Girl on 3 Grapes, 3 Wines

Tortoise Creek Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, & Viognier

You learn a lot when you walk a dog. In the past three years of trolling the streets of Somerville and Cambridge with my beagle Charlie I’ve learned that folks over the age of 75 love to complain about garbage can placement, dog-owners of unfriendly beasts tend to walk head down and cross the street when you approach, and people leave chicken bones absolutely everywhere. It’s as if chicken bones are not considered litter since at one point they were part of a living organism. If the gutters were teaming with steaks or pork loins I would be less perturbed due to the decreased choking hazard they pose to dogs. Are chicken wings the new “on-the-go” food? Are south-beach diet obsessed moms going to replace oranges and cookies with chicken wings at soccer games? Are they going to kick “Go-gurt” and granola bars off the shelves? All I know is that I would like to start a movement to replace the wing with the nugget. I have pulled enough half-eaten filthy chicken wing bones out of Charlie’s mouth moments before what I fear is certain death.

What do nasty images of chicken bones have to do with this week’s Tortoise Creek wines? Good question.

In order to develop some semblance of an opinion about wine you need to walk the same four blocks around it. Over time you will begin to notice differences in grape, vintage, vineyard location, and wine-making technique. I have by no means trolled the streets of wine enough to consider myself an expert but this week I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to do a comparative study on three wines from the same vineyard. For an amateur, this is a great way to hone in on the nuances.

I explored three white wines from Tortoise Creek Vineyard. I found that the chardonnay was 100% chardonnay with nice overtones of melon. The sauvignon blanc was crisp and dry, I tasted grapefruit. I think my favorite was the viognier, it tasted like summer in a bottle to me. I could imagine sipping this before dining al fresco with friends on a warm evening.

Just as I noticed some differences between the wines I also noticed similarities. All of the wines are noticeably missing any taste of oak. They are all refreshing and make me smile, thinking of days with my feet up on a porch.

The Tortoise Creek wine makers Mel and Janie Master understand the richness of the Languedoc, and with their passion for good wine and good food, are commitment to producing quality wines at value driven prices. The Languedoc region of southern France is a land of many different eco-climates, soils, and weather conditions - reflected in the countless subtleties of its many wines. The remarkable weather conditions and vast array of quality growing areas give each wine a unique taste.

The Tortoise Creek chardonnay would be delightful with a chicken nugget.

Tags: beagle, chardonnay, compartive studies, go-gurt, Sarah Osteen, sauvignon blanc, Tortoise Creek, viognier
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