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A Delightful Chardonnay Pairing at McGill’s in Tulsa, AZ
April 20, 2017
Keenan Chardonay Pairing from Keenan Winery on Vimeo. John Williams at Wine & Spirits talks with owner of Keenan Wines (Michael Keenan) about their award winning Chardonnay pairing at McGill’s in Tulsa, AZ.
Delightful Chardonnay
Video Transcript
Hi, I’m John Williams. I’m with Premium Brands Wine and Spirits. I’m here at McGill’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Been here 25 long years and served some of the best food in Tulsa. I’m here with Michael Keenan. Michael, we have your Chardonnay on the table. When I come in, I always order this with this dish here. What’s so great about this pairing?
Well, what really works is the responsiveness of the Chardonnay to the food. So we make a style of Chardonnay that’s not the normal type of Napa Chardonnay. So it’s got more of a clarity of subtle flavor and a higher acid level. So it really responds to the subtle flavors in the crab cocktail as opposed to overwhelming it with a heavy butterier, toastier, oakier profile. So it’s a really lovely Chardonnay that will respond to the food. And that’s what wine and food pairing is all about. It’s not about pairing. It’s about responding.
So how long has your winery been up on Spring Mountain?
We’ve been there for 42 years. Wow. So my father was one of the pioneers, so-called pioneers of the 70s, who came to the Valley, and he found a property that had been originally built by an Italian family in 1904. And we restored the historic winery, use it still to this day. So we’re one of what’s called the ghost wineries, wineries that were in business at the end of the 19th century, went out of business during Prohibition, were fallow for decades, four years after they went out of business.
Wow. Well, I got to tell you, I love Mountain Wines. They have a balance between power and finesse that you can’t find in the valley floor for me.
Everything you grow up in elevation, whether it’s coffee, tea, cocoa, or Chardonnay or Merlot, has more intensity. Because of the stress of elevation, vines will actually respond by making a smaller diameter berry. So with that smaller berry, you get more skin-to-pulp ratio. And from your skin, you get all your color, all your tannin, and all your complex phenolics that make for great flavors. And also, our climate is actually milder. Being up in elevation, we’re cooler, which allows us to retain a higher acid level And correct me if I’m wrong, but acid is what makes it pair so well with a dish like this.
Acid is the backbone to all great wine, whether it’s white or red. That’s the vehicle that drives the flavor particles through your palate from front to back. And that’s the definition of a balanced wine. Delivers all the deliciousness.
Yeah, and that’s the definition of a balanced wine if the impact of the wine is the same on the front palate as the back palate. Because a lot of California wines, if they’re ripened a little longer and have lower acid, will have what I call a cone-shaped flavor profile. The biggest impact of the wine is you smell delicious fruit, you taste it on the front of the palate, and as the wine goes back in the palate, the experience of the wine, the impact gets smaller and smaller and smaller. It makes a cone shape. And a balanced wine will have more of a tubular shape because that acid will carry those flavor particles from the beginning through the middle and the end and keep going with this nice, long, glowing finish. And with this Chardonnay, and also our style, we don’t let it go through that secondary malolactic fermentation. purer and the finish literally just goes and goes and goes and goes and what that means to me it’s also mouth-watering so the finish leaves me wanting Another sieve, exactly. Great idea. This crab cocktail is delicious too. This is one of McGill’s feature appetizers. It’s delicious. It’s very fresh, fragrant, and just a wonderful way to start your meal.
Well, John, thanks for having me. It’s always a pleasure to come to Tulsa to visit you, and I appreciate the tremendous job you do for us. in this part of the country. When I tell my California friends I’m going to Oklahoma, their response usually is, why? And I go, don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you later when I get back. But this is actually my most frequently traveled state in the country. outside of California.
Michael, it’s my pleasure, and you’re welcome back anytime. Cheers. Thanks. Cheers.