Choose your Chardonnay.

It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.  Another staff blind-tasting at TWWIAGE this time squared off the 2016 Chardonnay (CH) against five other 2016s.  Once again, the TWWIAGE contender happened to be my favourite of the bunch.  For me, the second best wine turned out to be a 2016 Gary Farrell, Russian River Selection (Russian River Valley AVA).  My tasting notes were thus; candy, caramel apple, toast, nice mouthfeel.  A rather lovely little wine.
My least favourite wine, and the lowest rank amongst the majority of my fellow co-workers (great taste buds taste alike?), was a 2016 Mer Soleil Reserve (Santa Lucia Highlands AVA).  In my opinion, this wine was absolutely undrinkable.  And, surprise, surprise, or not, this wine hails from the cellars of the Wagner Family of Wines (Caymus...titter, titter).  Who drinks this stuff?  Apparently someone does because the Wagners make 59,000 cases of this plonk.
I'm so glad that there are alternative winemaking styles being employed with Chardonnay nowadays.  I personally never bought into the California style of this the most impressionable of grape varieties.  More choice is always good for the consumer, just don't choose the Mer Soleil.

Shroom for one more fungus?

The diversity of flora  in and around Vinoland never ceases to amaze me.  I don't think I could ever become bored with the aggregation of biota in my small part of the world.  Maybe, if I live to be 200, there will come a day when I could not care less about some new botanical specimen, or creature, that I sometimes, literally, stumble across.  But for now I am quite happy to revel in the wonder of it all; from that which is the tiniest Haircap Moss, to the colossus that is the Giant Sequoia.  Although, I must admit I know very little about trees.  I must rectify that.
My latest find is another fungus, which is growing under some sort of pine tree just outside the gates to a neighbourhood vineyard. When I first spotted these somewhat homely 'shrooms a few weeks ago, I initially thought they were dollops of deer poop.  However, I noticed that the dark, repellent looking mounds were coming up from beneath the pine litter, not deposited upon the surface. It was only when I got closer that I realised that the rather unprepossessing heaps were indeed plant life.  My eureka moment was confirmed by a total lack of interest on the Vinodogs behalf: the Vinodogs know and love their cervine excrement, in fact, my beloved dogs are experts in all kinds of scat.
Back in Vinoland, a quick search on the internet revealed the identity of the mystery mushroom, the Black Elfin Saddle.  Helvella lacunosa is the most common of all Helvella species in North America and is usually found, just where I found it, growing under Pinus trees.  And apparently, unlike the Common Roll-rim, the Black Elfin saddle is edible (when cooked).  Personally, having first identified this particular organism as animal fecal matter, I don't think I'm inclined to want to consume them - I'll stick with store bought, thank you very much.  Besides, even the Vinodogs turned their noses up at them, so they must taste like they look, ugly.

What wine goes with...No. 4.

...Pastisio? I have always loved Greek food. And, I have made it a personal mission of mine to stuff myself silly with copious amounts of the stuff on numerous visits to Greece - the islands and the mainland (and even at a favourite Greek restaurant, when I was growing up, in Liverpool). So, tonight for dinner I decided to make Pastisio - baked pasta. Oh yum! The lamb, the bechamel, and the nutmeg really hit the spot!

I wish I had had a Xinomavro to pair with this dish. Alas, none of this wine, made from a northern Greek grape variety of the same name, was to be found in the cellar at Vinoland. Instead, I settled for an extremely peppery Syrah (grown by me)...it was a serviceable pairing. Still, I can't help but wonder if even a lowly Lambrusco would have been a better pairing.

Une pute!

You may think that I am being a bit harsh by casting aspersions on the character of this bottle of wine. I don't. It's not just this particular bottle of wine with it's trashy packaging that I am railing against, but the entire French wine industry and it's bully boys in the EU.
Now I enjoy a chilled Sancerre, a crisp Graves or even an obscure Bergerac as much as the next wine drinker, but when that's what I want then that's what I buy. It's not that this confusing rendition of a Sauvignon blanc was a bad wine, in fact it worked quite well with dinner, even if it was a trifle flabby. It's just that the entire premise is a tad patronizing: The pretensiousness of old world French masters marketing wine to the varietal-obssessed neophytes of the New World. As it turns out this bulk wine from the reknowned Languedoc region is purportedly made by a local winemaker for Kendall-Jackson.  And the less said about the naff label the better with it's feeble attempt at nudge, nudge, wink, wink titillation.
Why would a US wine company perpetrate such an unprincipled business practice when EU regulations are so prohibitive of trade in the opposite direction? (The EU only finally condescended to recognise the Napa Valley as a 'Geographical Brand' in 2007).
One example of an EU edict asserts that; "US wines which display the terms 'chateau', 'classic', 'clos', 'cream', 'crusted/crusting', 'fine', 'late bottled vintage', 'noble', 'ruby', 'superior', 'sur lie', 'tawny', 'vintage' and 'vintage character' will be blocked from entering Europe." Well, that just about excludes nearly everything you could possibly put on a bottle of wine doesn't it?  Now, I'm all for free trade.  I simply cannot abide double standards and all this regulatory nonsense.  Is it all just nonsense?  Non en fait, c’est des conneries!

Disclaimer: Obtained this wine in a mixed lot at a charity event. I didn't buy it, I'm not a total idiot.