Pondering the Uncertain Fate of Patrician Vintages in a 6-Pack Society

Wines that are either extremely tart or light, crisp and delicate are often misunderstood by consumers, and this causes consternation for some wine makers.

Wine makers sadly tell stories of wines they’ve made that have not been big, rich, oaky monsters, but rather have shown a degree of elegance. They say that some wine reviewers denigrate their lighter-styled wines because they prefer the chewy, oaky, flabby style of wine.

And such is the impact of some writers that many consumers buy the bigger wines eagerly, bypassing the wines of finesse. This encourages wine makers to make more wines that are bigger, fleshier, more obvious.

Yet wines that are loaded with wood flavors and high alcohol rarely age as well as wines that are in better balance when young, a fact born out by a taste of an older Chardonnay from Stony Hill. These hard-to-find wines are usually lean when they are young and appear simplistic, but they develop charms with many years in the bottle.

Patience Is a Virtue

With wine, patience is a virtue, but in today’s “I want it now” society, few people are willing to wait for the charms of maturity.

Tasting about 100 1987 California Chardonnays in the last few weeks, I was struck by the fact that many California wine makers are trying hard to make wines of better balance and harmony, but a number of wineries are still under the misbelief that bigger is better.

Still, those in the finesse game often have a rude awakening.

Merry Edwards has as good an understanding of Chardonnay as anyone in the business, yet just four years ago made a decision that was off the mark as far as the public was concerned. And it irritates her.

Edwards is wine maker at The Merry Vintners, a one-woman operation sitting on a flat plateau above the Russian River plain. All she makes is Chardonnay, a project that followed stints as wine maker at Mount Eden Vineyards in Saratoga and Matanzas Creek Winery in Sonoma County, where her Chardonnays won wide acclaim.

All-New Oak Barrels

Edwards is a classicist. Her Mount Eden Chardonnays were made from fully ripe fruit; the juice was fermented in all-new oak barrels and the resulting wine was rich and unctuous, but with long life in the bottle. (I recently tasted the 1978 Mount Eden Chardonnay and it was still magnificent.)

Later, at Matanzas Creek, her early 1980s wines won awards and today remain exceptionally well balanced. Starting with 1984 her own Merry Vintners’ Chardonnays have shown potential to expand in the bottle.

In 1985, she made a Merry Vintners Chardonnay that was a perfect example of her style. The wine had deep peach-like fruit character and oak tones and plenty of acidity to permit it to age. I loved it.

It didn’t sell.

“We’re in a different era today,” said Merry the other day. “This is a ‘now’ society, and everyone wants a wine to drink tonight. No one puts wine away in the cellar any more. But when I was at Mount Eden, people bought a case and put it in the cellar to age.”

She loved her 1985, but noted that it didn’t capture the public’s fancy because the high acidity made the wine initially very tart. Since people are not into aging such wines any more, few understood its potential.

Close-Out Table Bargain

Walking through a grocery store just a few miles from the winery recently, I spied the 1985 Merry Vintners Chardonnay on the close-out table. It was originally supposed to sell for $14. It was marked $8.99. I bought three bottles and tried one.

The wine was better for the extra 18 months it’s had in the bottle since I last tasted it. It was rounder, richer, still in balance . . . and still loaded with acidity. No doubt about it, the wine was tart. But when served with food, it was exceptional, complementing the meal beautifully.

Still, when it was released the response by the now generation of wine consumers was: too tart. Give us something more approachable, they said.

So Merry has. Yet she hasn’t compromised. The soon to be released 1987 Merry Vintners Chardonnay Reserve ($17) is a magnificent example of a broad, rich yet balanced wine with a hint of spice, a layer of pineapple fruit, and a full, complete taste. This time, however, the acid is not dominant, but still ample enough to allow the wine to age.

Giving In to Temptation

Edwards admits she could have made the 1987 Chardonnay broader, fatter, more oaky, but that would have showed no restraint. It would be giving in to temptation to pander to the now people.

Jeff Booth at Conn Creek in the Napa Valley also believes in the reined-in style of wine making for Chardonnay. His 1986 Chardonnay ($13) went through a single fermentation in oak and then was bottled without much additional tweaking of the wine.

“I think it’s important to let the fruit be the dominant characteristic,” said Booth, whose lovely Chardonnay accents a delicate citrusy tone with muted oak notes.

Booth’s mentor at Conn Creek is Andre Tchelistcheff, California’s greatest wine maker who, at age 88 is back at work full-time for the first time in 17 years.

Tchelistcheff, who was hired as chief enologist for Beaulieu Vineyard in 1938, has been a consultant to dozens of wineries since 1972 when he left BV. Among the places he’s worked at part time is Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington State. When Ste. Michelle’s parent, U.S. Tobacco Co., bought Conn Creek, it asked Tchelistcheff to revamp its fortunes, so Andre went back to full-time work.

“I have the tremendous pleasure of being an old man in an industry of young people and seeing the concentration and dedication of a young man like Jeff--and in seeing his restraint,” said Tchelistcheff as we tasted the ’86 Conn Creek Chardonnay. He said he preferred this style, as opposed to the richer, more unctuous style of Chardonnay.

Interprets With Finesse

Julia Iantosca, wine maker at William Wheeler Winery in Sonoma County, likewise looks for grapes that make a veiled wine and she interprets them with finesse.

“With our Chardonnay, we’re aiming for a more delicate style,” said Iantosca. “We’re looking for leaner body. The bigger wines can have an interesting flavor, but they don’t have the flavor profile that we like, with high acidity.”

Wheeler’s 1987 Chardonnay ($12) is a grand example of the type, with nuances that simply can’t be seen if the wine is chilled down too much (a common error in restaurants). Serve this type of wine closer to 60 degrees, not 40.

“Also, if this wine is in a blind tasting with bigger wines, sometimes our style can be overlooked,” she said, noting that wines with more oak or alcohol often score better with wine judges.

Wheeler buys Chardonnay grapes from six different Sonoma County vineyards, focusing on those in the cooler regions of Russian River and the Carneros district.

Then the wine is aged in oak for an average of 4 1/2 months and the result is a crisp, fragrant wine.

High acidity and delicate flavors may not be in vogue with those wine lovers who want huge, oaky, impressive wines, but this lighter style is appreciated by a number of purist wine makers. It’s this variety of style that makes the world of wine so intriguing.

Wine of the Week: 1988 Dry Creek Chenin Blanc ($6.50)--A thoroughly appealing wine of spice and charm. It has a trace of residual sugar (.4%) and a tropical fruit aroma and is an excellent match for many seafood dishes.