Every year in September, the growing town of Morgan Hill holds a wonderful food, music, crafts, and wine festival called "The Taste of Morgan Hill". This year, festival-goers were blessed with great weather, a wonderful car show, and a headliner band called "The California Beach Boys". A tribute band to the original Beach Boys, they were so close to the original that I had to blink twice to keep from seeing Brian Wilson on the stage!
The outdoor Morgan Hill stage had a lovely little wine stand, featuring a wide choice of local South County wines and souvenir "Taste of Morgan Hill" wines. The bright happy sounds of the Beach Boys called for a nice white wine like a Chardonnay - although many red drinkers were in the crowd. Having just enjoyed a nice Cabernet from the Jason-Stephens Winery, I opted for the 2011 Estate Chardonnay from this local Gilroy landmark.
Wow! What a bright, happy, tropical wine! It was the perfect accompaniment to the balmy night, overhead stars, and Beach Boys harmonies. I tasted vanilla ice cream, pineapple, banana, and papaya flavors in this light, lemon colored glass of heaven. In my beautiful Taste of Morgan Hill souvenir glass, I could see its exceptional clarity and light honey color. One note, although I loved this wine, it was a little sweet for hubby so not everyone would enjoy it as much as I did. It is considerably "off-dry" for a Chardonnay, but perfect for a tropical night or island adventure.
This relatively new winery (formed in 2008), is one to watch in the future.
Food Pairings: A great choice for anything light, this wine pairs nicely with a fruit salad, a fruit and cheese plate, a pear-blue cheese-candied walnut salad, or a Chinese chicken salad.
Music Pairings: Beach Boys Baby!!
Other Pairings: Cruise ship trekking, an island luau, a pig roast, or an outdoor pool party.
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