Help Choosing California Wines?

[Doodad]

Bonus check time again so I want to splurge on what is normally unreasonable.

I will be cooking seafood or chicken with light tastes. Summer fare.

I don't have much experience with high end wines and would like a good match in something special. Chard is fine, I love Pinot and Viognier. It can be fruity or dry, I am not that picky if it is good.

Can you give me some respected standards from CA that I can look for? I have $100-$130 to spend on the wine.

Thanks

[dockhl]

Doodad~

Where do you live? How much can you spend per bottle? How many people are you feeding?

Kathy

[Doodad]

Doodad~

Where do you live? How much can you spend per bottle? How many people are you feeding?

Kathy

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Hey. I live in Atlanta so finding at a good price is not so tough unless it is obscure. I have $100-130 to spend on a bottle; I figured just one. Cooking needs can be met with lesser wines.

And it is just my wife and I. Little courses of good stuff.

Edited June 6, 2008 by Doodad (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Doodad:

Try and find wines from either Ramey Vineyards or Gundlach-Bundchu, two of my favorite California producers. Ramey specializes in glorious chardonnays that are not overoaked, a rarity in Cali chards. David Ramey is a brilliant winemaker who takes a much more Burgundian approach than most of his cohorts, and the single vineyard chardonnays (Hudson or Hyde vineyards) are just delicious. Even his appellation series (Carneros, Russian River or Sonoma Coast), which are lower priced are an excellent value for the quality of the wine in the bottles. They just spend less time in barrel than the single vineyard selections.

Gundlach-Bundschu produces both a delicious Chardonnay and possibly my favorite domestic gewurtztraminer. The gewurz smells so good you won't know whether to drink it or dab it behind your ears. It would be delicious with almost anything, but particularly tasty with spicier fare.

[Doodad]

Doodad:

Try and find wines from either Ramey Vineyards or Gundlach-Bundchu, two of my favorite California producers.  Ramey specializes in glorious chardonnays that are not overoaked, a rarity in Cali chards.  David Ramey is a brilliant winemaker who takes a much more Burgundian approach than most of his cohorts, and the single vineyard chardonnays (Hudson or Hyde vineyards) are just delicious.  Even his appellation series (Carneros, Russian River or Sonoma Coast), which are lower priced are an excellent value for the quality of the wine in the bottles.  They just spend less time in barrel than the single vineyard selections.

Gundlach-Bundschu produces both a delicious Chardonnay and possibly my favorite domestic gewurtztraminer.  The gewurz smells so good you won't know whether to drink it or dab it behind your ears.  It would be delicious with almost anything, but particularly tasty with spicier fare.

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Thanks for the advice. I am a huge fan of Gewurtz and in fact had one last night. It was Fetzer's which, while most of their stuff is mediocre, is very good.

I do like unoaked Chards. Trying to remember the one I have been drinking the most. It may be the same; it even says unoaked on the bottle.

[KatieLoeb]

The Ramey chardonnays aren't unoaked, but judiciously oaked, seemingly a rarity in the land of wines that taste like French kissing Pinocchio.

I'm sure if you can track down any of the wines I suggested you'll be happy. I think the '05 and '06 vintages are what's currently available. I just tasted all these last month at the Philadelphia Wine Festival. They're just as good as I remember them being in past years.