Spending Christmas in Orlando made us feel a little guilty as we watched the rest of the country shovel themselves out of record depths of snow… but only a little. We enjoyed 80 degrees and sunshine and walked around Winter Park in shorts and a tee-shirt. I could only laugh at the Seminole fans who were in town for their Champs Sports bowl game vs. Wisconsin and especially at a guy who was wearing a “Beat Florida” shirt as I paraded by him in my FLORIDA Gators shirt (and the fact we kicked their butt back in November, what was he thinking?)
So, for lunch we sat street-side at an Italian cafe and felt the need to enjoy something lighter, like a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, etc. So far, throughout the holiday season, we enjoyed big Cabs, Syrahs, Port and Pinot Noirs, but we were back in the tropics this year and wanted something more refreshing. A half-bottle of the 2007 Francis Coppola Chardonnay did the trick. Not being partial to the higher-end buttery and oaky Chards and wanting something a bit more cool and crisp, this blend of grapes from Monterey was really nice:
Color: Bright yellow, but not gold. Reflected the sunlight brilliantly
Nose: Apples, pears and some apricot (?)
Taste: Crip and clean feel, with granny smith and medium acidity and some whip cream finish
Cost: $15
Staying with the theme of lighter fare, which was necessary after eating copious amounts of holiday treats and other high-carb/fat foodstuffs, we opened a 2007 Bethel Heights Pinot Blanc after our 7 hour drive back to the chilly ATL. We haven’t had nor know much about Pinot Blanc, a genetic mutation of Pinot noir, but we learned we really liked it, at least from this winery. The bummer is that it doesn’t look like it gets distrubuted very far outside of Oregon, if at all. However, we wanted to mention it anyway because we were so pleasantly surprised and maybe there are more Pinot blancs out there with as much character.
Color: Light yellow, towards Sauvignon blanc hues
Nose: Mineral, citrus and Jonjie could identify some grass -no, not that kind 
Taste: Lots of acidity but not overbearing (much more than the Coppola as a comparison), lemon citrus and stone minerality
Cost: $16
See you next year…
These sound delightful. I am almost afraid to try them paired with heartier meals as we continue to freeze our butts off up here. Should we wait till it warms up?
Winter Park is one of my favorite places in Florida. Jellus!
nice post! 80 degrees for Christmas, gotta like that. Pinot Blanc is a new one to me.
Speaking of chardonnays, I just discovered that Toad Hollow (I think you and Jonj have had it) was founded by Todd Williams and Rodney Strong.
here are more details about the late “Dr. Toad”, who was Robin William’s brother: http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070818/news_1m18williams.html