid.