Candid Wines | Pressing and Fermenting Chardonnay

This is the end, beautiful friends, the end.

At this point, the juice is too dense and full of extracts from the skins for Fred to include it
in the final wine. Normally, it is simply washed into the drain.

It was not however, too dense for me to drink. Its certainly not for diabetics. Dark as it
is, I took a measure or two for myself, and then another for the winery's kitchen. It is
similar to apple juice and made a terrific base for a salad dressing and was even better
when used to deglaze a pan in which we sauteed a few of the apples that grow next door.
Scallops would welcome a sauce made from this juice, as would pork tenderloin or chicken
breast. With a white meat, add a bit of whole grain mustard to the pan as the juice
reduces, and then serve the whole thing with a bit of fresh, thinly shaved fennel. Perhaps
a touch of curry?

Alternatively, with a bit of white wine vinegar and some hot peppers, I bet one could
make a tasty marinade for some unconventional chicken wings. (I can hear you
snickering at the thought of serving your football buddies chicken wings in a delightful
Chardonnay based sauce. I am sure it would be good and you can always add a hot
pepper if you need to, tough guy...)

The reality during harvest, at least at the Scherrer Winery, is that there is so much going
on and so much work to be done each day, that using this bit of extra juice for an
interesting meal only happens when a tourist like myself is there to think of such things.
This juice will not make it into the wine and therefore it commands none of Fred's
attention. In fact, he is already inside preparing the next steps....

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