Unwooded Chardonnay: Wine Blogging Wednesday #36

We’re falling really behind here. Not only have we not updated our notes from our Saturday evening Spanish tasting, but it’s 3PM PST and we’re just getting to our Wine Blogging Wednesday tasting. Thanks go to Lenn Thompson for hosting today’s event…coincidentally, you can scroll down our home page right now and read a little more about Lenn and his site, LENNDEVOURS, in an interview we posted just earlier this week.

As for our wine selections for today’s theme of unoaked Chardonnay, we’ve selected two wines. It’s getting easier to find California iterations of the unwooded style than it seems to be for other regions of the world. Maybe that’s because of a trend in California winemaking; or maybe it’s just a simple matter of labels being more transparent with information here, or (more likely) our inability to speak foreign languages. So we made it our mission to track down a couple of examples from outside of the U.S., and we’ve even stocked one of the two wines at our store since we think it’s such a deal. Rather than mix commerce with blogging, though, we’ll keep things link-free here and let you find your own way to our store if you’re enticed by the following review.

First up, the 2006 Razor’s Edge South Australia Unwooded Chardonnay. Razor’s Edge just scored some huge points for their Shiraz at one of those “legit” wine publications, and the bargain red could be the most searched wine on our site at the moment. However, they really have something going with their Chard, which defies the new world and brings us a more Chablis-like experience. Now, we’re talking Chablis, the northern appellation of Burgundy, where Chardonnay is the AOC white grape varietal (except in St-Bris, where it’s Sauvignon Blanc, but we digress) — and not Chablis, the silly name that somehow became synonymous with bad bulk California white wine sometime around the peak of Farrah Fawcett’s career.

The nose on this Chardonnay is not unlike that of a Sauvignon Blanc, which perhaps is what Chardonnay should smell like without the influence of barriques. This has a stone and mineral aroma, though it’s not overly giving upon first sniff. In the mouth, it’s a whole different story. It’s got a ton of citrus, mostly lemon, and again the slate or stoniness we referred to from the nose. The palate zips with acidity and crispness, and the wine comes alive in your mouth. There’s a bit of floral perfume as well, though nothing too pronounced; a bit like jasmine just before it hits full bloom, or perhaps honeysuckle is a more accurate descriptor. Yes, let’s go with honeysuckle. The finish is a tad tingly, due to the high acid, but we like this as it keeps that slate and citrus combo going on for quite a lengthy and pleasant finish. Considering this is an under $10 wine, we’re impressed.

All of this is kind of surprising, due to the fact that South Australia is a hot climate region (albeit a vast region with umpteen microclimates) and we would have expected this perhaps from the Perth area or New Zealand, but certainly not from an Adelaide-based winery. Apparently the growing season in 2006 was cooler and drier than usual. Alcohol weighs in at 13.5%, again modest by new world standards. Interestingly, it appears the wines may be for the export market only.

Next up we hop across a couple of oceans and land in France, to the Chateau de la Greffiere in the Macon-La Roche-Vineuse appellation. Though it doesn’t say so on the label, I was assured by Simon at Larchmont Wine and Spirits in Los Angeles that this is a non-oaked Chardonnay. He was even so kind as to call the distributor to get confirmation of this. This is somewhat unusual for Burgundy whites, and vintners of the Maconnais, more specifically where this comes from, certainly use oak during the vinification process.

After a quick sniff and a swirl in the mouth, it’s not surprising to find out that the village of “La Roche-Vineuse” translates literally to “vinous rock”. This has a surprising amount of minerality for a wine from the Southern end of Burgundy, and it’s a reflection of the area’s terroir, no doubt. The climate is warm and more tropical than the Côte de Beaune, so it’s definitely the lack of oak on this wine that is contributing to the acidity and zest that is wholly apparent.

This is a much more subtle wine than the Razor’s Edge, and though it shows citrus elements, this is not a lemon-bomb. It has just a hint of lemon zest, and a very smooth mouthfeel. The mineral elements contribute to this mouthfeel, if that’s even possible, and we imagine that training our palates by sucking wet rocks would leave us with the coating sensation this wine gives us. It’s on the finish that the that some pretty serious acidity becomes apparent. This wine has life, and it will have a long life as this acidity mellows.

At $12.99 a bottle, this is a bargain Burgundy. No doubt the reasonable price tag is a result of the winery not having used oak in the winemaking process; but this might just be the reason there’s so much texture and personality here (by the way, this is 13% alcohol by volume). If this were a buttery product of malolactic fermentation and new oak, we think this would probably lose a lot of the character that distinguishes it from its peers. Ummmm, this is the wine we don’t sell. Maybe we should do something about that?

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