Chardonnay Around the World at Vine Brook Tavern

I was recently contacted by the PR agency for Vine Brook Tavern in Lexington regarding their series of wine classes. They hold a class monthly with the focus changing each month, and the class last night was Chardonnay Around the World.

Classes start at 7:30 p.m., but we decided to get to the restaurant early for some food at the bar. It was hard to choose from a really delicious looking menu, but we decided to be healthy-ish with two salads and a pizzetta. Of course, after the class we split a burger at the bar.

Heirloom tomatoes were bursting with sweet summery goodness, paired with one of the best partners a tomato can have, creamy burrata.

Even better was the shaved cauliflower salad, a healthy and flavor-packed mix of kale, quinoa, carrots, beets, Brussels, with ginger sesame vinaigrette. Our unhealthy splurge was the lobster pizzetta, which was a delicious bread-like dough topped with bacon cream, caramelized onions, and lobster meat.

After dinner we headed upstairs to the class, where we had   six glasses and a tasting sheet set out for us.

The restaurant owner guided us through some information on Chardonnay and how the way it is made varies in different parts of the world, then we blind tasted the following:

Charles Krug, Carneros, Napa

Talbott, Sleepy Hollow Vineyard, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey

Dominique Cornin, Macon Villages

JJ Vincent, Pouilly Fuisse

Hobbs, Felino, Vinos-Cobos, Mendoza, Argentina

There was also a Sauvignon Blanc in there! It was very easy to pick out, with its grapefruit, grass, and mineral notes. I wasn’t as adept at figuring out the others, unfortunately, and got a couple wrong. It became easier to tell the wines apart on the second round and after we knew some more information about each specific wine, such as whether or not they had undergone malolactic fermentation and if they were aged in oak or not. My favorite wine of the night was the JJ Vincent Pouilly Fuisse which was light, crisp, and very acidic, perfect for the humid summer evening. I have to say though, I liked them all.

The class was fun and informative and actually really helpful in learning to taste wine. It was a good group, unafraid to call out the tastes and smells each person was getting from the wines. Classes are monthly and cost $30/person.

I attended the class as a guest of Vine Brook Tavern. All opinions are my own.