While there's fierce competition for a spot on your Thanksgiving table, you should reserve a place for our wine of the week winner - the Rodney Strong, 2008 Chalk Hill Sonoma County Chardonnay at $20 a bottle.
This rich, toasty chardonnay was not the most food-friendly wine in the flight, but it still won as top "Thanksgiving pick" because it's such a lovely wine to savor before and after the meal.
The chardonnay has depth and layered flavors, with a seamless texture and good oak integration. It has notes of melon, pear, herbs and spice.
The winery doesn't hem itself in with a house style, but rather lets the wine call the shots.
"We aim for consistency, but there's no set recipe," said winemaker Rick Sayre. "Some years the grapes will call for a bit more or a bit less oak. Maybe a bit more stirring..."
Sayre has been at Rodney Strong since 1979 and he said it's a good fit "because of the vineyards we own. These are great sites to grow great grapes, which makes my job pretty nice."
With consumers preoccupied with a range of non-mainstream varietals, Sayre said the best way to keep chardonnay front and center is to make it knock out.
"I think making it well is the best way to keep anyone interested in any wine," he said.
Becoming a winemaker was fate, Sayre said.
"I applied at a lumber mill and a winery at the same time and I got a job offer at the winery," he said. "It was Simi Vineyards in Healdsburg in 1970. I fell into this in a way and I absolutely found my calling. Making something from the land, something as enjoyable as wine, is a wonderful thing to do."
Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com
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