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Best of the New
Chardonnays :
After
years of devotion to Oaky Chardonnay, American wine drinkers have had
enough of these big, lush, buttery whites and are moving toward newer,
leaner, fresher styles modeled on Chablis.
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2008
Brampton Unoaked
Price
$11.00
Brampton,
a second label from top South African producer Rustenberg,
takes its name from the estate's Jersey bull, Brampton
Beacon Bloomer, Despite those solid origins, this
Chardonnay is delicate and fragrant. |
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2008
Cousino-Macul Price
$11.00 This
Bright, appealing Chilean Chardonnay goes from vine to
stainless steel tank to bottle without ever touching even
a scrap of Oak. |
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2007
Monjardin El Cerezo Unoaked
Price
$12.00 Spain's
Navarra is known for red wines, not Chardonnay, but this
is a great example of the unoaked style: citrusy and
vivid, with a light prickle to its texture |
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2007
Babich Hawke's Bay Unoaked
Price
$13.00 New
Zealand's Hawke's Bay is a source for ripe Chardonnays,
many of which, like this melon, inflected wine, are made
in an unoaked style. |
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2007
Le Drunk Rooster Price
$14.00 While
this earthy, flavorful white may have a silly name, its a
serious Chardonnay for the money. Its produced by a family
owned winery located in Southern France. |
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wine varietals: |
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Chardonnay |
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appelation: |
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Chablis |
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White
Wine of the Week |
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to Napa
Wines |
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| Old
Style |
Versus |
New
Style |
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| Rich
Vanilla
Unctuous
Supercharged
Ripe
Caramel
Pineapple |
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Crisp
Stone
Focused
Streamlined
Fresh
Mineral
Green
Apple |
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Five
Terrific Chablis
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Chablis, from
Northern Burgundy in France, is the exemplar of the unoaked
Chardonnay style: chalky, flinty, crisp and focused. Admittedly,
not all producers in Chablis are strict stainless steel devotees,
some allow their top wines to spend time in old oak barrels or
vats(which impart little or no oak flavor), and some use new oak(a
practice many of their peers forwn upon). and some use new Oak(a
practise many of the peers upon). But the overall thrust of great
Chablis is toward purity and finesse. The extraordinary "Domaine
Francois Raveneau Les Clos Grand Cru", from the region's
most renowned producer(and most renowned vineyard), is the apogee
of Chablis. But since that wine runs $200 a Bottle, four
substantially more affordable introductions to good Chablis are
listed below.
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2006
Jean-Pierre Grossot Chablis
Price
$25.00
Citrus
and flower aromas distinguish this chalky wine from an up
and coming producer, peach flavors come out in finish. |
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2007
Christian Moreau Chablis
Price
$28.00
Moreau,
who comes from a longtime Chablis producing family, is known
for steely, focused wines. This intro level bottling is
green gold in color and has the flavor of tart green apples,
along with a hint of earthiness. |
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2007
Louis Michel Premier Cru Montmain Chablis
Price
$42.00
Michel
is a top producer in the all stainless steel style, and its
premier cru wine from Montmain has the flinty, wet stone
character from which Chablis is so well know. |
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