Chardonnay poses interesting challenges for the winemaker – ask almost any winemaker who works with it and they’ll tell you that it seems to change from day to day in the cellar. One day you just love it and think you’re ready to bottle it, and the next time you taste it you just hate it, or find some flaw that didn’t appear before.

The trouble is, Chardonnay is extremely flexible and will readily accept any change in climate or cellar treatment, seeming to change on a whim. This makes the quest to get just the flavors and finish that you want a challenge to get in the bottle – or at least it seems to for me! Some of you know that I’ve taken to doing test bottlings of our Chardonnay to try out different refinements and letting people try them in the tasting room. For a small winery like we are, firing up the bottling line (aka, yours truly) is no big deal, so I can put a few cases in the tasting room and see what happens.

So, the news is that I’ve just finished a round of fining and racking of the 2010 vintage and I’m feeling pretty happy with the combination of bright flavors, impressive body and long finish that will be in the tasting room when you read this. I hope you’ll stop by and see what you think. It seems to really pair up well with cheese and the few typical food pairings we’ve tried so far, but I’d love to hear from you. See you soon!