Happy Valentine’s Day! To celebrate this week of love I’m featuring “Perfect Partners in Wine Crime.” Looking at my wine collection, it occurred to me that many California winemakers — especially those in Northern California — who produce Pinot Noir also specialize in Chardonnay. These two grapes couldn’t be more different — from their biological make up to how vintners go about turning them into wine. (Learn more about Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.) Yet, they keep coming to my door in pairs — one white, one red; one Chard, one Pinot. So this week’s experiment celebrates that, maybe even in wine, opposites do attract. Each of the producers below “specializes,” if you will, in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (the exception being my New Zealand case study), so I tasted them each together within the span of an evening to see if and how these wines complemented each other.
Spoiler alert: the experiment doesn’t always work. Some wines are just destined to be single. But what I can tell you is that there isn’t a wine listed here that I didn’t fall in love with for one reason or another. So have fun, happy sipping, and Happy Valentine’s Day Wine Lovers!!!
(Links will become active as reviews are posted throughout the week.)
Jenny Dawn Cellars 2016 Unoaked Chardonnay and Jenny Dawn Cellars 2016 Pinot Noir
Cuvaison 2015 Adda Chardonnay and Cuvaison 2015 Spire Point Pinot Noir
The Withers 2015 English Hill Chardonnay and The Withers 2014 Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir
Mud House 2016 Sauvignon Blanc and Mud House 2015 Pinot Noir