Southern New England's Surprising Chardonnays
By MARK BITTMAN
New York Times, Sunday, August 23, 1995
At one time, comparing chardonnays from the vineyards of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts with those from Burgundy would have been ridiculous. But that was before rainy, cool Oregon began to produce what even some French wine enthusiasts admit is world-class pinot noir.
It was only a matter of time before other coastal regions began to discover those grapes that best complement their soil and climate. In southeastern New England (recognized as an official viticultural region by the Bureau of Alcohol and Firearms), that grape appears to be chardonnay.
Not that the wines of Chamard and Stonington Vineyards in Connecticut, Sakonnet Vineyards in Rhode Island and Westport Rivers Winery in Massachusetts are the talk of the town; they're not even as well known as their Long Island cousins. But some of them are among the best wines in their price category: around $10 to $15.
Tastings of the current and somewhat older releases of Chardonnay from these four wineries - mostly from the 1992 and 1993 vintages - reveal that great strides have been made in a short time. Five, or six years ago, when most of the vineyards were young, the wines were promising but thin. But the 1990 vintage was a breakthrough, and suddenly $10 wines from New England were showing up in Chardonnay tastings, and doing well.
Now, these wines can compete on the open market, despite the fact that California is awash in grapes, that France and Italy are producing more wine that ever and that a dozen other countries from New Zealand to Chile to Spain are desperately trying to gain a foothold in the United States. The better wines from the 1992 vintages of Chamard and Westport Rivers - each produces at least two different chardonnays - are well balance, with oak and acid complementing distinct but not over powering fruit, They're not unlike decent wines from Burgundy, and they certainly belle their midlands price tags.
Those wineries' less expensive wines (It's worth noting that Chamard's cheaper 1992 chardonnay costs just $9), as well as those from Stonington and Sakonnet, are simpler, but clean and virtually flawless.
Is it possible that southeastern immigrants fled as soon as it became clear what Midwstern farmland could offer, where commercial agriculture is all but dead and whose wine-making history is more closely allied with hybridized grapes (and even apples) that with the great vinefera grapes of Europe - can produce fine wines? Unquestionably, said Bob Feinn, who owns Mount Carmel Wine and Spirits in Hamden, Conn.
"These chardonnays are absolutely competitive in their price range, Mr. Feinn said, "and could, in their best years, combine the fruit of a California wine and acidity and grip of a Burgundy."
There is an axiom in the wine world that the best wines are made from grapes that are stressed. Many of the best vineyards of Europe are at the northern edge of the range where superior grapes can be grown. One of the common complaints about white wines from California, in fact, is that the near-perfect climate and rich, deep soil allows the grapes to attain perfect ripeness at the expense of character, or structure.
That is far from the case in southern New England. Although every wine-growing region tries to compare itself with Burgundy or Bordeaux, this region's relatively bad growing conditions are not unlike those in France. The coastal climate is relatively mild, much more like Long Island's than Vermont's. The soil is poor ("They didn't name Stonington for nothing," said Nick Smith, the owner of Stonington Vineyards, just off the Connecticut coast at the Rhode Island border). And the weather is threatening - killing frosts sometimes occur in May and October, and growth in both months is important if the vines are to be productive and the grapes fully ripe.
Historically, wine making is all about good years and bad years. And what's good for grapevines - poor soil, just enough rain to keep it moist and some but not too much warmth - is not what's good for most other crops. "European wine makers argue that cool, long seasons are best for grapes," said Larry McCulloch, the wine make at Chamard Vineyards. "And in that regard, our region is certainly more like northern Burgundy than it is like California or Australia.
Most of the southeastern New England chardonnays are made with Burgundian yeasts and French oak. They are often aged on the lees, or dregs, a process that increases complexity and encourages a secondary, or malolactic, fermentation, a relatively recent discovery that is used in both red and white wines to decrease acidity.
None of the wine makers are convinced that chardonnay should be their only product. Westport Rivers, for example, is shifting its attention to sparkling wines, "We're producing four different sparkling wines right now," said Carol Russell, an owner of Westport Rivers who is in charge of marketing (her husband and two sons run the business, vineyard and winery).
And Chamard has made some good cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. "But I don't think we have the consistency of climate to produce great cab," Mr. McCulloch said.
"The point is that we have a lot to learn," said John Sotelo, the wine maker at Sakonnet and a former wine maker at Iron Horse Vineyards, a highly respected Sonoma County winery, "But we also have incredible potential."
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