Rideau 2005 Reserve Chardonnay
Rideau 2005 Reserve Chardonnay
Kudos to Iris Rideau and Winemaker Andrés Ibarra on her fabulous 2005 Reserve Chardonnay. I was fortunate enough to share a bottle with my wife and a friend of ours over the weekend. I chilled the bottle at 55 degrees before opening it. As the label stated, I could immediately smell the crushed wet rocks reminding me of days spent at the James River in Missouri. The first taste was a mouthful of sunshine and honey. I tasted fresh pear with a creamy smooth after taste. The butterscotch flavor appeared more and more as the wine opened up. To top it off, we decided to stay with the Reserve Chardonnay with our dinner. Normally I would go right to a Zinfandel or Syrah because of the spice in the dish my wife designed consisting of brown rice, bbq pork, cuban style black beans and chipotle corn. YUMMY! You would think these blasting flavors would completely overwhelm this wine but what a surprise when the smooth creamy rich wine washed over the layers of spice the pork dish painted on our tongues and mouth. I believe the mineral element played a big part in marrying these two distantly different tastes into a luscious explosion of delight. Thoughts of what it must have been like in the 1950’s having dinner on the beach at a resort in Cuba, listening to the waves breaking over the reef and anxiously looking for the waiter, cabaña boy, anyone to bring us another bottle of sunshine and honey; another gold winner from Iris Rideau. Do yourself a BIG FAVOR and make sure you visit the Reserve Room at Rideau Vineyards, 1562 Alamo Pintado Road in Solvang, California. Better yet, call them at 805-688-0717 and let them know you’re coming. You’ll be glad you did.