Chardonnay

Last night in class we discussed our recent harvest and the on-going fermentations in the experimental winery. We then did a comprehensive tasting of 12 Chardonnay wines including 3 commercial wines, La Crema, Clos du Bois and Bogle. We analyzed wines that were unoaked, oaked or had malolactic fermentation. Some of the UNR wines did quite well in the tasting, particularly the Well-Watered 2008 that had been oaked and treated with malolactic fermentation. Another favorite was the Well-Watered 2009 Chardonnay with oak. Clearly some of the UNR wines were competitive if not better than the commercial wines. Chardonnay appears to be a good grape to grow in the Northern Nevada region.

Best of the Best

Hi Nevada Wine Enthusiasts,
It's been a very busy week with harvest. Last week we had a tasting of the Best of the Best Wines from 2008 and 2009. We tasted 3 whites and 3 reds: the 2009 Pinot Gris, the 2009 Drought-Stressed Gewurztraminer, the 2009 Chardonnay, the 2009 Drought-Stressed Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2009 Cabernet Franc and the 2008 Drought-Stressed Cabernet Franc. The top white was the Pinot Gris and the top red was the DS Cabernet Sauvignon. While the other varieties are very promising for the region, these two varieties clearly stood out in this tasting.