A great wine means finding right balance

10/22/2003

Winemakers sample their wine right from the barrels. Christian Butzke's all-stainless lot is frightfully austere with an icy nerve. He refers to this as his "Chablis," because of stylistic similarities it bears to wines from the most northerly of Burgundy vineyards. The lots of older oak are distinctly rounder and softer. Among the new oak (reserve) group, the Troncais lot is the most assertive, with pronounced wood tannins.

To blend the estate wine, the winemaker begins with three parts "Chablis," then adds one part each of the three older barrel lots. The addition noticeably tempers the edginess. When one part from the reserve group is mixed in, weight and complexity are added, too. The blend is beginning to feel complete.

Then comes a surprise. To the mix, Butzke adds one part vidal fume -- a barrel-fermented version of a hybrid varietal widely planted in New England but considered inferior to the noble chardonnay. The flavors of vidal are simple and grapey. Its presence adds a fresh fruit note and, it seems to me, a certain sweetness.

Butzke is almost done. The blend will still need enough sugar to bring it up to around 4 grams per liter, the threshold of perception. "Market leaders [such as] Gallo of Sonoma, Kendall Jackson, and Meridian often have residual sugar levels of 7 to 8 grams," he says, "so we're well below that. The purpose is to provide a feeling in the mouth that's round and satisfying."

Just how satisfying will be for the press and public to decide.

STEPHEN MEUSE