Our Stories about
Keenan Chardonnay 2020: Dynamic Subtlety
Aug 9, 2022
Here Michael Keenan, President of Keenan Winery, talks about what many consider the greatest white varietal of all. Learn about Keenan Winery, awarded by Wine & Spirits as one of the TOP 100 WINERIES IN THE WORLD. Renowned for exquisite Napa Valley wines and down-to-earth service: www.KeenanWinery.com
(Videos Produced by www.DigiVino.com)
Keenan Chardonnay 2020: Dynamic Subtlety
Video Transcript
[ 00:00:10 ]2020 certainly evokes a lot of both good and troubling emotions. It’s amazing to think that with this wine, the 2020 Estate Single Vineyard Chardonnay, this is the third wine from the 2020 vintage that we have released. The first being the 2020 Summer Blend and then the Rosé of Mataro that Riley made. The fruit for this vintage, 2020, was picked on September 2nd and 3rd, a good three and a half weeks before the glass fire roared through. Fortunately for us, by the time that fire did come through, 85% of our estate had been safely picked, smoke-free. So, we’d be making almost 9, 000 cases of estate fruit, or estate wine, rather. 1 600 of it being this Chardonnay again this is a classic Kenan Chardonnay Mountain Chardonnay which again I wanna say this almost every time
[ 00:01:13 ]Mountain Chardonnay is so rare in today’s more common 40 years ago 40 plus years ago when we because up in the mountains where it’s cooler is a great place for the dynamism to really show through in Chardonnay But because of the financial pressures of escalating land values most Mountain Chardonnay has been removed and replaced with Cabernet Sauvignon which does get you a much higher return on your investment But we do have one site which is right in front of the That beautiful picture window behind the tasting bar faces right at it. That is our coolest microsite, and it’s really suited for Chardonnay. Now, this I is our 20th year of dry farming this block, which was planted in 1995. These vines are very mature, deeply rooted, and producing tremendously high-quality fruit.
[ 00:02:06 ]I think we do a great job of making the Chardonnay in what I like to describe as the original Napa style. Back then, in the 60s and 70s, everybody made Chardonnay the same way because they were all inspired by Burgundy, which is where Chardonnay came from. To make that style, we did not allow the Chardonnay to go through that. secondary fermentation the malolactic fermentation which produces lactic acid which is that creamy buttery quality that some people like I don’t I think the flavor is off putting as well as that chemical dacetyl which is produced has an inhibiting effect on the release of some of the more subtle flavors of And that’s what makes Chardonnay the great varietal that it is and many consider it the greatest white varietal is that two words describe Chardonnay Dynamic subtlety
[ 00:03:01 ]And in fact I think all great wines you can put that moniker to So it’s not about overt flavors like butter and oakiness and sugar which are very Popular in some of the very popular Chardonnays, Chardonnay flavors are dynamically subtle. When you make it in this style, you really allow the Chardonnay to speak, I think, in its native tongue. This Chardonnay can be enjoyed now when it’s young, fresh, and vibrant, and those young dynamic fruit flavors are a little bit more apparent: the pear, the apple, and the citrus oil. But as this wine ages, those flavors will lose their primary exuberance and meld together, as well as other subtler flavors emerge, and the wine will then become dynamically subtle. So, drink this wine now, lay some away, and enjoy it later. Five and even ten years old, and you’ll be well rewarded for that. So cheers to 2020 having some upside. Thank you.