New World chardonnays (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

New World chardonnays

7:00am Saturday 1st September 2012 in Lifestyle

Fancy a drink? Our drinks columnist Sam Wylie-Harris spins the wine wheel and recommends some New World chardonnays.

 

Celebrate chardonnay

With its many styles and guises, chardonnay is the all-singing, all-dancing fruit of the grapevine.

Versatile and abundant, it's planted the world over and when chardonnay is grown in warm, sunny places such as California and Australia, it's rich, creamy and full-bodied.

Make a beeline for its spiritual home in cool-climate Burgundy, and a September harvest of ripe, yellow-gold grapes will produce lean, crisp and minerally wines such as Chablis premier crus; or buttery, nutty Meursault from the Cote de Beaune.

And if you're still not convinced there's a chardonnay out there for you, Blanc de Blancs champagne is made entirely from chardonnay, and it's one of three classic grape varieties in a champagne blend.

To help engineer this paradox of flavours, oak plays a major influence.

Oak barrels impart a richness and characteristic woody notes, while unoaked means the wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and tastes more restrained.

Unoaked chardonnay is sometimes labelled 'naked', which sounds inviting, but it just means there's not a single note of oak - and another reason to drink more of this beloved grape variety.

Australia's calling card, modern chardonnay is fruity and pineappley, such as De Bortoli Family Selection Chardonnay 2011, Australia, New South Wales, Australia (£6.48, Asda). This giant winery is famous for quantity and quality, and if you're shopping for good value and flavour, it's hard to beat this bright white with plenty of tangy stone fruits, a floral character and subtle use of oak on the zesty finish.

International Winemaker of the Year Neil McGuigan's latest release, McGuigan Reserve Chardonnay 2011, South Australia (£9.99, Sainsbury's), shows a fine balance between the use of fruit and oak. Crisp and refreshing with peach and apricot flavours and a hint of lime, it has a pleasant lemon acidity offset by vanilla notes.

Top chardonnays improve with age, and if you're prepared to flash the cash and spend circa £50 on a blue-chip label, the wine will reward after careful cellaring for up to five years.

Brian Croser, one of Australia's most respected winemakers, only produces a small quantity of fine wine each year, such as Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay 2010, South Australia (£50, Harvey Nichols nationwide). Elegant and understated, with delicate peach and melon flavours, subtle marzipan, good acidity and just a little oak, it shows great purity with a long, graceful finish.

Chile enjoys great success with chardonnay, giving producers a great choice of climates and soils, and it is now the country's second most widely planted grape.

Indeed, Chile's fertile land has even proved a magnate for Brian Croser who has made his mark there and is a consulting winemaker at Santa Rita in cool-climate Leyda Valley.

And the Australian may well be the reason why Santa Rita Medalla Real Chardonnay 2010, Leyda Valley, Chile (£10.99/£8.79 if you buy two, Majestic) is such a delicious quaff. Rich, round and creamy with nectarine and citrus fruits, lightly oaked and nutty with fresh acidity, it's a drop of sunshine from one of Chile's most famous wineries.

Another success story, Bordeaux winemaker Francois Lurton has estates and wineries across South America, Spain and Portugal as well as France, and his Hacienda Araucano Chilean range includes atypical chardonnays such as Hacienda Araucano Chardonnay Reserva, Valle Colchagua, Lurton 2011, Chile (£10, www.tanners-wines.co.uk). Crisp and vibrant with potent spiced pear, ripe apples and lime with no sense of oak and a stony minerality, there's certainly no buttery fatness to this lean style of chardonnay.

The Golden State produces California's most famous white wine and polished chardonnays can command the same prices as the finest Burgundy. Thanks to a long growing season and near-perfect conditions, it produces consistently good wines, vintage to vintage, in many nuances and styles.

For a blonde beauty without the hefty price tag, Saintsbury Chardonnay 2009, Carneros, California (£16.99, Majestic) comes highly recommended. A rich, creamy style with pears, honeydew melon, hazelnuts and spicy oak on the toasty, long finish, it's a full-bodied chardonnay for wine lovers who don't shy away from more than a whisper of oak.

Poised and stylish, Au Bon Climat Chardonnay 2010, Santa Barbara, California (£20.95, www.bbr.com) always wins stars for winemaker Jim Clendenen's deftness at ageing his wines in French oak without making them overly ripe and rich. It's a delectable fruit salad of pears, peach and pineapple with citrus-infused green apple, good acidity and tiers of flavours all gently supported by the very subtle use of oak.

:: Best buy

Summertime steals... If you're stocking up ahead of the bank holiday weekend, The Co-op has a tasty trio on special offer from now until September 4. Gran Tradicion Cava Brut NV (£5.99 from £11.99), Marlborough Sounds Sauvignon Blanc 2011, New Zealand (£5.49 from £10.99) and Marques de Valido Rioja Reserva 2007, Spain (£5.49 from £10.99)

:: Liquid news

The art of the aperitif... Maison Lillet, the Bordeaux French aperitif producer, has launched its first new style in 50 years, and is now available in a rose. Lillet Rose (£19.50, 17%, Harvey Nichols nationwide) is a quick and simple serve that's best enjoyed well chilled and served over ice. A blend of red and white Grand Cru Bordeaux grapes (including muscatel, sauvignon blanc and semillon) and orange fruit liqueurs matured in oak casks, it's a deliciously fruity off-dry aperitif that can also be enjoyed in champagne cocktails for some extra berry-laden bubbles.