Chardonnay

I am rereading The Art and Science of Wine by James Halliday and Hugh Johnson. Here is what they say about Chardonnay, one of the varieties that we will grow:
Chardonnay is the most forgiving and the most flexible of all varieties. It will make a satisfying wine in any climate from cool to very warm---but the personalities of these wines will be vastly different.
New England is a cool climate viticultural area and our Southeastern New England AVA has the moderating maritime influence from the Long Island Sound. In addition to the sound, our vineyard, located on Quoketaug Hill at the head of the Mystic River, means that cold air should roll down the hill, seeking the Mystic River. It will be exciting to taste what this location has to offer for the expression of the chameleon Chardonnay.
There are many Chardonnay styles. Recently, Chardonnay that has been fermented in stainless steel is gaining quite the following. Chardonnay can also be vinified using oak and then go through a process called malolactic fermentation (MLF) where a bacteria called Oenococcus oeni, previously known as Leuconostoc oeni converts malic acid to lactic acid. Oenococcus oeni can also produce a compound known as diacetyl that imparts a nutty or caramel flavor to the wine, but taken to the extreme (5gm/L), can lead to the wine having a buttery flavor.

One of the things that we are contemplating doing in making our Chardonnay is to do whole cluster pressings, a technique employed by sparkling winemakers. I learned that this practice originated in California, for the lowering of phenol levels. Interesting. We might have to do an experiment, whole cluster vs. berries.
What we are sure of is that we love the minerally, steely wines that come from Chablis and Ontario. We've enjoyed the 2009 Pearl Morissette, 2009 Bachelder Niagara Chardonnay, and the 2010 Exultet Chardonnay, The Blessed. They are making some fabulous wines in Ontario and on Prince Edward County. If only our wines could taste like that! We'll see.
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