I was invited to a media and trade tasting lunch at Backstreet Cafe with Andrés Sánchez, the winemaker for Alcance, a Jackson Family winery. As guests arrived, we were greeted with a glass of lightly chilled Alcance Chardonnay 2016, a perfect start for a hot summer day in Houston. This rich and elegant Chardonnay is grown on granitic soils in a coastal mountain vineyard in the Valle de Itata. Despite my multiple wine classes, this was a growing area with which I was not familiar. This vineyard is located between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean about 12 miles from the coast which as Sánchez pointed out adds a nice sea influence to the wine. The Chardonnay was pleasantly fresh with light citrus notes and a touch of butterscotch with a distinct saline mineralty throughout the slightly creamy finish. A mixed appetizer platter with Gulf Coast Beignets, duck spring rolss, asparagus and zuchini flatbread, and lump crab cakes on red pepper beurre blanc were br...


Thank you for posting these Wine Factoids. I do have a question...if Spain grows more grapes than everyone else, why are they only third in wine production?
ReplyDeleteGood question! Airén, an indigenous wine grape to Spain, accounts for a large percent of the wine grapes grown. It can be used to make a light, dry white wine but it is primarily used for producing brandy instead.
DeleteSandra, that was fun :-)
ReplyDeleteRoses at the ends was very interesting: the canary in the mine!
Merry Christmas and cheers to you and yours!
Thanks Dennis, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you as well!
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