Lucie Loves… Wine // #Photoblogged | An evening #allaboutchardonnay with Hardys Wines dispelling Chardonnay - the Mars Bar of the wine world - myths
JMG & I recently attended a very nice wine tasting event at The Hospital Club in Covent Garden. We weren’t really white wine drinkers, but we quite like red, and so were keen to find out whether it was something that we’d enjoy drinking.
Let’s start by saying that I’m not a wine snob. But, I have had some not-so-good glasses of wine in my time. I think it began aged 18, heading to the local wine bar and ordering the cheapest bottle of rose or white on the menu. We weren’t fussy, which is a shame really as had we known a little more about the wines we were quaffing, we may have not have had to endure all those horrific cheap wine hangovers and now, years later, shudder at the thought of drinking poor wine.
Anyway, 10 years later JMG and I tend to go for bottles of wine around the £8-9 range. And it turns out, as Miss Bouquet our wine expert for the evening confirmed, this is a GOOD price to pay. It means that your actually getting some decent wine. Once the first couple of pounds of the price has been shaved off for actually being grown, harvested, bottled, and shipped, etc, the left of the cost covers the actual liquid in the bottle.
As we arrived we were poured a glass of Stamp Sparkling Chardonnay/Pinot Noir NV, £9.49, it was very refreshing, the perfect welcome drink. I definitely wouldn’t turn my nose up at a glass of this at a friend’s wedding toast or birthday bash.
We sat down and were presented with five sparkling glasses emblazoned with the hashtag #allaboutchardonnay - yes, we are the hashtag generation. Our wine tasting spree took us through five different types of Chardonnay. Each bottle was unique in taste and price point. Hardys are celebrating 160 years of the Hardys brand, who describe their five generation story as one of adventure, romance, tragedy, ambition and indomitable spirit.
Stylistically Chardonnay has changed. From the rich buttery, caramel style of the Bridget Jones era winemakers have responded to consumers’ desire for lighter, more refreshing wine by holding back on the oak and letting the regional characteristics of where the Chardonnay has been produced show through.“ ~ Miss Bouquet
A few of the wines we tried during the evening…
Hardys VR Chardonnay 2013, £6.49
Stamp Chardonnay Semillon 2012, £6.99
Nottage Hill, Chardonnay 2013, £8.49
William Hardy Chardonnay 2008, £8.99
Eileen Hardy Chardonnay 2008, £25
Neither JMG or myself had ever been shown how to taste wine before - we are complete amateurs. Miss Bouquet explained it was a case of first appreciating the colour of the wine, before giving it a gently swirl around the glass and breathing in the aroma. You then take a mouthful of wine - leaving just enough space in your mouth to be able to take a few sharp slurpy intakes of breath, before jiggling the wine around to coat the entirety of your mouth and palate. The intake of breath releases new flavours and gives your tastebuds more to play with. You can then either spit it out or swallow. The spittoons are quite fun actually, once you get your head round them.
Chris Sanderson, CEO and Co-Founder of The Future Laboratory gave a passionate presentation in favour of Chardonnay - a wine that some parents think of as a name that girls often get christened with these days and end up getting a bad rep for. Chris gave a fierce argument as to why it’s just as good as the Pinot’s and the Chenin’s out there.
Being shown how to taste properly made us appreciate and enjoy the quality of each glass of wine more than we would if we were just sipping it with a meal. It’s amazing to have to try and think in more detail about the layers of ingredients and processes that make up each wine - it feels a bit like being part of an exam at school, but with the added bonus of being able to drink whilst completing your scoring sheet. We noted that there is that buttery taste that people often go on about, but also oak from the barrels and in some cases lime or strawberry or even mango flavours creeping in. We were surprised at just how broad a range of tastes the Chardonnay grape could help produce, it’s now grown all over the world and is easy to see why.
When it came down to trying the different varieties, the most notable difference in taste was the Eileen Hardy Chardonnay. You could see why this sold for £25 a bottle. Each mouthful was like a meal in itself. The most extraordinary layering of tastes and aromas. Divine!
I guess the great thing about this wine tasting experience is that we’ve now got a new love for Chardonnay. From knowing very little about it, we’ve grown a new appreciation for this white wine and will be more likely to consider buying it alongside our usual red.
If you want to get yourself a wine education, check out Miss Bouquet’s app - My Wine Friend, and you’ll never have to endure crap wine even again.
Photography © Lucie Kerley