It was love at first sight.
Well, nobody can trace the moment winemakers first discovered the grape, but they quickly grew fond of its versatility.
The varietal responds to terroir like few others, coaxing the soils and weather to spills their secrets. Chardonnay grapes happily catalogue the nuances of chalk or loam, sun blasted days and damp, cool evenings, elevation and all the other whims of nature before broadcasting them in the glass.
Yet it also yields to the hand of the winemaker. Encase it in stainless steel and it produces a bright, fruity sheen. Kiss it with a touch of oak and richer flavors emerge.
And that’s where Chardonnay’s story takes a film noir tumble.
For years devious winemakers — many in California — pummeled the poor varietal with oak. The state’s Chardonnay overindulged, all too often becoming plump and buttery. Virtuous wine drinkers turned away from the once noble grape.
Ah, but there’s a happy ending to this tale. Over the past decade many concerned winemakers began to again seek out Chardonnay’s charms, resurrecting the varietal’s reputation.
Cache Creek’s 2013 Celebration Chardonnay is an example of this revival. Yes, they age the wine in oak for 9 months, but they employ wood from stands grown in France’s central region.
Allier oak strains upward — tall and lean. The grains link tightly, so when cut and formed into barrels, they choke off much of the circulation that produces the dense, buttery note.
Instead the wine offers aromas of curing apple slices, soft caramel, finely ground white pepper and autumn leaves, brightened by a drifting floral sensation.
The wine unfolds across your palate like thin cashmere — rich in texture, but without the heavy flavor. Instead, an impression of fresh apple is allowed to romp and linger. It’s a wine that revels in fruit, particularly mid-palate, with a hint of melon rind for balance.
As Cache Creek’s Celebration Chardonnay bids farewell, the gilded savor emerges again, flaunting its wealth in the form of butterscotch and creamy caramel.
It’s a celebratory Chardonnay, without the bubbles — and one that will cause you to thank those winemakers who refused to let a famed Burgundian varietal slink into New World alleys.
To open a bottle is to fall in love again.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
