Wine of the Month

Channing Daughters 2005 Scuttlehole Chardonnay

Channing Daughters Winery

1927 Scuttlehole Road
Bridgehampton, NY  11932
631-537-7224

www.channingdaughters.com

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.