Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/701904
82 / the tasting panel / july 2016 The vineyards: "This is the most important facet, as it includes picking decisions. We have two great appellations between Livermore and Arroyo Seco. In Livermore, you tend to have more lean, gravelly soil and therefore leaner, apple- like and citrus flavors along with a little more minerality. Arroyo Seco has richer, deeper soil, thus you'll have richer, more tropical fruit flavors. We start picking Chardonnay at 19 Brix, which is extremely high acidity but great for spar- kling. Our Brut, 100% Chardonnay, goes though secondary fermentation in the bottle—the méthode champenoise—and then gets its character from the time spent on lees. Then we start picking again at 21 Brix, which will show lean, tart apple flavors. Twenty-two Brix gives you Granny Smith apple; 23 Brix, ripe pear. At 24 Brix, some stone fruit and apricot and at 25 you get some tropical. My point being, you get all of these flavors just based on when you pick! Clonal material is also a big piece of this facet. Being able to have great clonal material, like some of the old Wente clones, old heritage clones, clone 4 and others of Wente decent, really helps to lay a foundation of beautiful fruit flavors through all of those picking decisions." To barrel or not to barrel: "The Wente Morning Fog Chardonnay is a good example of this. We don't use new barrels with Morning Fog; we'll use second- or third-use barrels, versus Riva Ranch, which is barrel-fermented in about 40% new oak which will give us a bigger richness. But the vineyard is still dictating where the flavors go with that big Riva Ranch fruit." How you manage your lees: "Eric's Chardonnay spends two months on lees. Morning Fog, five to six months. Riva Ranch, seven to nine months. The Nth Degree, 16 months. The lees drive autolysis, producing the rich, creamy, nutty interesting characteristics in the wine. We also use strategic bâtonnage, or lees stirring, depending on the style we are looking for." Wente Vineyards 2015 Small Lot Eric's Chardonnay, Livermore Valley with pickled jumbo prawn, toasted coconut and red chili pepper "We pick these [Eric's Chardonnay] grapes at 22 Brix. No oak, no MLF, no sur lie. All this really brings out that crisp minerality." —Karl Wente Naturally, the higher acid worked quite well with the shellfish, but pineapple and pear notes held up to the coconut and chili pepper. This is an Old World–style food wine, and a perfect example of how wine can be a ship that rises with the tide of culinary harmony. Wente Vineyards 2015 Estate Grown Morning Fog Chardonnay, Livermore Valley with roasted chili corncake, lime-butter, parmesan popcorn and chives "One of the defining facets of the Morning Fog is that it's two very different wines made very differently (one half stainless, the other barrel-fermented) and then blended together to really play off the tension created from the richness of the barrel- fermented and the leanness from the stainless steel." — K. W. Just as the lime-butter takes advantage of the yin and yang of tart and rich, so does the Wente Morning Fog with its stainless/ barrel-fermented blend. A fun dish with a scrumptious wine that offers incredible value. Style 1: Style 2: The Bacchus Brothers laying down some bluesy guitar riffs.