Common styles of Chardonnay

Oaked Rich & Creamy

buttery taste, great with seafood, found in California, Chile, Australia, Argentina, Spain

UnOaked Stainless Steel

Crisp, Tangy, tart, with more pear  flavors

Sparkling

Blanc to Blances labeled sparkling wines

Sometimes you get the best information directly from the winemakers themselves. Here is an excerpt from a seminar at Presqu’ile Vineyard.

The grapes for these two Chardonnays were again both grown on the Presqu’ile Vineyard. The Presqu’ile Chardonnay, made by winemaker Dieter Cronje is aged in neutral oak for 18 months. They typically harvest their Chardonnay early to retain the acidity. This is a mix of clones including Dijon clones 95 and 96 as well as the Davis clone 4. They had also been playing with a sparkling program and had some grapes from the 131 and 124 Champagne clones that were included.

The Labyrinth Chardonnay was all from Block B. Ariki Hill ages this Chardonnay in 30% new oak and the wine is fermented in the barrel on the lees.

A little back ground on Ariki (Rick) Hill of Labyrinth…

Ariki hails from New Zealand. While working in the dairy industry he started his winemaking. He found many similarities in handling fragile milk products and grape juice for wine. He pursues balanced wines that feature the region. He currently makes wines from Santa Barbara County, Paso Robles and the Yarra Valley in Australia. Most of his Paso wines are under the HAKA label. You can find more details about Rick and his wines on his website at https://labyrinthwine.com.