So i seem to hear from people all this hype about unoaked chardonnay. In my head i think this is bunk. My favorite chardonnays are oak'y, buttery, creamy and fantastic food wines. It makes me cringe every time i see 'Naked grape' or some other critter wine sold as an unoaked chardonnay. If you want unoaked then leave my chardonnay alone. Buy something else. Stop hating on my Chard. Now that my rant is out of the way i will talk about the only unoaked chardonnay that i will recommend. This brings us to Chablis.
Now not all Chablis is unoaked but the vast majority of it is. Only the premier Cru and Grand Cru receive some oak ageing. The rest receive stainless steel and concrete. It is meant to be consumed relatively young (negotiable) and is known for its high acidity level. Quick lesson on the region. It is the northern most region in burgundy and is known to be quite cool. This makes for a wine that has a tendency to be more flinty and dry that the typical warm fruits that other chardonnays can make.
So the wine pictured is one found at Divine wines and was only about $24. Very typical of the region and i would say a good drink.
Quiet on the nose. It did open up a bit as it warmed up as i had it chilled down to about 8 degrees.
Flint, stainless steel and some stone fruit (peaches).
Pallet was dry, clean and high acid very common to the style. It was very refreshing and mouth watering.
The wine had Medium to short finish. Thin on the mouth. Did not contain the big malolactic mouth the the new world chardonnays are typical of.
I would buy this wine again and would definitly recomend to all of you chardonnay drinkers to try a chablis soon. Maybe i will become and unoaked chard drinker again, :)
