Today marks Wine Blogging Wednesday #36, and the theme is Naked Chardonnay. That’s defined as any chardonnay that has never touched oak. These are also typically chardonnays that haven’t gone through malolactic fermentation. Malolactic fermentation is a process that converts malic acid to lactic acid which will reduce the overall acidity and gives typical chardonnays their buttery characteristic.
Naked Chardonnays are more fruity and acidic than their oaked counterparts. The ones I tried all presented a variety of fruit and crisp acidity. I did keep all of my clothes on throughout tasting these, although I was tempted to strip — particularly after I’d had a few.
For my contribution, I tasted five different unoaked chardonnays from around the globe. I had a difficult time finding unoaked chardonnay for under $10, but I was able to find three at $9.99 and bought two more at $11.99 & $12.99 for comparison. And to make it even more interesting, the five I tasted are from around the globe.
Here are my selections:
|
Brand
|
Year
|
Region
|
Price
|
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Brampton
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2006
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South Africa
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$9.99
|
|
Brancott – Gisborne
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2005
|
New Zealand
|
$9.99
|
|
Monjardin
|
2005
|
Spain
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$11.99
|
|
Razor’s Edge
|
2006
|
Austrailia
|
$12.99
|
|
Three Thieves
|
2005
|
California
|
$9.99
|
The good news is that there were no total duds. They were all enjoyable to some extent, but some were better than others.
For something new this month, I took all the bottles outside for a photo-shoot amongst my Chardonnel grape vines. If you haven’t heard of Chardonnel, it’s a grape variety that was created by Michigan State University, Cornell University and Tabor Hill Winery in Buchanan, Michigan. It is a hybrid between Chardonnay and Ceval Blanc. I have some vines growning in my backyard but have yet to produce enough to make any wine… but I am feeding the birds with them.
Now, let’s get on to the results!
Top Choice
This is actually a tough call with the numbers coming in so close. I actually ended up with an 86, 87, 88 and an 89 and I wasn’t even comparing the numbers to rank them, it just came out that way. There are some characteristics I like about a couple of these despite not getting the top numbers. However, by the numbers the 2005 Monjardin “El Cerezo” from the Navarra region of Spain gets top honors with 89 points.
The Monjardin has a nice crisp acidity, but is still well balanced. The dominant flavors are pear, mineral and lime. It has a medium long finish. This is a very enjoyable chardonnay for $11.99.
Best Value Picks
I’m calling a tie on the best value pick. Brampton from South Africa and Gisborne from New Zealand are both excellent choices and are both priced at $9.99.
Brampton Unoaked Chardonnay 2006 is produced by Rustenberg Wines in coastal South Africa. It is nice and light with apple, peach, pear and mineral flavors – subtle, but a good bit of complexity. I was particularly surprised by its exceptionally long finish. This is a nice unoaked chardonnay, although it’s not terribly exciting. It’s very refreshing and simple. I gave it 88 points.
Brancott Gisborne Unoaked Chardonnay 2005 comes from Brancott Vineyards in New Zealand. A tropical twist is what I really enjoyed about this wine. It has a unique pineapple flavor, complimented by a touch of pear. The acidity is crisp and it has a relatively long finish. There is a slight bitterness to the finish, but it’s not bad. I did a write up on this wine last week that included recipes from the awesome dinner I enjoyed with this wine: Citrus Marinated Tilapia and Cauliflower Asparagus Salad.
The numbers on the Gisborne added up to a rating of 87 points, but I still call it a tie with the Brampton because I enjoyed the pineapple characteristics so much.
Worth Mentioning
Razor’s Edge Unwooded Chardonnay 2006 is definitely a good chardonnay. At $12.99 it was the most expensive one I purchased but it wasn’t my favorite. It comes from South Australia via Joshua Tree Imports. It has citrus, mineral and green apple flavors up front. One thing I find really interesting in this chardonnay is that it has a touch of Golden Delicious apple that sneaks up on you late in the finish. Just when you think it done, BAM! there’s a little Golden Delicious for you. Other than that, it was a fairly simple chardonnay and not worth the extra couple dollars compared to the other options. I gave it 87 points.
Three Thieves Unoaked Chardonnay 2005 is the only California chardonnay I tried for this event. It was also the least expensive at $9.99 for a full liter. Although it was the least expensive, I didn’t pick it as a best value because I felt the two I did pick were that much better.
Three Thieves wines come in a fun little jug. It looks similar to the jugs you might buy really cheap wine in, but smaller. They’ve gotten some decent reviews on their other wines, but I haven’t seen any reviews of the chardonnay (until now). I honestly didn’t expect much from this one but it was better than I expected. The nose is not far from what you would expect in a chardonnay, but it is a little tart – as is the palate. The only real dissernable fruit is apples, but they are green apples… a little too green. Three thieves chardonnay is drinkable, but it will make you pucker. 84 points.
I’ve started tasting wines for the upcoming Wine Blogging Wednesday #36. And since I have five wines that I’ll be reviewing, I thought I would go ahead and preview one of them. Truth be told, I’m previewing this one mostly because I had such a great meal with this wine and I want to share the recipes. The full report on all five wines will be posted next Wednesday, August 8.
The wine is the first one I’ve rated from New Zealand and it’s pretty good: Brancott Gisborne Unoaked Chardonnay 2005. Abundant pear and pineapple are the highlights of this wine. The pineapple flavor gives it a nice, tropical twist. It has a nice crisp acidity and a long finish. There is a slight bitterness to the finish, but it’s not bad. Overall, this is an enjoyable wine. The producer recommends cellaring this for up to three years, and I can see it improving with some age.
Wine: Brancott Gisborne Unoaked Chardonnay
Alcohol: 13.4%
Rating: 87
I had a wonderful meal with this wine Citrus Marinated Tilapia with a Cauliflower Asparagus Salad. These were a perfect match for this wine and I’ve included the recipes here.
Citrus Marinated Tilapia
INGREDIENTS
1 lb. Tilapia
Juice of 2 Lemons or Limes
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Pinch of Salt
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Whisk together the Lemon or Lime juice with the Olive Oil.
2. Pour the citrus juice mixture over the Tilapia in a shallow dish. Sprinkle with salt, cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3. Heat a cast iron skillet with a bit of olive oil and fry the Tilapia over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side. Until flaky.
Cauliflower Asparagus Salad
INGREDIENTS
1 Head of Cauliflower – cut into bite size pieces
1 Bunch of Asparagus (about 1 lb.) – cut into bite size pieces
1 15 oz. can Large Black Olives – halved
1 Medium Red Onion – chopped
1 tbsp Capers
3 tbsp White Vinegar
4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper to Taste
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Blanch the Cauliflower and Asparagus by adding to rapidly boiling water for one minute, then transfer to ice water to quickly stop the cooking process.
2. Whisk together the Olive Oil with the Vinegar. Add the Oregano, Salt and Pepper to taste.
3. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix and refrigerate for two hours before serving.
I just got a note from one of my favorite online wine stores, winestilsoldout.com, that this week on August 1 is Cheapskate Wednesday. As you can see by their ads on my site, of course they are one of my favorites.
Cheapskate Wednesday is a marathon type event starting Wednesday at midnight with 48 wines for $6.99-$15.99 each. They’ve tasted some 400 wines and picked the 48 best for this event.
The event starts Wednesday at midnight. From 12:00am to 9:00am there will be a new wine presented on the site each 30 minutes. The wines will not change even if they sell out. At 9:00, am the wines will be replaced when sold out, or every 30 minutes, whichever comes first. This will last until 6:00pm. The balance will stay on for 30 minutes each until 11:59 pm.
They will begin with a wine for $6.99 and escalate until they get to $15.99 and then repeat the process until all the wines have been presented. They have purchased a good amount of each wine, so they do not believe there will be a frenzy. Every wine offered will have a picture of the label and a description, as well as rating (if one could be found).
You know where I’ll be this Wednesday… shopping!
I stopped by Wild Oats after dinner last night to pick up some dessert to go. I found some awesome looking chocolate chunk brownies and on the way home was thinking “I need to open a nice bottle of red to enjoy with these.” So I got home and reviewed the selections on hand – as well as the priorities for Cheap Wine Ratings posts – and pulled Familia Sanchez 2005 Tempranillo and Syrah from the rack.
After all this anticipation, I was utterly disappointed. The brownies where good, but the wine… not so much. I would call this another Trader Joe’s dud. (I’ll save my “rant on Trader Joe’s” for another time.)
The nose on this wine is much more interesting and enjoyable than the palate. It has a complex floral, fruity, alcohol-y nose. In fact, the aromas were just teasing and making me excited about tasting this wine.
And then, thud… the taste is short on fruit and off-balance with heavy tannins. The finish is very long, but that length featured bitter tannins and weak, uninteresting fruit.
Just for the record, I did taste this wine before diving into the delicious brownies. So my palate was not skewed by the delectable chocolate-y sweetness. The brownies were moist, and full of big chunks of chocolate. They get a big thumbs up and I have to give a shout out to Dancing Deer Baking Company for creating them. Yummy!
Wine: Famila Sanchez
Varietal: Tempranillo & Syrah Blend
Alcohol: 13.5%
Rating: 76
Today it’s a followup to Tasting Tempranillo with a Tempranillo Blend. This one is Vega Sindoa 2005Red Wine, which is 70% Tempranillo and 30% Merlot. It comes from the Navarra region in Spain.
Similar to the Osborne Solaz Tempranillo Blend, I again was pleased with this compared to most pure Tempranillo that I tried. There was a lot more fruit present in this than I found in pure Tempranillo.
The negative with this one is it is a bit on the sweet side. In fact, I would say it’s almost unnaturally sweet. I’m not talking dessert wine, but it just has a lot of sugars. It makes me suspicious that it was sweetened to cover up undesirable flavors. That said, it is quite enjoyable to drink – just not as complex/interesting as some other wines.
This would probably be a good wine for making sangria. Sangria was my first real drink. I tried it when I was 13 on a trip to Spain and I’m still a fan.
Wine Tasting
My thoughts on this wine: It has an earthy, herby nose. The palate is interesting with strawberries (sweetened strawberries) and chocolate as the dominant characteristics. A decent finish with a bit of complexity. This is actually a nice wine to enjoy with chocolates.
My rating came out to an 85. I will probably buy this again, as it is a good deal at $6.99. Try it on it’s own or in some sangria.
This is one of those cases when I felt I should taste a wine from a large producer that can be found just about anywhere. And it’s again one of those cases when I wish I hadn’t done so.
Fetzer Valley Oaks Chardonnay 2005 is a good example of an over-oaked chardonnay. I generally don’t gripe about chards being over-oaked as much as some wine snobs, but this one is too much for me.
The best way I can describe the palate is “muddy.” In part because it lacks any significant fruit and in part because it lacks acid. What fruit is present is green… green apples. And the lack of acid gives this chardonnay a thud in the mouth, like a flat soda.
While I am a fan of cheap wine, I prefer good cheap wine. And this just doesn’t do it for me. It’s OK, it’s drinkable, but not that enjoyable – unless you like a lot of oak.
Cheap wine rating: 74
I would recommend going for something more fruit-forward than this one.
Well it’s back to the Chardonnay Challenge. I still have a number of chardonnays to taste–and I haven’t even gotten to the naked chardonnay for wine blogging wednesday #36 yet. Sorry to the chardonnay haters out there, but I’ll get on to some other varietals before too long. I promise.
But for now, let’s check out Alice White Chardonnay 2006. Alice White wines are from South Eastern Australia. In general I’m amazed that there are low cost wines from Australia available in the US. I would expect the shipping costs alone should drive up the price such that they couldn’t be sold for under $10, but there are plenty of Australian value wine options out there.
The Alice White Chardonnay is a nice light and pleasant chardonnay. It’s not the best one I’ve had, but is is very enjoyable. It has a predictable, yet pleasant nose. Pineapple and vanilla flavors with a nice oaky richness. I wouldn’t say it’s over-oaked, but those who don’t like oak won’t like this one. I personnally don’t mind a bit of oak in my chardonnay and I think this wine has the appropriate amount. It also has a fairly long finish with a refreshing, crisp acidity. The numbers came out to an 86 and at $7.99, I’d call that a good deal.
This is a nice everyday chardonnay and would be good with fish. I found a recipe for you to try, linked below.
Resources
Alice White Wines
Alice White Comes to Dinner: Fish in Chardonnay Pan Sauce
Today has been an exciting wine day. In part because I tried Osborne Solaz Tempranillo Blend for the first time (yummy). But that’s not all. The Wine Blogging Wednesday #35 roundup was published (with my first appearance) and the topic for WBW #36 was announced — Let’s Get Naked.
No that’s not what you think. The theme is Naked Chardonnay. You know, the un-oaked kind. I swear the planets are aligned for me lately. As you may know, I’m right in the middle of my Chardonnay Challenge and they throw this one at me, what fun. I get to drink chardonnay naked… er, um naked chardonnay.
So I stopped at one of my favorite wine shops on the way home from work to see what I could find. I looked around for a bit and I found one, but I always like to try a few within a theme. So I asked the “expert” employee if they had any others and got a peculiar look when I asked for naked chardonnay. He ran all over the store looking, telling me they didn’t have any (meanwhile I found two more) then he made a phone call and tracked down a fourth one for me. So I’m ready to go.
But on to today’s tasting.
I promised to follow up Tasting Tempranillo, my review of six pure Tempranillos, with a review of some Tempranillo blends. Tonight I tried my first one and it was fantastic.
Osborne Solaz 2004, a blend of 80% Tempranillo / 20% Cabernet Sauvignon. I mentioned in my Tasting Tempranillo post that I thought tempranillo would be better in a blend and is a great example of what I was expecting.
This wine is simply delightful and at $8.99 it’s not a bad deal. It comes from the Tierra de Castilla region of Spain.
This wine has a nice complexity to it. I found it downright exciting. Cherries and berries fill your palate, accompanied by woody/earthy undertones. The finish is dynamic too with smooth silky tannins and a crisp, peppery snap on the tip of your tongue.
The nose was a bit subtle, which is why I only gave it an 89. But it is an exceptionally enjoyable wine that I will buy again.
A little news item I stumbled across, Charles Shaw Chardonnay recently won top honors in the California State Fair wine competition. It beat out 350 other California Chardonnays in a blind tasting to win the double gold.
This wine is commonly referred to as “Two Buck Chuck” and is sold exclusively at Trader Joes. In California I’ve heard it sells for $2 (hence the name), but it’s about $3 in Cincinnati (where I live).
I haven’t yet officially tasted it for my Chardonnay Challenge, but I guess I’ll have to throw it into the mix given this news. I have tried it in the past and recall being surprised as the price/quality ratio. In general I’m not a fan of Charles Shaw wines. The reds I’ve tasted have been heinous.
Interstingly enough, ABC News did a follow up mini-tasting after this award was announced and the Charles Shaw chardonnay came in last place.
Although I’m not quite finished with the Chardonnay Challenge, I’m going to interrupt that series to take part in Wine Blogging Wednesday.
I’m so excited to be taking part in Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW). Although it’s my first, this is WBW #35 and the theme is Spanish Wines for under $10. One month after I started this blog and they pick Spanish wine under $10… that’s my niche! It’s like they knew I was coming. And to make even more of a coincidence, WBW is hosted this month by wine-girl.net — another wine blogger right here in Cincinnati.
I’m a huge fan of Spanish Wines, they are perfect for a bargain wine hunter like me. Just last month I posted Project Garnacha and Mas Garnacha, my review of various Grenaches (mostly Spanish). Be sure to check out those posts if you’re looking for some good, cheap Spanish wine. As you’ll see, I like to explore a variety in depth versus just doing single random posts on whatever I pick up.
But alas, I can’t just milk that post for this event, I need to drink more wine! And so it’s on to Tempranillo.
Tempranillo is native to Spain and is the main variety in Rioja wines. It is typically not produced as a single varietal, but rather is bottled in blends. Nonetheless, I wanted to explore Tempranillo in its pure form. I found six different brands of 100% Tempranillo to taste (all under $10).
Part of the challenge presented for WBW was to try wines other than those from Rioja. The Tempranillo I tasted was from Catalonia, Castilla-La Mancha, La Rioja, and Valencia. A nice broad representation of regions.
My overall verdict is that Tempranillo should be consumed in blends and not as a stand alone varietal. By nature it is not a very acidic wine, nor is it high in sugar content. The result is a mediocre and rather boring wine. I much prefer the fruit-forward taste of Grenache, but then again that can be too much of a fruit bomb. Blend the two and chances are you’ll have a nice wine.
Top Pick
One bottle did stand out as quite enjoyable: Raimat 2003.
Raimat is from the Costers del Segre Denominación de Origen, where Raimat has a single-estate subzone. This is a nicely balanced wine with smooth tannins. While not overly fruity, it does have an enjoyable plum and black cherry flavor. The finish was a bit quick. I rated it an 89 and I would buy this again. It would have scored better with a longer finish and that was my biggest disappointment with this wine… I wanted it to last longer.
At $9.99, it was one of the more expensive bottles I tried. But I think it’s worth the price.
Best Value Pick
My pick for Best Value was Protocolo 2004. Protocolo is from Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain. It shouldn’t be new to anyone who has looked at low priced Spanish wine before. It has nice chocolate and black cherry flavors with a spicy finish. Surprisingly complex for $6.99, but I would gladly spring the extra three bucks to upgrade to Raimat. I gave Protocolo an 85.
More Tempranillo
The other wines I tasted were fair to poor. Cortijo III 2005($8.99) also rated at 85. Cortijo was a bit more fruity than Protocolo, but not overly so. Codice 2004 ($9.99) was also fair and earned an 83 with its chocolate and black currant flavors. Codice also stood out with a nice long finish.
Not so good were Finca Solano 2003 ($8.29) which was slightly off balance and got a 78 and Manoamano 2004 ($9.99) which was simply horrible (oxidized, metallic, brown) and came in with a pitiful 57. It always bums be out when a ten dollar wine sucks. You could argue that it was just a bad bottle, but my response is that if the producer wanted to ensure quality they would switch to screw caps. (Yes, I just said that… corks are romantic and a fun part of the wine ritual, but they are subject to failure and I will always fault the brand in general when that happens to me.)
More Spanish Wine Ratings to Come (shameless plug)
At risk of having to rename this site spanishwineratings.com, I have still more Spanish Wine Ratings in store. When I shopped for this Tempranillo post I also picked up some Tempranillo Blends. I’ll be posting a rating of those in the near future and I can’t wait to taste them. Also, I have another follow up to Project Garnacha pending. I’ve found a few new Grenaches that I didn’t try in the original post, plusI’ve picked up recent vintages of my top Grenache picks to see if they hold up.
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