Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/960891
april 2018 / the tasting panel / 7 Down in the arroyo, Barnhisel carefully picks her way across the slow- moving stream and strikes a confident pose among the rocks, the stunning Santa Lucias providing a thrilling backdrop. "Big Sur is just over that range," she says, giving us a geographic point of reference. Back at the winery, we don Day-Glo safety vests and enter the hangar-like barrel room, where 40,000 oak and acacia barrels exude the unmistakable wood-tinged aroma of peacefully- aging wine. The 2017 Flume Crossing Sauvignon Blanc from the J. Lohr Estates tier awaits blending, so the barrel room team patiently stands by while we sneak in for a quick sample tasting. Barnhisel draws samples from both a stainless-steel barrel and an acacia barrel as she explains that the balance between the two fermentation meth- ods is what characterizes this wine: The stainless steel maintains crisp, citrusy grapefruit and lime notes, while the acacia lends texture in the mouthfeel and finish. The current 2016 vintage shows a delicate balance between New Zealand–like zestiness and California ripeness. "The Many Faces of Chardonnay" Elsewhere in the winery, Barrel Room Manager Manny Lara has set up two tasting areas with barrels holding components of J. Lohr's upcoming 2017 vintage Chardonnays. The first showcases the wines that will become the J. Lohr Estates Riverstone Chardonnay (SRP $15), of which the 90-plus individual lots are 100 percent barrel-fermented in American, French, or Hungarian oak for seven to nine months. The lees are stirred weekly and undergo 60–70 percent malolactic fermentation for texture. At the second tasting station, we discover the Arroyo Vista Chardonnay and October Night Chardonnay (both SRP $25) from J. Lohr's Vineyard Series. These are not single-vineyard wines but "single- concept" wines, explains Senior Marketing Director Dave Muret, who is along for the visit. Barnhisel draws a sample of the clone 809 Chardonnay, grown in the vineyard block we had visited earlier, and notes its "gardenia and orange blossom" aromas. This wine, from grapes hand-picked in early morning and crushed in a ten- ton press, will make up 60–70 percent of the finished wine in a process that Barnhisel calls "building complexity." (She says her question during the crafting and blending of Chardonnay is always, "How much complexity can we build into it?") Barnhisel then moves to a component of October Night's sibling, the Arroyo Vista Chardonnay; she draws a sample of clone 76 Chardonnay, which makes up the backbone of the blend with its brioche flavors (from lees stirring), caramel tones, and well-integrated notes of oak. "This is our ode to Burgundy," explains the winemaker. The finished wine shows "very floral aromas, flavors of pears, apples, and Meyer lemon—it's got a lot of layers to it," says Barnhisel. If October Night is full and voluptuous, Arroyo Vista is poised and finely delineated—or, as Barnhisel puts it, two of "the many faces of Chardonnay." While striving to maintain the flavor profiles J. Lohr fans expect from these wines by "blending to a style," Barnhisel has also managed to put her own stamp on these two icons of Arroyo Seco Chardonnay. "I love Chardonnay," says the winemaker. "It offers such a wide palette to work with, from austere and mineral to overt and tropical." Barnhisel has proven herself a master of both aspects of this varietal. "Balance and complexity, with freshness and texture," she concludes. "That's my style." Meanwhile, experimentation with clonal selection, cooperage, and yeast strains forges ahead at rapid pace under Barnhisel's supervision at the busy Greenfield winery. With a couple of new blocks coming online next year, the developments will give her even more options to work with as she brings J. Lohr's white wines into a brilliant future at the place where it all began. The J. Lohr Estates Flume Crossing Sauvignon Blanc shows zesty citrus balanced by California ripeness. Made primarily from the aromatic Chardonnay "musqué" clone 809, the J. Lohr October Night Chardonnay exhibits notes of gardenia and orange blossom in its suave texture.