Channing Daughters Winery

What I like best about Channing Daughters Winery is how they experiment with varietals, blends and yeasts, often using natural yeasts for their chardonnays. Their 2004 "Clones" bottling is one such experimental blend.

Composed of 90% chardonnay (11 clones of it: 75, 76, 78, 95, 96, Pisacano, 15, 17, 5, 4 and musque) with 5% pinot noir, 1.5% semillon, 1.7% aligote and 1.8% gewurztraminer, this is probably the most unique blended white on the East Coast. The grapes were hand harvested, whole cluster pressed and bottled by gravity. All of the varieties were pressed and fermented together, using five barrels (two new Slovenian oak barrels, one one-year-old barrel and two stainless steel barrels.) The wine in the new Slovenian oak was fermented on its own naturally occurring wild yeast.

Eyes: Light-to-medium gold

Nose: Complex with apples, pears, peaches, baking spices and faint floral notes

Tongue: This is a fairly full-bodied white that could use a touch more acid for my liking (keep in mind that flabby chards are my least favorite wines). It's nicely fruity with crisp pear and stone fruit giving way to tropical flavors as the wine warms a little in the glass.

Price: $29

Reviewed November 1, 2005 by Lenn Thompson.