Posts Tagged“chardonnay”

Bedell Cellars 2007 Taste White

Chardonnay is the most-planted white grape on Long Island, covering around 30% of local vineyard land. That's a lot of chardonnay, relative to the white grape that I think holds the most potential for the region, sauvignon blanc, which covers far less than 5%.  That's also a lot of mediocre chardonnay. A lot of chardonnay that (usually) isn't going to do much more than fill the white wine columns on tasting room sheets. Don't get wrong, there are some outstanding, well-made Long Island chardonnays — made both with and without barrels — but Long Island is never going to be…

Onabay Vineyards 2006 “Wild Ferment” Chardonnay

I was thinking this morning about how wineries (and to a certain extent wine writers) talk about wine. You always hear about whether or not a wine was fermented in an oak barrel, and if so, what type of oak and how many times its been used. Quite often, you'll also hear about clonal selection and even rootstock. But for some reason, yeast strain is almost never talked about. The only time you even hear about yeast is if a winery is using naturally occurring yeasts to ferment a particular wine. And yet, the yeast strain a winemaker uses has…

Update on My 2008 White

As you may remember, I'm making 20 or so cases of chardonnay-viognier at Sannino Bella Vita Vineyard this year. A couple weeks ago, I went out to the winemaking center to taste its progress, help rack the wine and talk with owners Lisa and Anthony Sannino. This picture is looking down into the tank after we pumped the wine out to clean out the lees and tartrate crystals. It took quite a bit of scrubbing to get the tank completely clean, a not-so-subtle reminder that winemaking is 80% cleaning. The final blend is 60% viognier and 40% chardonnay (both lots…

Onabay Vineyards 2006 “Unwooded” Chardonnay

Onabay Vineyards is a new North Fork producer, but there is plenty of history, and talent, behind their wines. Their vineyard is 18 years old and veteran vineyard manager Steve Mudd watches over the vines while Bruce Schneider of Schneider Vineyards makes the wines. Beyond that, Onabay Vineyards, which was named as such because the vineyard is, well, on a bay, is a family affair. The Anderson family owns the 180-acre farm that houses the vineyard and has its members participate in every piece of the operation. Francesca Anderson, a renowned botanical artist, created the drawings of herons that appear…

Macari Vineyards 2007 Estate Chardonnay

I've been a proponent of low- and no-oak chardonnay for quite some time now. Actually I wonder sometimes if it's that I'm for those wines or just strongly against over-oaked ones. It's probably a combination of both, really. One thing that I do have to admit though: chardonnay made without oak can be awfully boring on the nose. It's just not an overly aromatic grape and that's part of the reason it goes into oak so often… to bring some sort of aromatics to the wine. This 100% stainless steel chardonnay from Macari Vineyards, their 2007 Estate Chardonnay ($19) is…

C. Donatiello Winery: When New Yorkers Invade Healdsburg

What do you get when you take an experienced wine executive from New York City and drop him into the Russian River Valley with two winemakers who also hail from New York? Apparently you get some delicious and surprisingly elegant chardonnays and pinot noirs that are undoubtedly California, but not what you might expect. Chris Donatiello was that marketing and sales executive for the Charmer Sunbelt group before teaming up with venture capitalist Bill Hambrecht. Together they purchased Belvedere Winery in Healdsburg, CA — a winery that had been making 125,000 cases a year and converted it into C. Donatiello…

WTN: Channing Daughters Winery 2006 Brick Kiln Chardonnay (The Hamptons)

I think that those of us who take wine seriously (but never too seriously, right?) sometimes get caught up in wines needing to be "complex." I know that I find myself saying "It’s delicious, but it’s simple" and meaning it in a bad way. Why is that bad? The important thing is that it’s delicious, not that it might only have two or three flavor components instead of a half dozen or more. This wine, Channing Daughters Winery’s 2006 Brick Kiln Chardonnay ($20), is a reminder that a wine can be tasty and straightforward …and that is okay. The grapes…

WTN: Brooklyn Oenology 2005 Chardonnay (North Fork of Long Island)

A couple weeks ago, Sasha wrote about Brooklyn Oenology’s debut this fall. Eating local has become a part of every day life for many of us, but drinking local hasn’t quite caught on. But, as we all think about how we can reduce our carbon footprints, drinking wines made closer to home makes perfect sense. Shipping wine across the country or around the world — in those heavy bottles — burns a lot of fossil fuel, emitting a whole lot of carbon dioxide. For Brooklynites, Alie Shaper owner of and winemaker for Brooklyn Oenology (BOE) is making it that much…

WTN: Raphael 2006 Grand Cru Chardonnay Reserve (North Fork)

When it comes to his white wines, Richard Olsen-Harbich, winemaker at Raphael, typically eschews oak to preserve the natural flavors of the grapes. Both his stainless steel chardonnay and sauvignon blanc are perennial favorites and are terrific spring and summer sippers. But, after a 2006 growing season that was cooler than 2005 and was marked by a lot of overcast days and higher-than-average levels of rain, Rich decided to make his first barrel-fermented chardonnay at Raphael. He didn’t make much though, only four new French barrels worth. All told, the wine spent five months in those barrels. He stirred the…

The 12 LI Wines of Christmas: #1 Wolffer Estate Vineyards 2003 Estate Selection Chardonnay

This post is a part of my 12 Long Island Wines for Christmas series that will run from now until Christmas 2007. See the entire series here. Welcome to my 2007 12 Long Island Wines for Christmas, where I share with you the 12 wines that I’m most excited about and consider the some of the best Long Island had to offer in 2007. Today’s wine is Wolffer Estate Vineyards’ 2003 Estate Selection Chardonnay. I’ve written about this wine before, but I was reminded this past weekend of just how much I enjoy it. I served it with the pasta…