During the base wine tasting my partner and I disagreed on what white wine was gonna be our number one favorite. I was more in favor of the Riesling while my partner was more in favor of the Chardonnay. So instead of making a wine that is half Riesling and half Chardonnay we decided to do a 80% of one and 20% of the other. The Chardonnay came from North Fork, Long Island, it’s a wild fermentation in a neutral barrel. This wine was pale yellow with a low intensity. Aroma of white flowers, lime, and apples. On the pallet, it was dry with a medium acidity and taste of crisp green apples.
The Riesling came from the Finger Lakes and was fermented in a steel tank. The wine was pale yellow with an aroma of apples and peaches. On the pallet it was clean, medium intensity, balanced with a taste of apples, stone fruit and hints of tropical fruits and a long finish. Chardonnays tends to lean towards two distinctive characteristics, it is either less ripe with flavors aimed towards light colored fruit such as lemons, or sweeter light colored fruit such as pineapple or apple. Oak casks imparts vanilla notes into the wine and my partner deducted that it would pair better with the basque chicken dish, my partner later concluded his dislike of the riesling due to the nature in which it is made; in a stainless steel barrel. The wood gives the wine herb like accents along with spice notes which also adds to the appeal of the wine, although there is no right or wrong, everything is dependent on your style of winemaking, and what you want your product to do/be.
