Rahsaan wrote:Just curious, what does it mean when they say "Hommage to Chablis", i.e. do they believe the vineyard has certain characteristics reminiscent of the the terroir in chablis, or do they take certain winemaking/vinification practices?
Is that the stoniness you note?
I can only infer that the winemaker was trying to differentiate his wine from stereotypical fat buttery CA chard, to alert prospective consumers that the wine is made in a leaner style than they might otherwise be used to. The wine saw no wood - it was fermented in stainless steel, as opposed to his other cuvee, which was barrel fermented. (and which he no longer produces)
I also note a certain minerality in the wines that come from this vineyard, both the reds, and whites.
I guess you'd have to ask him what he meant - I can only guess.
Afterthought: his website provides a clue - an excerpt follows....
The oak barrels I use for Chardonnay (we use mainly stainless steel casks, but will often rack into neutral wood for the mouthfeel) are a minimum of five years old, which adds only a hint of oak flavor to the wine. Most Chardonnay producers like a lot of new wood in their wine, but I prefer the underoaked wines of the Cote de Beaune and Chablis as my blueprint for style. The Clos Pepe fruit has an amazing underlying acidity and minerality that can become overwhelmed by new oak. Quite frankly, I believe that the fruit is so beautiful it doesn't need the added flavors of new oak to be complex, big and delicious. As 'malolactic fermentation' finishes, the wine has evolved from aromas of pineapple, grapefruit, mango and overt fruitiness to a wine filled with mature aromas of pear, apple, hazelnut, wet stones, firm acidity, lime blossom, yet with the rich, opulent sweetness up front in the palate, and bracing acidity, dryness, and minerals in the finish."I say: find cheap wines you like, and never underestimate their considerable charms." - David Rosengarten, "Taste"
