Richard Kaz reaches for a bottle, flashing a mischievous grin. It’s a white port of Chardonnay the Finley winemaker prepared for his Kaz Bodega Bay label.
“People who say they don’t like port, I love to pour it for them,” he said.
His Pirate’s Reserve White Port is quite different from the ruddy, contemplative traditional ports — suited to a summer afternoon or a cocktail hour more than the bowels of a stolid smoking lounge.
On the nose, cured stone fruit and dried banana flakes lend a pleasant lilt, enriched by a beautifully funky must, a tease of scattered whole mustard seeds and a reminder of cracked pecan shells.
While the aromas promise a delicate lace of flavor, Kaz’s white port takes a moment to allow the fruit room to play. Honeyed nectarine and banana delight in this, tapping melodiously across the palate before mellowed by soft hazelnut.
Kaz sits the Chardonnay in barrels for three years, employing neutral oak so as not to mute the rich fruits. The rest he attributes to time spent in Portugal.
“The nutty quality is brought on by techniques I learned there,” he said.
Those years in the barrel begin to tell on the finish, as heartier dried fruits and the earthy savor of pomace emerge.
It’s a wonder of a wine — a trove of wealthy fruit that travels lightly.
“I wanted to get away from that late harvest, that super sweetness,” Kaz explained. “It really does smooth out letting it age.”
Kaz targets 19 percent alcohol and a residual sugar rate in the 9.0 to 9.5 range, although the non vintage port avoids any hint of spirited burn or cloying syrup. It is surprisingly fresh — an aperitif wine.
“It’s been the mainstay of my port making career for 20 years,” he pointed out.
Yes, white ports are a still uncommon outside of Portugal in the spring. But there is a clear reason Kaz wields his in defense of all ports.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
