Avant presents option to sweeter K-J wine

Jess Jackson, the self-made billionaire, the lawyer-turned-vintner, made a fortune by creating a slightly sweet chardonnay that played to America's soda-pop palate. But the Jackson empire has expanded its chardonnay repertoire to include a crisp, refreshing option -- our wine-of-the-week winner, the Avant, 2009 KJ Chardonnay, a steal for $14.

"Our collective goal is to fill a void, that being a crispy, less oaked chardonnay, yet still of high quality and from great coastal fruit," said KJ chief winemaker Randy Ullom. "The 2009 is our inaugural vintage of Avant. It's meant to complement our Kendall Jackson chardonnay portfolio."

As for Jackson's sweeter option, it all began with a quirky fermentation back in 1982 that produced a chardonnay with a sweet profile. The vintner began experimenting with this so-called "stuck fermentation," a process in which all the sugar is not converted to alcohol. This sugar or natural fructose is what gave the Kendall-Jackson chardonnay its slightly sweet flavor profile.

Jackson said in a Savor Wine Country magazine article published in 2005, "With stuck fructose, the light went on. It was a crusade from 1976 to 1982 where I was searching for the vehicle."

Expanding the flavor profile of chardonnay made good sense because chardonnay is the king of white varietals, a powerful drawing card, Ullom said.

"There are many other white varietals out there but few will attain the status of chardonnay," he said. "There are so many facets to chardonnay that many do not realize, the different terroirs of the growing areas make a huge difference in flavor, as well as just the various clones . . ."