Chardonnay now gives you bang for your bucks
There is something about Chardonnay that gets a grip on some wine drinkers. It’s a grape they just can’t let go. I’m one of them, though less so than in days of yore. I’ve never quite been able to figure out why. I suspect that part of the answer is the native yeasts of Burgundy produced a set of flavours that were unlike those found elsewhere. (They’ve since been cloned, bred, and are sold from catalogues with descriptions that read like they were penned by E. L. James.)
I went through a swath of them last week, trying to work out what to expect from a Chardonnay in the teens and maybe on into the ’20s. You don’t have to mortgage your house to drink it anymore. 2012 Grand Cru Chablis from the Cote D’Or sells around $100. Fabled labels like Grgich in California ($70) and Leeuwin Estates from Australia ($90) are all available to anyone with a regular pay cheque and a fascination with good Chard. And the inexpensive stuff, around the $10 mark, is a remarkably well made wine. These days I would argue that you are getting better wine for the buck from Chardonnay than other more popular grapes.
Let’s start with such a wine, McGuigan Estates Private Bin. This is a wine that is considered entry level by the winemaker. The bouquet is a bit exotic, with fruit aromas that are not distinct. (Such bouquet is usually ascribed to “tropic fruits.”) There is a tang of metal underneath that. It tastes dry, with a brisk lemony acidity and a sort of tangerine finish. If you’re a vegan cooking carrots and beets it strikes me as a perfect match. It will also do fine service with your Caesar salad, with or without a grilled chicken breast.
If you want to step up a bit higher it is well worth your time to explore Chardonnay from unexpected countries. I picked up a Pago de Cirsus Chardonnay from the Co-op and was somewhere between surprised and shocked. I expected the Spanish wine to have more in common with the Californian and other hot climate wines. In fact, it reminded me of Burgundy whites.
The bouquet carries some of the same stony characteristic. There is a hint of the biscuit smells you get from good Chablis and Champagne. The palate is very dry, with that great angular texture that makes a brisk white so enjoyable. This isn’t a wine for people seeking the buttery Chardonnay from California, but if you like a wine that wakes up your tongue rather than sedates it — both sensations are a good idea, just at different times — this is a wine worth buying.
Lake Sonoma Chardonnay is a Napa wine, and although there is less oaking used than a decade ago, the first aroma you will notice on pouring is vanilla and caramel. This is not quite a “big buttery Chard” but it is tending in that direction. There is clearly some oaking involved, but the wine is restrained enough to let the grape sing. While I am more likely to drink the first two wines with autumn harvest vegetables and poultry, Lake Sonoma deserves some crab or shellfish.
It is worth noting that both Lake Sonoma and Pago de Cirsus are 14 per cent alk, while the McGuigan has dialed back to 12.5. I prefer the lower alk myself but treat the other two with respect.