Chardonnays a summer must
Warm weather calls for cold beverages, and if you want to stick to wine, you are probably going to want to drink it well chilled. Maybe you’re enjoying it outdoors, near a smoky grill, or in a tent or camper. Summer wines should be crisp, fresh and resilient. The more subtle pleasures that wine can offer – seductive aromas, layers of detailed flavors – are best saved for indoor drinking at other times of the year.
In times gone by, chardonnay was the summer wine of choice. But somewhere along the line, chardonnay got fat and slovenly, tarted up with oak and expensive besides. The old California standby’s of twenty years ago climbed higher and higher in price, and the truly excellent bottles are now in the $80 and up range. So I set out to see what I could find that might cost less and taste best when chilled and served alongside such picnic staples as cold chicken and homemade coleslaw.
There are a lot of them. From California, I found a very fresh and citrusy Lockwood 2006 Monterey County Chardonnay ($10). In a tasting of more than a dozen Monterey county wines, this bargain bottle stood out precisely for its no-nonsense flavors that emphasized the fruit rather than the barrel.
Moving up the coast, Oregon vintners are offering more and more stainless steel fermented chardonnays. The Rex Hill 2006 Chardonnay ($18) is tight, sharp and crisply defined; the fruit is clean and tastes of apple, pear and white peach.
From the Columbia Gorge, Phelps Creek’s 2007 Unoaked Chardonnay ($18) might be a Muscadet – it is that searingly tart, with thrilling minerality and a spine of stiletto steel. Simply calling it unoaked does not begin to do justice to the complexity and textural density that this unusual Oregon chardonnay offers.
Closer to home, Columbia Crest has introduced a new lineup under the H3 label. Featuring Horse Heaven Hills fruit, these wines seem to be just a notch or two up in quality from CC’s Grand Estates series. The Columbia Crest 2006 H3 Chardonnay ($15) is a great introduction. The grapes have optimal acid, and flavors are ripe but firm. The fruit is a bit lean, but tangy, and there is an underlying minerality that adds persistence.
Right behind it is the Columbia Crest Grand Estates 2006 Chardonnay ($11). It is the most broadly fruity wine in the lineup, loaded with fruit flavors of apple, pear and peach. Yes, there are oak flavors also, but this bottle will still take a good chill and deliver the flavor goods.
The Six Prong 2006 Chardonnay ($10) is also made with Horse Heaven Hills grapes. It’s clean and fruit-driven, with a mix of light tropical, light banana, apple and pear flavors.
Just out from Mercer Estates is their 2007 Chardonnay ($15). This crisp and refreshing offering fits nicely into their well-made lineup, which also includes a riesling, a pinot gris, a sauvignon blanc, a cabernet and a particularly fine merlot.
At Olsen Estates’ Prosser tasting room I enjoyed the Olsen Hills 2006 Chardonnay ($16), a blend of barrel-fermented and stainless steel-fermented lots, showing classic apple and pear fruit flavors, dotted with cinnamon spice.
The classic reference for great chardonnay is Burgundy, and the region has had a run of excellent vintages. Yes it’s true that the Euro is eating the dollar’s shorts for lunch, and also true that Burgundy prices were heading skyward even before the great reviews for the amazing 2005 vintage. But you can find outstanding Burgundy at competitive prices if you stick with wines from the larger Domaines such as Bouchard, Jadot and Joseph Drouhin.
In my view there is none better than Domaine Joseph Drouhin. Drouhin (the same family that owns Domaine Drouhin Oregon) offers an enormous range of Burgundies, with quality at every level. But their introductory wine, the Laforet Chardonnay, is a revelation.
Whether your favorite wine seller is stocking the 2005, 2006 or 2007, you won’t be disappointed. It lists for $12, often sells for less, and brings the bracing minerality of the more expensive French wines, such as Chablis, to the table. There is a hint of lime along with other citrus notes, and best of all, as is often the case in Europe, the alcohol content remains at a sensible 13 percent.
Brett actually a yeast
In last month’s column on wine flaws, a wine writer flaw showed up. As I was describing a problem known as brett – short for Brettanomyces – I misidentified the culprit as a bacterium. It is, in fact, a yeast, as alert reader Jeffri Bohlscheid informed me. Mr. Bohlscheid is an assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Toxicology at the University of Idaho. Correction noted and much appreciated.