The folks a Steele Wines beam at the mention of Chardonnay, and for good reason.
Winemaker Jed Steele has a long history with the grape. The Durell Vineyard where he tends some of the crop rates sans pareil for Chardonnay in Sonoma County — often cool and blanketed by fog, causing the growing season to drag and concentrating flavors.
And Steele’s 2015 Chardonnay from the Durell Vineyard is like a dream.
Peaches and cream drift from the glass, crooning along with a bouquet of orange blossoms. The floral note brightens the dwelling richness, allow aromas of ripe stonefruit and crisp apple to sing. Yet the creamy swell echoes, balancing the fruit with a hint of toasted oak.
On the nose it promises the comfort of familiarity — the nostaglic tune, the favorite chair —but also the comfort gathered through wealth. There’s a sense of discernment, of prudence, of silken dalliance to the wine that becomes evident with the first sip.
At first, the impression of fruits are hearty — baked peaches and stewed apples with a hint of banana cream. Yet the wine draws a refined edge. Brisk citrus and tropical notes rive through, basking the weightier flavors in brilliant light. The wine begins to shed its gilded richness to reveal a lean nature, grounded and of the earth.
It’s not riches to rags, not crooner to crass. Rather, the tempers imposing fruit with a pleasant wit, it balances buttery heft with svelte minerality.
No wonder they boast of the Chardonnay.
“That’s Jed Steele’s mastery,” said Steele viticulturalist Steve Tylichi.
The winemaker’s hand with the 2015 was remarkably deft. He settled the Chardonnay in French oak, 30 percent of it new. But first, he timed the batonnage with precision, allowing the lees to impart just enough character to the wine.
Steele avoided the broad shouldered butter bombs of California lore, instead creating a masterpiece of balance — rich and lean, poised and vibrant. It’s a beautiful expression of an old world style almost lost between Chardonnay’s bouts of over oaked and plain stainless steel.
And the wine will only improve if properly stored.
Tylichi explained that the team at Steele routinely sample older vintages of the Chardonnay and discover new nuances with each passing year. Of course, that kind of patience is easier when surrounded by seemingly unlimited cases in cool storage.
“This wine will be good for at least 10 years,” Tylichi said with a laugh. “But I wouldn’t necessarily keep them all that long.”
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
