A Liquid Symphony

Michael Braverman says...It takes a lot of skill and a sophisticated approach to winemaking to get it right, and Mr. Tracy, with each succeeding vintage, has been turning out increasingly original, engaging, and well-made blends... 

Most wines we drink are blends of some sort. Even a single varietal wine may contain up to 25 percent of other grapes. Winemakers do this to enhance color and aroma, to adjust such things as acidity, alcohol, oakiness, and tannins. But an even bigger challenge to a winemaker is to create an original blend, a nonvarietal wine based primarily on flavor and taste. 

I recently sampled some blends produced by Chris­topher Tracy, the winemaker at Channing Daughters Winery in Bridge­hampton. It takes a lot of skill and a sophisticated approach to winemaking to get it right, and Mr. Tracy, with each succeeding vintage, has been turning out increasingly original, engaging, and well-made blends. 

In a way, it is like creating a recipe for food. Proper ingredients are essential, and the way they are combined must be balanced and precise. It should come as no surprise that Mr. Tracy trained as a chef before moving on to the cellar, and that he is drawn to sophisticated blends. 

We tasted blends from the 2006 vintage that have recently been released or are soon to be released. I’ll comment in this column on two of those blends. 

Vino Bianco is a deceptively simple name for a wine that is intricate and subtle. It is inspired by the white wines of Friuli in northeast Italy, an area that Mr. Tracy often visits and that has greatly influenced his winemaking style. It is composed of 27 percent tokai Friulano, 26 percent sauvignon blanc, 22 percent pinot grigio, 19 percent of a chardonnay clone called Dijon 96, and 6 percent of a different chardonnay clone called musque. 

The result is a wine with clean, delicate characteristics, but with body and depth and layers of taste. Floral aromas, along with citrus, tropical fruits, and hints of spice, greet your nose, followed by minerality and a touch of what I can only call austere sweetness. 

Tocai is a lovely grape native to Friuli that Mr. Tracy has used over the years in both blends and varietals. It is rarely grown outside Italy; Bridgehampton is an exception. The European Court of Justice has forbidden Italy to use the name Tokai Friulano, ruling this summer that only Hungary is entitled to use that designation for Tokay or Tokaj, a sweet wine. 

The Friulians are fighting the ruling, and I hope they win. Of course we can drink and enjoy the same wine under a new name, but why should bureaucratic trade policies wipe out 800 years of history and tradition? 

Most blends emphasize the traits of the grape varieties or the method of winemaking, but a field blend, where grapes are grown in the same field and then harvested and vinified together in the same tank, emphasizes terroir. The rationale is to capture and express in the taste the location and season in which the wine was created. 

I can’t draw a direct line from field to glass, but I can say that Mosaico, an extraordinary new wine from Mr. Tracy, is absolutely sensational. Its composition is 34 percent pinot grigio, 33 percent chardonnay, 14 percent sauvignon blanc, 7 percent tocai Friulano, 6 percent gewurztraminer and 6 percent muscat Ottonel, all having spent their lives together. 

When you sit down to analyze it you realize that each element adds something important to the complete wine. Allison Dubin, the general manager of Channing Daughters and wife of Mr. Tracy, pointed out that there is a symphonic nature to Mosaico. 

She hit upon the perfect way to describe it. There is a lot happening, but it all works together harmoniously and seamlessly. The Channing tasting notes say, “This wine is a mosaic of grapes and a mosaic of vinification techniques, it is a mosaic of ideas and people, and it is inspired by the mosaic that is America as well as the mosaic of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.” It is a mosaic indeed, and a gorgeous one. 

Vino Bianco and Mosaico sell for $29 each at the winery.

Web Page: easthamptonstar.com

Time in a Bottle

One day perhaps, Christopher Tracy, the winemaker at Channing Daughters, will take the easier road and make larger quantities of fewer wines. Until then however we can all enjoy the results of Mr. Tracy’s restless and passionate quest to produce small quantities of wine from unusual grapes or small quantities of wines that are unconventional expressions of more common grapes. 

For several reasons, this seemed the perfect time to take a critical look at Mr. Tracy’s current work with white wines. To begin, Mr. Tracy has earned a reputation over the past for years for illustrating what Long Island is capable of doing with white wine grapes. Second, the harvest of 2005 was arguable the best we’ve had on Long Island. Local wineries, including Channing Daughters are now releasing white wines from this vintage. 

Sylvanus is the name of a field at Channing Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton and also the name of a wine. Instead of emphasizing the traits of a varietal or even a method of winemaking, Mr. Tracy’s focus is on terroir, the representation of time and place in a taste of wine. The three components of Sylvanus (muscat ottanel, pinot grigio, and pinot Bianco) are grown, harvested and vinified tog tether. 

It’s a blend that begins in the earth, and continues to the glass. The idea is captivating, and so is the result; harmonious, smooth, serene, almost pastoral in its composure. No one element jumps out. Nothing ruffles the silky balance of this well-bred wine. There were 208 cases of Sylvanus produced; it sells for $24 at the winery. 

The Friuli region of Northeast Italy has been a major influence on Mr. Tracy’s winemaking, and the simply named Vino Bianco ($29) is perhaps his most highly developed and subtle interpretation. A blend of four white varieties, medium-bodied and complex, this is a wine with a rhythmical, quickening edge to it. The name suggests country charm but the taste is urbane and sophisticated. 

Tocai is a grape of Friuli, hardly grown elsewhere, but Mr. Tracy has made it one of his signature tastes. It’s an easy wine to like-wait, make that love. I go back to it each year as it is released. Very aromatic, with citrus, floral and pear scents, intricate, sensual and excellent with many foods. Channing’s 2005 Tocai Friulano is exceptional-not merely by its rarity but also by its quality. 

The 146 cases were bottled, as Mr. Tracy points out, on Cinco de Mayo. I might add that at $24 per bottle it is numero uno for value and pleasure. 

Other new 2005 white wine releases from Channing Daughters include: Cuvee Tropical chardonnay ($17); Pinot Grigio ($18, now sold out); Sauvignon, 76 percent sauvignon Blanc, 24 percent chardonnay ($24); Scuttlehole Chardonnay, reliable, delicious and only $14. 

The raw material of the 2005 harvest was almost ideal. Excellence had to be the challenge for the winemaker on Long Island, and Mr. Tracy has taken that challenge seriously and produced a group of outstanding white wines.

Uncorked

Michael Braverman writes up the new Channing Daughters Tre Rosati program, along with the RAP event in NYC.

One day perhaps, Christopher Tracy, the winemaker at Channing Daughters, will take the easier road and make larger quantities of fewer wines. Until then however we can all enjoy the results of Mr. Tracy’s restless and passionate quest to produce small quantities of wine from unusual grapes or small quantities of wines that are unconventional expressions of more common grapes. 

For several reasons, this seemed the perfect time to take a critical look at Mr. Tracy’s current work with white wines. To begin, Mr. Tracy has earned a reputation over the past for years for illustrating what Long Island is capable of doing with white wine grapes. Second, the harvest of 2005 was arguable the best we’ve had on Long Island. Local wineries, including Channing Daughters are now releasing white wines from this vintage. 

Sylvanus is the name of a field at Channing Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton and also the name of a wine. Instead of emphasizing the traits of a varietal or even a method of winemaking, Mr. Tracy’s focus is on terroir, the representation of time and place in a taste of wine. The three components of Sylvanus (muscat ottanel, pinot grigio, and pinot Bianco) are grown, harvested and vinified tog tether. 

It’s a blend that begins in the earth, and continues to the glass. The idea is captivating, and so is the result; harmonious, smooth, serene, almost pastoral in its composure. No one element jumps out. Nothing ruffles the silky balance of this well-bred wine. There were 208 cases of Sylvanus produced; it sells for $24 at the winery. 

The Friuli region of Northeast Italy has been a major influence on Mr. Tracy’s winemaking, and the simply named Vino Bianco ($29) is perhaps his most highly developed and subtle interpretation. A blend of four white varieties, medium-bodied and complex, this is a wine with a rhythmical, quickening edge to it. The name suggests country charm but the taste is urbane and sophisticated. 

Tocai is a grape of Friuli, hardly grown elsewhere, but Mr. Tracy has made it one of his signature tastes. It’s an easy wine to like-wait, make that love. I go back to it each year as it is released. Very aromatic, with citrus, floral and pear scents, intricate, sensual and excellent with many foods. Channing’s 2005 Tocai Friulano is exceptional-not merely by its rarity but also by its quality. 

The 146 cases were bottled, as Mr. Tracy points out, on Cinco de Mayo. I might add that at $24 per bottle it is numero uno for value and pleasure. 

Other new 2005 white wine releases from Channing Daughters include: Cuvee Tropical chardonnay ($17); Pinot Grigio ($18, now sold out); Sauvignon, 76 percent sauvignon Blanc, 24 percent chardonnay ($24); Scuttlehole Chardonnay, reliable, delicious and only $14. 

The raw material of the 2005 harvest was almost ideal. Excellence had to be the challenge for the winemaker on Long Island, and Mr. Tracy has taken that challenge seriously and produced a group of outstanding white wines.

Uncorked - If You Want to Try Good Wines Wrangle Dinner with a Winemaker

I think winemakers, as well as politicians, are entitled to private lives not subject to scrutiny. Except maybe their sipping habits. I constantly wonder what wines the pros and the pols drink at home. Rather than invoke the Freedom of Information Act, I try to cadge an invitation now and then to satisfy my more than idle curiosity. 

I did very well last week, dining with the winemaker Christopher Tracy and Larry Perrine, chief executive officer of Channing Daughters, along with Mr. Tracy's wife, Allison Dubin, the general manager, and Mr. Perrine's fiancŽe, Jacqui Smith, who is also involved with the winery. 

We started the evening nibbling on three delectable cheeses, Rochetta, Valtellina, and a truffled goat cheese, with some prosciutto di Parma and truffle mousse, accompanied by Channing Daughters 2004 Brick Kiln chardonnay ($20), a medium-priced and absolutely dependable wine, and their 2004 Clones ($29), a new wine composed mostly of chardonnay but mixed with interesting clonal varieties of four other grapes. Clones proved to be a successful winemaking experiment undertaken by Mr. Tracy. 

Once seated at the table, we moved on to a grilled shiitake soup with sautŽed chanterelles and lardons. The soup was accompanied by a flight of four chardonnay wines. (Wine professionals, it turns out, are comparative tasting junkies.) Each glass of wine was flawless - beautifully balanced, harmonious, expressive, and complex. And the perfect match for the accompanying soup. You could not say that one chardonnay was better than the next. The differences, rather, were stylistic. 

We drank two from Channing Daughters, L'Enfant Sauvage ($35), from 2001, their inaugural vintage of this chardonnay, and the newly bottled 2004 vintage ($35, available in March). I've written before about this extraordinary wine, which is slowly fermented using only natural, indigenous yeast. It is one of the most interesting wines produced on Long Island. 

The 2001 has richness and depth; the 2004 promises to be a real winner. Both stood up well, remarkably well, against the two world class and far more expensive chardonnays from France and California included in the flight. 

Kistler 2001 Dutton Ranch Vineyard from the Russian River Valley ($80) is a wine that demonstrates that California can produce chardonnay in a sophisticated New World style that does not overwhelm the palate with fruit or oak. Kistler is certainly among the best chardonnay made in this county. It's hard to find, so if you see it in your wine store, don't hesitate to buy it. 

A Corton-Charlemagne 2001 Grand Cru Maison Bertrand Amboise ($180) was an exemplar of the Burgundian approach to chardonnay: soft, ripe, dense, delicate, and nuanced. It is clearly a masterful stroke of winemaking, superlative in every sense. Less clear to me is whether, for a typical consumer, it is worth spending five times as much for this bottle as you would for the L'Enfant Sauvage. I suppose there is a time for each. 

With our main course of duck breast with rillettes and assorted vegetables, we had two full-bodied and rich, but not heavy red wines. Channing Daughters 2003 Mudd ($40) is a blend of 86-percent cabernet sauvignon with merlot and blaufrankisch. The combination is soft, velvety, and seamless. 

The second red, Sine Qua Non 1998 Veiled ($90), a pinot noir from Shea Vineyard in Oregon, but actually made in California, is a big, complex wine with earthy aromas, a silky palate, and long finish. It's a terrifically satisfying wine, and you know you're drinking something important. 

Madeira Boston Bual Special Reserve ($45) from the Rare Wine Company Historic Series, our dessert wine, was succulent, amber, and sweet, with enough crisp acidity to keep it clean. If you are not familiar with Madeira, give it a try. It was imported and drunk in our villages in Colonial times. 

If you know any winemakers, by all means drop a hint and get yourself invited to dinner. I can't guarantee all their dinners will be as ambitious as Mr. Tracy's. He trained and worked as a chef until leaving the kitchen for the cellar, and seems to have mastered both skills.