"clos lachance" news and stories

Gretchen Roberts has passed the introductory course at the Court of Master Sommeliers and is studying for her sommelier certification this fall.

"Great wine is made in the vineyard, not in the winery." The expression may have derived from top winemakers modestly claiming to be simple helpers taking advantage of Mother Nature's hard work. Still, a winemaker makes plenty of decisions after the harvest that affect the ultimate taste and character of the wine. Chardonnay is a great example of a vino whose character is formed through decisions made in the winery.

Chardonnay-making is rather like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. Start with the fruit; where you go from there can take you to many alternate endings. A couple of decisions that drastically alter the finished product:

• Stainless steel or oak: Chardonnay fermented in stainless steel will maintain a certain liveliness. Fermented in oak barrels, however, it takes on a lush, ripe character with notes of oak and vanilla spices.
• Malolactic fermentation: Malolactic fermentation converts harsher malic acid into softer, buttery lactic acid (think milk, cream and butter). Chard that hasn't been put through this process can taste bright, fresh and wildly acidic.

Read more Unoaked Chardonnay - Wine of the Week and vote in the Chardonnay poll after the jump.

Petite Sirah is a grape that belies its name--there's absolutely nothing petite about it. The wine is big, bold, robust, deep-colored, and tannic, not some mealy-mouthed little girl who sits pretty and still shops in the kids' section. I won't bore you with the complete history of Petite Sirah, which is long, convoluted, and requires an agricultural degree to get through, but instead will give you the one-sentence recap: The grape was probably originally from the Rhone in France, but is now mostly grown in California. Like Zinfandel, Petite Sirah has its own fan base: P.S. I love you. (Clever, eh?)

If you look in the California wine section, you'll likely find one or two bottles of PS to try. If you've never tried them, you should. It's an interesting grape. Sometimes PS is blended with other wines, like Zinfandel. These two grapes are a perfect pair, IMO, because the jammy Zin is bolstered up by the tannic PS, and together they make a great blend.

I've got one Petite Sirah in my wine rack--a 2004 Close LaChance ($35) that I brought home from a trip to Paso Robles last fall--but haven't had a chance to open it yet. Today, my neighbor came over with a mostly-finished-and-recorked bottle of Crane Lake Petite Sirah. "Try this," he said.

More Petite Sirah - Wine of the Week after the jump.