2012 Gold Label Chardonnay, Lenz Winery, North Fork of Long Island ($18)
Lenz Winery on the North Fork of Long Island
My prejudices first. I am a fan of wines made on the North Fork of Long Island; chances are, when they take a turn with classic varietals, the results will be lower in alcohol, more graceful than parallel turns from, say, California. Second: I have been to enough tastings over the years pitting wines from Lenz (in the North Fork) against wines from Europe and California to know that Lenz wines are much more European in style than Californian. But these principles don’t always apply to my main worldwide varietal bugaboo, Chardonnay. This week, the wisest words of all popped up: REMAIN OPEN! I stopped by Lenz Winery on Long Island, eager to taste their sparkling wine, their dry Gewurz, their sophisticated reds…and found myself lovin’ a Chardonnay, which is not common for me…even if the grapes are from Long Island! What was so unusual was the two-part process. The nose struck me as the kind of American Chardonnay nose I first noticed in the 1970s: butter and vanilla, the kind of nose that taught me to expect a palate follow-up of oak, oily texture, sweetness, too much alcohol. I appreciated the nostalgia, `but braced for the painful Part Two. But no! This palate is light, dry, graceful, lemony, well behaved. It doesn’t have the basso profundo of Burgundian minerals, but it strikes me as an American wine carefully crafted to be delicious and food-friendly!
Wine4Food
I’m thinking picnics, fish of all kinds (scallops are playing best in my mind’s palate), plus veal and chicken in creamy sauces.
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