Few varietals are as indecisive as Chardonnay.
Grow the vines in a warm climate with parched soil and it bends one direction. Plant in cool weather and rich earth, it veers another. Seclude it in stainless steel and the wine shows a bright, fruity visage. Bind it in oak, on the other hand, and Chardonnay develops that familiar — some might say overly so — buttery heft.
Those who work with the grape sway between style and terroir as the popular mood shifts. Many California winemakers are drifting away from the big, hearty Chardonnay, producing lean and crisp wines from gleaming tanks.
Joy Merrilees fixed herself somewhere in between.
“We see how the Chardonnay trends are changing,” the Shannon Ridge winemaker said. “We took the best of both worlds.”
Her 2014 Chardonnay from the winery’s Vigilance label benefits from both blistering Red Hills AVA heat and the more moderate bottomland breeze. She matured a majority of the wine in stainless steel, but reserved 20 percent in new French barrels.
And even with the wood, she played down the middle. She offered the oak a convection toast rather than hitting it with flame, creating a more delicate tone.
The wine responds to this treatment nicely, offering aromas of ripe — almost candied — apricot and fresh peach in basket loads. A hush of tropical fruit follows, along with the earthy sweetness of banana and a discursive, dry husky grass.
This last shows itself more clearly on the palate. The husk, the shell — cracked open it appears as a whisper of coconut, that complements the dab of vanilla as the wine curls up into its comfortable finish.
But the 2014 Vigilance Chardonnay opens as a bowl of fruit, dazzling under the summer sun. Again the stone fruits steal your attention, bright and eager. Under this, a richer tropical hue develops, introducing even more profound — though distant — hints of cut banana and feathery herbs leading to that wonderful finish.
It is a remarkable wine — light and modern, funky and old world.
“We really wanted to show the fruit,” Merrilees said, explaining the reliance on stainless steel for 80 percent of the process.
The other 20 percent took a little patience and finesse, of course. What matters, however, are the results — and the willingness to claim their own place in the wild swing of Chardonnay whims.
“It came out pretty well,” Merrilees agreed.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
