Beringer Chardonnay 04

Yesterday my wife and I made one of my all time favorite dishes for dinner: my mom's Chinese chicken salad (not sure on the authenticity of the recipe). I heard before that white wines go very well with asian food, so we looked in the wine cooler and found a Beringer 04 Chardonnay. My hopes weren't too high, as I haven't been greatly fond of Beringer red wines.

Let me start off by saying that I am not usually a fan of white wine. I drink it when its there or when it is suggested or if all the red wine is gone and I want to be drunker. But I prefer the reds for sure.

The problem I usually have with chardonnay is that, in my opinion, they tend to be dry and tangy. This wine was pretty easy on the nose and I didn't anticipate that it would be too dry. It smelled fruity to me, like green table grapes, that were left on that table too long. I read the bottle and it said that it had green apple and pear flavors, and putting that in my head I immediately smelled those scents. I feel like I have more of a knack for sniffing red wine, but oh well, I picked up on the smells I was told I would.

I took a sip of it and was pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was very smooth and not too dry. I picked up flavors of oak and apples. It was a bright summery kind of flavor with a buttery quality to it.

The bottle suggested that it be paired with grilled chicken or salmon, so I assumed that it would go well with a chicken salad. However the ingredients of the salad proved to hinder this pair.

After eating some of the salad I took another sip of the wine. This time it had more of a dry and tart taste. We assumed it was either from the vinegar or the the onions or maybe even a combo of both. This may not have been the best pair, but I don't think it totally ruined the wine, we still enjoyed it.

I said to my wife,"I actually enjoyed this one, and I'm not even a big white guy." She then replied,"Actually, Ryan you are a big white guy." Man, she's witty.