Chardonnay Noir

Did anybody else see this article?? I found it when I saw the article on wine tasting groups in LA. It struck me as something that should have appeared in the National Vinquirer.


The author refers to a process that includes a ‘little black magic’…Winemakers let chardonnay juice turn brown. What we tried to prevent from turning brown in the '70s precipitates out of the wine and less SO2 is thus required. The first I heard of this technique was around 1982, when Dave Ramey and Zelma Long explained it to me. A seminar held by Seitz–the filter people, not sorcerers–inspired their new approach to chardonnay making. Many other wineries have been using this approach since then. Some wineries, like Au Bon Climat, had already been making chardonnay this way, but it was really Ramey and Long who spread the gospel.

Is understanding this phenomenon key to solving the riddle of premox?? I don’t think so. I remember around 1985 Ramey explaining this to a winemaker from Meursault, who responded. Hmm I always wondered why the juice turned the color of tea and then it cleared up. Personally I agree with Dubourdieu and Lavigne about the important of glutathione in the ageing (or lack of) process.

Of course, the key paragraph begins ‘But brown chardonnay, while interesting…’ doesn’t help sell a story?? Not to mention the violence done to the grapes…Well, if it bleeds, it leads,…

Sorry Mel…beat you to it!

So I did…just be sure to take the article with a grain of salt. There is a lot of exaggeration in it.

I thought this was going to be about a still Blanc De Noir. Not at all. I’ve always wondering how a still white wine would taste if it were made from some pinot grapes.

Look for Nuits St. Georges Blanc from Arlot (if memory serves me right). Made from Pinot Noir.

Interesting. Any distinctive characteristics? (if memory serves you right)

Apologies Jerome, I was mistaken. It’s actually made from Pinot Blanc, not Noir. And unfortunately I didn’t get to taste it.

Exultet in Prince Edward County (Ontario) makes a great Pinot Noir Blanc.

Mel, how long has ABC been doing this and with which wines?

Blake,

I think Jim has always allowed the juice to brown. He also strongly believes in lees contact. Some of his wines are never racked, tho many are racked after ML.

New info to me re the browning and racking. I`m a fan of the lees contact for his wines. Thanks

Some of Jim’s female friends have racked him, but that is another story.

Another quip from Mel.

Of course, I am just kidding.Jim spends most of his time along with his dog. He loves gardening and reading Agatha Christie mysteries.

Of course.

Hey Mel,

This has been the practice at Hanzell since 1956. 1.5-2 days of juice oxidation prior to the addition of SO2. I’m totally sold on the process…

Hope all is well with you!
Jason

Jason,

I did not know that.
Ramey once told me that more than 6 to 8 hours was, at best, a waste of time, but what does he know??
It is funny that this practice gets brought up every ten years or so as tho it had been just discovered.

Brad Webb was the original winemaker at Hanzell, as I recall, and he consulted for Freemark Abbey in the 70s and, guilt by association, with Acacia in the 80s…I wonder if that is how they made their chardonnay. I will track Mike Richmond down to his lair near Mt Shasta and find out.

FWIW Siduri has made a Blanc de Pinot Noir from Oregon fruit for a couple of years. There are a couple of other wineries in Oregon making white wine of Pinot Noir.

Brad Webb was our founding winemaker and set the tone for Bob Sessions who followed in 1973. Not sure if Brad followed the same practices at Freemark or Acacia. We were using the same basket press here until 2003 and similarly to classic white Burgundy, the fruit is crushed first to allow for more efficient pressing in the basket. This process took 10-12 hrs/day and then another day in settling tank prior to racking in fermentation tank with SO2. Tons of oxidation would happen in the meantime of course. We follow the same regime still today for all our Chardonnay. Hard to know if premox would even be a thing if Burgundy didn’t modernize to bladder presses and whole cluster pressing with SO2, gas, etc…

I remember being on a tour at Matanzas Creek in the late 80s/early 90s where they gave us a sample of some muddy fermenting chardonnay. They said most people sulfured to keep the must from turning dark, but that the color was harmless and the wine would clarify on its own.