Chardonnay’s relationship with oxygen is, effectively, sophisticated at finest. For the previous a number of many years, winemakers have been taught to deal with the grape selection as gently as potential to inhibit any interplay with air. Many of those producers work in concern of the dreaded “premox” (quick for untimely oxidation), a phenomenon that has haunted white Burgundies from the ‘90s and early aughts to this present day. That’s why the Black Chardonnay methodology, which deliberately exposes Chardonnay to oxygen, can appear dangerous and even excessive. But it surely additionally results in among the most complicated expressions of this grape within the wine world.
How precisely does the Black Chardonnay methodology work? And what can drinkers count on from a bottle made on this type? VinePair tapped founding father of Willamette Valley’s 00 Wines Chris Hermann and Jacob Brown, sommelier at San Francisco’s Lazy Bear, to dive deeper into this unusual type.
With regards to Chardonnay, potential winemakers are sometimes taught in faculties like UC Davis to deal with the grapes with warning. Brown explains: “They rigorously hand-pick the grapes, instantly coat them with sulfur within the truck, use a balloon press to frivolously press the Chardonnay — as to not offend its delicate nature — inoculate the juice with yeast in a closed fermentation, and continuously high up the barrels to stop any additional oxidation.”
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The Black Chardonnay course of flies within the face of this conventional recommendation, treating the wines considerably harshly and maximizing their publicity to oxygen. This system is extra according to how old-school producers might need made Burgundy 70-plus years in the past. “They create the grapes to the vineyard, stomp on them outdoors, then press the grapes — turning that press as much as 11,” Brown says. “They smash the ever-living daylights out of it, attempting to get all that texture from the skins.” The result’s a liquid that just about instantly turns an appallingly darkish brown colour.
00 Wines is likely one of the main producers utilizing this methodology within the U.S., and the vineyard is popularizing the time period Black Chardonnay as a reference to the gorgeous colour change that happens through the winemaking course of.
Hermann recollects that the primary time he tried this system, in 2015, he was shocked to see such a stark change happen so shortly. Inside about 10 seconds after urgent the grape should, “it turns a really darkish brown or black colour,” he says. “It’s very turbid and darkish, like a muddy lake backside.” These are the phenolic compounds oxidizing — the identical means an apple would when reduce open and left on the counter. However then inside a few month, the wine regularly returns to Chardonnay’s typical golden hue because the compounds fall to the underside of the barrel. And the result’s a deeply complicated, textured, scrumptious wine.
Along with creating a shocking wine, this course of also can assist make a wine that’s higher constructed for growing old. By quickly exposing the grapes to oxygen from the get-go, then permitting the liquid to resolve the oxygenation itself, the ensuing wine is hearty and almost indestructible. It seems that the extra conservative, overprotective system that restricts oxygen is extra more likely to result in premox in Chardonnay. “They had been making the wines too clear,” Brown provides. “Like a child who was sheltered their complete life that lastly meets the actual world.”
In response to Brown, this winemaking type is most well-liked by just a few legendary producers in Burgundy like Coche-Dury and Roulot, and there are just a few different winemakers within the U.S. recognized to make use of this course of, together with John Kongsgaard in Napa Valley, who has referred to it because the “demise and resurrection” methodology.
As a sommelier, Brown is especially drawn to those wines for his or her fascinating texture and talent to pair with a variety of dishes. “I do advocate these wines typically at Lazy Bear, as a result of our flavors aren’t shy,” he says. “The wines have texture and weight, and might deal with something from a salad or cured halibut to a fatty A5 wagyu course and even lamb.” So for followers of wealthy, rounded white wines, don’t be repelled by the considerably off-putting Black Chardonnay identify, and provides these deeply fascinating wines a strive.
*Picture retrieved from @vawrex by way of Instagram
