Tag Archives: unoaked

Price: 11-15 bucks, Tasting Notes

Naked is Good: Unoaked Chardonnay – Part 3

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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: 10 bucks or less, Tasting Notes

Unoaked Chardonnay – Part 1

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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