In Howard Goldberg's year end New York Times column he writes that In the stream of East End white wines tasted this year, the most consistently vivacious ones came from Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton...
In the stream of East End white wines tasted this year, the most consistently vivacious ones came from Channing Daughters in Bridgehampton. This South Fork boutique and its winemaker, James Christopher Tracy, have delved so deeply into vineyard and cellar experimentation that every vintage brings new expectations.
Mr. Tracy, a trained chef, acutely understands how wines must be fashioned to heighten interest in meals as aperitifs and accompaniments.
Channing Daughters’ principal partners, Walter Channing and his chief executive, Larry Perrine, evidently have let Mr. Tracy have his way. His whites, which never disappoint, pointedly are inspired by the light-bodied but complex style of their counterparts in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a wine region in northeastern Italy.
A downside is that many of the Italian-style whites can be difficult to find; they sell out fast. Overall annual production of all Channing Daughters wines, white and red, comes to a modest 7,000 cases; many are allocated to members of the estate’s wine club, who agree to buy two bottles six times a year.
Other consumers need to stay alert, checking www.channingdaughters.com for news about periodic releases and quickly visiting the tasting room or wine stores and restaurants that stock bottles from the portfolio.
Despite vintage variations, the quality and style of these whites have remained dependable. If you lose out on a release, the next one in the genre will probably taste good.
An abundant supply of the widely available 2006 Vino Bianco ($29) is most likely to carry over well into the new year. In 2008, look for new editions of three blends — Sylvanus, Mosaico and Vino Bianco — as well as the Mudd Vineyard sauvignon blanc, regular sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio.
