So, back on the Chardonnay wagon (unwooded, this time – no oak here!) and there’s nothing like having someone else do the work for you. This wine was suggested by Adam Easterbrook through the magic of Twitter. Adam even sent me a list of retailers of this wine!
I picked up the Mike Press Adelaide Hills Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2011 (that’s one seriously long name there!) from Cellarbrations at Brighton for the princely sum of $9.99. Yes – that is outside my $15-20 price bracket for this exercise, but packing punch for price is what this exercise is all about …
In the glass the wine is pale gold and with quite a pronounced nose. I’d actually go so far as to describe this wine as surprisingly aromatic. Yes – that’s not a word you’d normally associate with Chardonnay but it’s very apt for this wine. The wine is very tropical fruit – pineapple, mango, some sweet citrus (think pink grapefruit) and maybe even some banana. And the wine tastes of those same tropical fruits as well as some ripe stone fruit – think pineapple and nectarine. The wine has some good, refreshing acidity and nice length and weight.
At just shy of $10 a bottle this wine is really good value – or perhaps it should be ‘insanely good value’. The wine is not for those after something oaky, and nor is it for the occasion where you’re after a restrained, cool climate specimen. However, if you have friends who are Chardonnay nay-sayers (and particularly any obsessed with Sauvignon Blanc) then this is a great wine to show them. Drink it with fish and chips, roast chicken, roast pork … or, indeed, just by itself.
If you have a favourite Chardonnay that everyone should be drinking … let us know!
I discovered some Elderton unoaked chardonnay 2009 vintage in the cellar and tried it the other night in honour of chardonnay Wednesday. Very nice I thought.I didn’t analyse it but did enjoy it!
Ok, that was pretty yummy.. I shared the bottle with my friend Jen, and she concurred, and she’s not a chardonnay drinker either. It had none of the greasiness of chardonnays I’d tried before, but was still nice and round. Is that what the un-oaked-ness does?
Yes, it’s partly the un-oaked-ness. There’s a sort of secondary fermentation (called malolactic fermentation) which can be used which converts the tarter, green apple kind of flavours to the much softer and richer lactic acid and that can give the wine creamy, buttery flavours. I’d look out for unoaked (or even lightly oaked) Chardonnays which make a lot of reference to green apple flavours on the back note!