iNwine Wednesday: Drink Poplar Grove chardonnay
If you know me, you know that I love Chardonnay. I recently tried this beauty from Penticton’s Poplar Grove Winery. It pairs perfectly with the Tarragon Chicken Pot Pie recipe that I will be posting for the Saturday Recipe feature. I love the balance of this wine. It has all of the richness that I crave from an oaked chardonnay without being too heavy. There are so many delicious layers of flavour in this wine, making it a wonderful food match for rich fall dishes but also perfect to sip fireside with just a cool playlist.
Here are the technical details from the website poplargrove.ca
Tasting Notes:
Delicate tones of pale gold splash into the glass. The 2018 vintage expresses lemon zest, creme brulee, and toasted almond on the nose. A prominent palate of white grapefruit, autumn fruits, and honeydew appear first. Light French oak barrel aging adds flavours of warm vanilla to the wine’s long, smooth finish.
Vineyard Notes:
The 2018 growing season was similar to 2017. Spring started off slowly and was wetter than average. 2018 found the vineyards two weeks behind the normal bud burst. Once the warmer weather arrived mid-spring, it caused the above average snow levels in the mountains to melt rapidly resulting in another year of flooding. The flooding did not wash any topsoil away and, after a challenging start, the end of spring weather conditions were perfect for an ideal fruit set. Once summer arrived, it was hot and dry which tested our vineyard crews to pay close attention to irrigation regimes and leaf-to-fruit ratios. The vineyards soaked up the summer sunshine; meticulous farming and careful yield management allowed the grapes to fully ripen on the vine. September was wet. After each rainfall, the tractors were driven down the vineyard rows to blow the water off the vines and fruit ensuring there was no opportunity for mold to develop. A beautiful autumn saw the perfect weather to allow the fruit to catch up after a wet September.
Winemaker Notes:
Chardonnay involves our most complex winemaking methods in the Poplar Grove white wine program. The wine is sourced from four individual estate blocks located 62% in Osoyoos and 38% on the Naramata Bench. Our vineyard team harvested the fruit on four separate dates to ensure the different blocks were at optimal maturity in brix and flavour profile. Each of these blocks are processed and fermented separately. The majority of the Chardonnay is fermented in stainless steel tanks while the remaining 20% is fermented in 228L new French oak Burgundian barrels. Malolactic fermentation occurs naturally in the barrel fermented portion of this wine. The blending process of all four estate blocks was completed the last week of February.
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