In its 6th vintage of their Early Wine, Macari Vineyards taps into their Austrian heritage to produce this Chardonnay that is bottled and released within a month and a half of harvest. Macari Vineyards, established in 1995 and located on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island has 180 acres of vines on their 500 acre estate. Growing a bit of everything, it looks like their primary wine focus is on Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.
The 2008 Early Wine Chardonnay ($16) is as I said a quick to market wine similar to Beaujolais Nouveau. The 2008 was harvested on September 9th, bottled on October 16th and released on October 23rd. The result is an “interesting” Chardonnay that if I had tasted blind would have thought it to be a Sauvignon Blanc. It is a very refreshing wine with sharp acidity and a slight effervescence on the tongue that would be a great summertime sipper. Unfortunately it is meant to be drank early, so summertime is about 8 months out for this wines prime. Luckily it was an unusually warm day in Richmond last night so it felt a bit like summer.
My Tasting Notes –
Nose – Fresh cut grass, citrus, pear, a touch of honey, and something tropical that I couldn’t put my finger on
Taste – Tropical fruit, hay, citrus and a splash of Granny Smith apple
Mouthfeel – very crisp with slight effervescence on the tongue
Finish – longer than expected, I would say medium length, with mineral and tropical notes lingering
The wine had a nice tartness to it and seemed to have a bit of residual sugar that evened that out a bit. The website for Macari didn’t have the specs on the wine so I am not sure if I am correct on my R.S. assumption. At a case production of a little over 1700 cases, Macari says this sells out fast upon release and seeing this in your local grocery story is probably unlikely unless you live in the New York area. Actually this wine may only be available at the winery but don’t quote me on that.
Thanks to Macari for sending me a bottle as I wouldn’t have been able to try it otherwise.
Cheers.
Anything Wine 
Nice work, my friend. A couple things…just because I’m the NY wine geek:
1. The Macaris, as their name would suggest, are Italian, not Austrian. But, one of their two consulting winemakers (they don’t have a full time one) is Austrian.
2. There is definitely RS in this wine…but I don’t know how much either!
Interesting concept. I wouldn’t have thought to release alight, refreshing white in the fall/winter. Not that I don’t like white wine in the winter!
Btw, did you see the info for the DC Wine and Food Festival is up? I filled out the form to get a press pass again…think you can make it?
Hey Lenn,
Thanks for the correction! I figured there had to be some RS in there but wine can be sneaky and fool ya.
John
Hey Megan
Thanks for the comment, it was definitely a fun and interesting wine. Thanks for the heads up on the DC expo, I plan on attending, just need to make sure I’m in town that weekend.
I’ll probably submit for my credentials today.