Tag Archives: Chardonnay

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Oddball Wine of the Week: Côte Est 2007 Catalan

6 Comments

This was just a random pickup at Whole Foods one day. The label design caught my eye, then I noticed the blend, then “Catalan” on the label. Wait, doesn’t Catalan refer to Spain… as in Catalonia? But this is French. That was interesting enough for me to plunk down my $11. I wasn’t sure when I bought it if I would use this for the Oddball series or not. “Catalan” was a new French appellation to me, but something made me think this might be more well-known than I thought. Then I looked it up in the Bible, I mean, the Oxford Companion to Wine (3rd edition) saw that there was no listing for it. That’s Oddball enough for me! I did finally find a one-sentence reference to it in the entry for Roussillon, by the way.

Côté Est 2007 Catalan

Producer: Maison Lafage

Grapes: 50% Grenache Blanc and Gris, 30% Chardonnay, 20% Marsanne

Appellation: Côtes Catalanes (Vin de Pays, France). This appellation is a region within Roussillon that sits on the other side of the Pyrenees from Catalonia, Spain. It’s a maritime terroir

Vineyards: The Grenache comes from 80-year old vines, the Chardonnay from 20 year old vines and the Marsanne from young vines. The name Côté Est refers to the fact that the vines are planted east-west, which they say keeps the grapes cooler, preserving the acidity and fruit.

Vintage: 2007

Winemaking: Stainless steel aging.

Alcohol: 13%

Price: I paid $10.88 at Whole Foods in Austin

My tasting notes: Really lovely nose on this wine, like a blend of pear and peach, highlighted by zesty orange and lime and floral notes. And the palate doesn’t disappoint either. More pear/peach and lime with a mineral streak. Really nice texture, too. Almost plush, though the fruit stays bright. Finishes clean and long.

Overall impression: I’m very glad I took a chance on this wine I knew absolutely nothing about. It’s a very enjoyable little bottle, and I’d definitely recommend you pick up if you see it. B+

Free association:

I can’t find the original source of this image. It’s all over the internet, but it’s not mine.

More info:

Imported by Eric Solomon.

Parker scored this 90 points.

Some reviews on CellarTracker and Corkd.

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Naked is Good: Unoaked Chardonnay – Part 3

1 Comment

This is part 3 of my Unoaked Chardonnay series. Previous entries:

Part 1 – Clos LaChance Unoaked Chardonnay 2007 Monterey County

Part 2 – Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay Francine’s Selection 2007 Mendocino County

Four Vines Naked Chardonnay 2008 Santa Barbara County

FourVines_NakedChard_BottleShotI originally intended this to be a 2 bottle series — just pick up two readily available unoaked Chardonnay’s and do a little compare and contrast. I was a bit disappointed with both bottles so I decided to extend the series. I stopped by Whole Foods (the flagship location at Austin HQ) and grabbed two more.

Producer: Four Vines

Grapes: 100% Chardonnay

Appellation: Santa Barbara County – one of the southernmost regions in California yet one of the coolest.

Vineyards: (from the winery) “Fruit is harvested from three south facing hilltop vineyards in the Cat Canyon in Northern Santa Barbara: Los Alamos, Loma Verde and El Camino.” Cat Canyon is in the unofficial sub-AVA of Los Alamos Valley. Info on Los Alamos Valley here and here.

Winemaking: Stainless steel fermentation, no MLF (malolactic fermentation), some aging on the lees.

Alcohol: 13.9%

Price: $13

Package: Screwtop closure. Label is a bit dull, they certainly could have done more with the Naked concept that they seem to have trademarked. Oh wait… if you look closely at the vines on the label and unfocus like you’re looking at one of those Magic Eye books you can see they they were drawn to look like four dancing naked women. A little too subtle, guys.

My tasting notes: Now we’re talking! Bright green apple aromas leap from the glass, with a hint of allspice maybe. More green apples on the palate, with a little pineapple juice. This is what I was expecting from these unoaked Chards: bright clean fruit, crisp and refreshing, while still rounder and more voluptuous than Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, etc. Nice. I think the cooler climate of Santa Barbara, and Los Alamos/Cat Canyon in particular, makes a big difference.

Overall assessment: A bit one-note perhaps, but delicious. Would be great for a party, Naked® or otherwise. B

Free association:

PinupApple

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjsphoto/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

Other info:

Winery’s tech sheet.

CellarTracker tasting notes.

A review from KensWineGuide.com

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Unoaked Chardonnay – Part 2

Leave a comment

This is Part 2 of my Unoaked Chardonnay face-off: Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2007 Francine’s Selection (Part 1 was the Clos LaChance Unoaked Chardonnay 2007 Monterey County.)

I didn’t know this before I starting researching this post, but Toad Hollow is one of the pioneers of unoaked Chardonnay in the US, their first vintage being 1993. So I’m glad I picked this one up; it should serve as a good benchmark. The only caveat is that they employ malolactic fermentation (MLF) while the Clos LaChance does not.

2007_chard_labelProducer: Toad Hollow

Grapes: 100% Chardonnay

Appellation: Mendocino County (AVA, California)

Vineyards: 90% Mendocino County and 10% from Sonoma County

Winemaking: No oak aging (9 months in stainless steel tanks), but it does get 100% MLF and 8 months on the lees.

Alcohol: 13.9%

Price: About $12

My tasting notes: A bit more golden than the Clos LaChance, but less so than most Chards. It’s a little tight on the nose – once it warms up a bit I get melon, a bit of tangerine and a sort of plastery aroma. More melon on the palate with a pleasantly rich/viscous/oily mouthfeel from the MLF. I wouldn’t describe it as crisp, though it’s not flabby either. Lingering finish, but the flavor you’re left with is a little odd, actually. (I don’t get the same spice notes I got from the Clos LaChance, which were confusing me.)

Overall assessment: I really went back and forth on this one. Compared to the Clos LaChance, it is not as expressive of fruit, but it is perhaps more interesting overall. I still didn’t get the crisp green apple zing I was expecting this unoaked Chardonnay experiment to produce. In the end this is a pleasant and interesting wine, but the aftertaste is a bit off-putting, which keeps this from scoring better. C  (I certainly wouldn’t go this far.)

Free association: “Lost in our convictions, lips stained with wine / As the sun sank west of the Mendocino county line” – Mendocino County Line by Willie Nelson/Lee Ann Womack. (YouTube video here)

Unoaked Chardonnay Summary: I may have to extend this little series. These two left me disappointed. I think there are steelier, crisper, zingier examples out there that might appeal to my palate more. Perhaps you need to move up the price ladder to find good ones. After all, without the buttery/oaky “makeup”, the quality of the fruit is all the more important. If you have any recommendations, please leave a comment.

More info:

Several other folks liked this wine including: Wine Enthusiast (90 pts., Best Buy),  The Wine Curmudgeon, and Good Wine Under $20.

A few tasting notes & ratings on CellarTracker.

Nice article from Wines & Vines on unoaked Chardonnay that mentions the Toad Hollow (article is a couple years old)

Price: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Unoaked Chardonnay – Part 1

Leave a comment

This is Part 1 of a series of posts on Unoaked Chardonnay.  (Part 2 — the Toad Hollow 2007 Mendocino County — is here)

Unoaked is the way the cool kids are drinking Chardonnay these days.  I decided I’d pick up two widely available bottles this week and compare and contrast them. The first one I opened was the Clos LaChance Unoaked Chardonnay 2007 Monterey County.

CHH07FActually, the full name of this wine is: Clos LaChance Glittering-Throated Emerald Unoaked Chardonnay 2007 Monterey County (that’s quite a mouthful!). The folks at Clos LaChance have a thing for the hummingbird “due to its territorial nature and ability to chase away the grape-eating birds from the vineyards.” So they have a series of wines called The Hummingbird Series each named after a type of hummingbird they think reflects the wine in some way. I kinda like this idea except that you end up with some pretty awkward wine names: Clos LaChance White-Tufted Sunbeam Sauvignon Blanc, Clos LaChance Pink-Throated Brilliant Rosé, Clos LaChance Crimson Topaz Meritage.

Back to the wine…

Producer: Clos LaChance

Grapes: 100% Chardonnay

Appellation: Monterey County (AVA, California) (map)

Vineyards: 50% from the Riverview Vineyard near Soledad in the cooler northern half of the Salinas Valley. 50% from the San Lucas Vineyard (in the San Lucas AVA sub-appellation) in the warmer southern end of the valley. These are not estate vineyards, they are owned by Scheid Vineyards.

Winemaking: Stainless fermentation, no malolactic fermentation (MLF) and no oak aging.

Alcohol: 13.5%

Price: Around $10

My tasting notes: Color is a bit less golden than most (oaked) chards, more like a pilsner. On the nose, I note pineapple and pear and a spiciness I would normally associate with oak. Hmm… has my brain permanently linked chardonnay with oak to the point that I can’t disassociate the two? In the mouth, I get more spiced apple/pear and pineapple and a prickly/raw mouthfeel that (again) I would normally attribute to oak treatment. It certainly doesn’t have the buttery quality of oaky/MLF chards, though. Still, I’m starting to question my assumptions about what oak does and doesn’t contribute to a wine. I will need to compare to the other unoaked chard I picked up and see if I’m just imagining things.

Overall assessment: When I think unoaked Chardonnay, I expect crisp apples. I got apples, but not enough crispness for my palate. If you’re not going to give me crispness, seduce me with richness — but to be fair, that’s not the goal of this unoaked Chard either. Ultimately, I’d say this is a serviceable white. Certainly not a bad wine, but not something I’d seek out, and (unless my palate was just playing tricks on me) not a great representation of unoaked Chardonnay. C

Free association: Not what I expected…

seamonkeys
Note: I am NOT suggesting that the winery is misleading the buyer in any way, just that what I tasted was not what I expected.

So what do you think? Have you ever had this experience with an unoaked Chardonnay? Are spice notes a common characteristic of Chardonnay sans oak? Am I crazy? Leave a comment and let me know.

More info:

The winery’s tech sheet.

And here is the winery’s collection of reviews/notes.

This bottle was named Wine of the Week by Paul Lukacs in The Washington Times back in April.

A collection of tasting notes from CellarTracker