Team #3- Elizabeth Cruz
The wine blending experience was one of a kind. We were given base wines to choose our preferred blends and I chose to blend two white wines to pair with my assigned meal, the delicious Broiled Salmon with Béarnaise Sauce, Pommes Natures and Sautéed Zucchini.
We learned that the styles of these wines compare to wines of the ancient world, a style of white wine like Georgian Wines. The winemaker taught us about extended maceration and with white wines and how he lets them sit and take off naturally before any other elements go into the process.
The two wines I chose to use for my blend were the Spontaneous Chardonnay and the Skin fermented Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay blend. The spontaneous Chardonnay was in neutral wood and naturally fermented. The skin fermented Sauvignon. Blanc Chard Blend was 60% Sauvignon. Blanc and 40% Chardonnay. This wine was new and left to sit in an old oak barrel with a different smell and expression. My blend was very close to what I had anticipated, although the Chardonnay certainly dominated over the blend. I went with a 3:1 ratio of Chardonnay/ blend and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. It was fun to use the syringe to measure the amounts of each wine I wanted added to my blend and interesting to taste and see how I wanted to adjust the ratio. I wanted my wine to have the creamy, buttery feel and taste of the chardonnay, while using the Sauvignon Blanc to pull out the herbaceous flavors in the Béarnaise. I decided my wine would be called “Stem to Stern” and my Shelf Talker would read: “2022 Stem to Stern- Chardonnay/ Sauvignon Blanc; 80% Chardonnay, 20% Blend; A Fork, Hook and City Blend of a Creamy Chardonnay and floral notes of Sauvignon Blanc; Enjoy with Fish, Light Pasta and Friends!” then at the bottom it would give credit where the credit is due: North Fork Grape.
