Channing Daughters 2008 Clones might be a challenge to winemaker Christopher Tracy. After all, it composed of ten different chardonnay clones and small percentage of five other grapes. It’s fermented in stainless steel and also three types of oak barrels, and uses both ambient and introduced yeast. Fortunately, none of this is a challenge to the consumer. The resulting wine is smooth, refined, layered and a splendid expression of the chardonnay grape as grown on Long Island.
Tracy advises that Clones will improve further with a bit of bottle aging. He may be correct but I love the sense of time (fresh and young) and place (the hard to pin down quality of terroir) I get from this wine right now. It’s perfect for late summer drinking with all our local foods.