It's a conundrum.
Brad Holstine of Husch Vineyards in Philo says it's a challenge to make a chardonnay that's different enough to spark interest and yet also remains true to the varietal.
Holstine is the winemaker behind our wine-of-the-week winner - the Husch, 2009 Mendocino Chardonnay, a great value at $15.
"Chardonnay can tend to be defined by its oak or its fat and blousy palate," Holstine said. "If these traits are the focus of the wine, it's hard to pitch it as food friendly... Our goal is to let the fruit shine and to produce a wine that works well with food."
Holstine has been the winemaker at Husch since 2006 and came on as assistant winemaker in 2003. He said the intrigue of harvest is what initially inspired him to groom grapes and bottle wine.
"It was an adventurous moment in time with a wine," he said. "My first crush! (Don't tell my wife.)"
In 1992, Holstine was working the harvest at Saucelito Canyon Vineyard, a small Zinfandel producer located in a very remote corner of the Central Coast outside San Luis Obispo.
"I was inspired and very much intrigued by the energy of the grape harvest," he said. "The secluded setting, anticipation of the pick, preparation in the winery and, of course, the harvest aromas of the fruit of our labor in the finished wines. I was young and green, but that experience made quite an impression."
With decades of experience behind him, Holstine is still intrigued. "The biggest thrill? I'm most intrigued with how to grow a better grape to make the best wine possible within the context of stylistic goals."
Something the uninitiated would find surprising, he said, is that the fruit profile in young, tank-fermented chardonnay can be incredibly different than what consumers expect in a finished wine. Profiles can range from "white peach and honeysuckle to citrus, pear and apple crisp," he said.
"Clonal variation, terroir, and ripeness at harvest all influence aromatics and it's balancing these variables that helps create complexity in the finished wine."
Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at 521-5310 or peg.melnik@ pressdemocrat.com.
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