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.
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.
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.
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
n/a
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.
n/a
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.
Kevin
O'Connor, the wine director at Spago started Lioco.
Its
unoaked and among a new breed of exceptional chardonnays
grown close to the coast and presented unadorned, its
structure shaped by minerality, a saline line of acidity
that freshens and tightens the round, pearlike fruit.
