Photo: Winemaker Grant Stanley (courtesy SpearHead Winery)
SpearHead Winery’s winemaker, Grant Stanley, has released two small lot Chardonnays that beg to be tasted side by side. They are made with the same clone and the same technique but the vineyards are 44 km apart. The wines are a lesson in terroir.
If you taste them on different occasions, you might miss the comparison of terroirs but you will still be tasting Chardonnays of elegance and charm. Those in whom the “anything but Chardonnay” prejudice still resides are likely to be seduced by these wines.
One of the wines is from SpearHead’s Saddle Block Vineyard in East Kelowna. The other is from the Duncan Vineyard on the Naramata Bench.
The grapes were clone 95. The fruit was hand-harvested and whole bunch pressed. The wines were fermented and aged in French oak barrels (25% new) for 10 months. Grant allowed the wines to undergo partial malolactic fermentation in the spring. That means the wines still have fresh acidity. The wines are refreshing, and not like the fat, overly-oaked Chardonnays of old that turned people off.
Here are notes on the wines.
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($30 for 188 cases). The wine begins with lovely aromas of peach, apple and citrus. On the palate, flavours of peach mingle with citrus and a touch of hazelnut. There are long, luscious fruit flavours on the lingering finish. 92.
($30 for 490 cases; 48 magnums are available). If anything, this Chardonnay is even more luscious. It begins with aromas of citrus and stone fruits. The flavours are a medley of lemon, mango and baked apple. Bright acidity accentuates the fruitiness. 92.
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