Dry Chenin Blanc, 1982 – Martin Brothers

DRY CHENIN BLANC, 1981 – MARTIN BROTHERS
by Paul Kalemkiarian Sr | June 1982

On January 30,1982, I received this letter:

“Dear Mr. Kalemkiarian; This letter is written to introduce ourselves. Martin Brothers is a new premium varietal winery in the California Central Coast. Our objective is to produce high quality, limited release wines. I am an ex-Mattel marketing executive (and an ex-Margate neighbor of yours). My brother, Dominic, was the winemaker at Lambert-Bridge, where he made highly acclaimed Chardonnay vintages.

Last fall we crushed 66 tons of central coast grapes at our new winery just east of Paso Robles. We are now preparing for our first release, a fine dry Chenin Blanc. I have enclosed a specification sheet for this wine. I felt you might have interest in our winery. We will be in Los Angeles for private tastings the week of Feb. 22. My brother and I would enjoy meeting you and having you taste our products. etc…

Tom Martin”

And they came — Tom, Dominic, and their sister. We had a nice visit — And I flipped! This was the closest to a French style dry Vouvray I had had. Neighbor or no neighbor, it was good.

I will depart from tradition of giving you a history and description of the grape; and instead reproduce his specifications. This information is usually privy, and I thought you might enjoy seeing what they are like when available:

18.6 Tons from South Side Sisquoc River (Tepesquet Area)

Harvest Date..…10.5.81                                        Malolactic Ferment…No

Harvest Sugar…21.9                                              Time in oak…………7 wks

Harvest pH…….3.57                                               New Taransaud Barrels

Harvest TA…….0.76                                               Final pH…………….3.43

Juice Settled…..36 hours at 45°                           Final TA…………….0.86

Final Alcohol………11.9%

Yeast Strain..….Scott Lab Vi-                                Amount………….1200 cs.

Fermentation……….A-Dry “Champagne”           Bottled………..3.17.82

Time & Temp…….…5 weeks @ 52°                      Release Date.…4.  1.82

Residual Sugar…..11mg/100m1. Bone Dry

 

Presto! … Harvested last October, bottled in March, released in April, and on your table through The Cellarmaster in June.

I am running out of space, so lets have an exercise – Write your own notes on this wine – 50 words – and try your hand at matching foods to serve it with.

Cellaring Notes: Drink during the next two years.