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Save $10 on any purchase over $75 at eWineRacks.com - promo code: SW-8937
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Wine of the Month Channing Daughters 2005 Scuttlehole Chardonnay
Channing Daughters Winery
1927 Scuttlehole Road
Comment:
Channing Daughters bills this wine as a Chardonnay for people who think they hate Chardonnay. There is a reason for that: it is not a wine made in the big, buttery, toasted-oak style of California that sold so many bottles in the late Eighties and Nineties, and still sells well today.
That oak feel and taste is a winemaker choice, not a requirement. It also does not seem to be as effective with grapes grown in cooler climates like Long Island as it is in warmer places with longer growing seasons. Add in the cost of new oak barrels, and you can understand why some winemakers look at different means of bringing their grapes to the bottle.
Personally, we always felt that those heavily oaked Chardonnays were great for
one glass. After that, my mouth would feel somehow full of that taste, and
I'd be looking to see what else was available -- even when I had enjoyed the
first glass. Steel-fermented or unoaked Chardonnays are much lighter, a
little crisp, and often have more citrus flavors in my view. Karen feels
the oaked ones give her a headache if she has more than a glass, and much
prefers the lighter, crisper taste of the lightly oaked or steel-fermented kind.
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Last modified: March 10, 2007
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