Mark Beringer & Artesa Chardonnay

Photo:  courtesy of Artesa.

Wine experts often say that great wine comes from great grapes. That surely helps, but great wines are also the result of skilled wine making. Winemaker Mark Beringer recently came to D.C. to discuss with press and others the wines produced by Artesa Winery, where he recently became the winemaker. Artesa already has terrific wines.  Under Beringer’s leadership, expect them to excel even more in the future.

Beringer learned about wine starting at 12 when he worked in his father’s wine shop and then during college at his uncle’s winery—Beringer Vineyards, which is Napa Valley’s oldest continuously operating winery.  Beringer studied enology at the University of California, Fresno.  After college, he began his career as a cellar worker at Raymond Vineyards.  He quickly worked his way up the ladder and eventually became the winemaker for Duckhorn where he distinguished himself as one of Napa Valley’s top winemakers.

The Wine Spectator listed his 1999 Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon as #6 in its top 100 wines for 2002. Under Beringer’s leadership, Duckhorn was named California Winery of the Year six times—twice by the Connoisseurs Guide to California and four times by Wine & Spirits magazine (in the category “regional winery of the year”).

Beringer will now serve at Artesa, guiding the viticulture and vinification of wines grown at several locations, including the original Vineyard in Napa’s Carneros area, the Foss Valley Vineyard in Napa known as Atlas Peak, and the Alexander Valley Vineyard in Sonoma.

These vineyards are already producing great wines. Among them is the Artesa Chardonnay, which is a particularly nice, balanced wine, in contrast to other California Chardonnay wines that some say receive excessive oak or other treatments.  It has earned many accolades.  Fifty percent of the wine is fermented in oak barrels, is aged with the yeast (aged "on its lees"), and receives malolactic fermentation. The other half is fermented in stainless steel and does not undergo malolactic fermentation. In addition, the French oak barrels are 34 percent new (which extracts more intense flavor) and 66 percent used (which exacts subtle if any flavor). French oak imparts flavors that are less intense than American oak, which is commonly used in California Chardonnay.

The result of this careful wine making is a very balanced and flavorful wine. It maintains the crisp fruit flavors common among unoaked Chardonnay, while still including subtle oak and creamy, buttery notes. Grown in Napa Valley’s Carneros Region, premium quality grapes contribute to this delicious wine.

At a meeting with Beringer, we tasted the 2007 Chardonnay with rockfish, crab cakes, shrimp and chicken. It showed well with all dishes—improving the experience of every one of them. This versatile wine will go with a wide range of foods. Beringer described it as offering citrus (lemon peal/rind) with floral and honeysuckle notes, which he said some consider an attribute of wines from the Carneros area. He also noted the hint of new world butter and oak. He suggests drinking it with shellfish, light pastas with cream sauce, smoked salmon pate, and other items.

This wine is available at Bell Wine and Spirits in D.C. for about $20 as well as Total Wine shops in Virginia where it is discounted to about $17.