Last night we really hit a home run. The above picture is a bay scallop risotto with a mild bleu cheese and fennel salad that we had for our dinner. Earlier in the evening, we had discussed wine selections. With the shellfish on the menu of course we leaned to the white side, and in the end went with one of the wineries we are a wine club member of. Delfosse winery south of Charlottesville is own and managed by a great older gentleman who has meant a lot to the VA economy as a whole, Claude Delfosse.Our Saturday night wine of
choice was the 2008 Reserve d’Oraine from Delfosse winery. It is a Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Petite Manseng, and Viognier blend that as described on the Delfosse web site as “a rich, intensely aromatic wine with bright hints of pineapple, honey and lemon peel. Taste – This complex blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc with a touch of Viognier and Petit Manseng shows bright acidity with rich citrus, and spice up front, and lemon on the finish. This elegant, well balanced wine exhibits a long finish with a bouquet of pineapple, peach, coconut and apricot well integrated with soft oak. A great example of a blend that expresses the Virginia terroir. Food Pairing – A great wine with seafood and shellfish. This wine is extremely food friendly and will also pair well with lobster and poultry in richer and creamier sauces or with pork and turkey dishes.” And we don’t typically agree with descriptions by others, the fact they recommend this wine with shellfish gets ringing endorsement from us. The initial nose contained a big floral smell with hints of honeysuckle and lilac. Upon tasting we enjoyed the flavors of dried apricot, creamy and smooth with just a hint of vanilla overtones. This might not be food friendly with all food, but for seafood or shell fish, you really can’t go wrong.To avoid being a homey, I do have a critic of this wine. It was very temperature sensitive. We found that as this wined warmed up; its acid became more prevalent to the point of ruining the balance. The Viognier really showed through, and not necessarily in a good way. The bad after taste that can sometimes come through in VA Viognier became more prevalent when the wine warmed up. To counter this affect, we chilled it in the freezer. However, what we found there was that if allowed to get too cold the nose and complex taste of this wine became muted if not non-existent.
The Moral of the story is although this wine was a home run when served with our dinner, like a bad socialite. It was a high maintenance wine, demanding careful supervision to be kept at just the right temperature range to maintains if complex delicious flavors, balance, and delicious flavors. So I gives this wine on overall buy rating, it is not for the weak of hurt. Be prepared to nurture and coddle it to get the most of the great qualities this wine has to offer.
