AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: Two Unoaked Chards DATE: 6/11/2006 03:13:00 PM ----- BODY:

The “Anything But Chardonnay” – or ABC – movement has had an impact, not necessarily in reducing the amount of Chardonnay on the market, but in how it’s made. If you delve into the winemaking specifics (as I feel bound to do out of duty as much as curiosity), you probably hear words and phrases like “partial malolactic” or “seasoned oak,” clues that the winemaker is trying to avoid the full-barreled approach of new oak and buttered popcorn that gave California Chardonnay a bad name. The movement’s success has even created a backlash, led by the Wall Street Journal’s popular wine columnists, Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, who recently went on a search expedition for “old-style” California Chards. Good for them, I say: While I don’t particularly fancy that style myself, on occasion I find one that really knocks my socks off. And I believe in diversity anyway. Of course, I wish there was a way to tell what style of Chardonnay I might be opening on any given attempt. ABC really could be called ABO – anything but oak. The extreme example of the movement’s success is unoaked Chardonnay. These came originally from New Zealand and Australia, but some wineries in the US are now making them and bragging about it. Oregon’s Chehalem bottles an unoaked “INOX” (French for stainless steel) Chard that is a winner year in and year out. Recently I’ve enjoyed two unoaked Chardonnays from California that are worth seeking out. Although they are in a sense related by more than the shared grape variety and their common Monterey appellation (more on that below), they are notably different in style. And both are delicious. San Saba Vineyards “Bocage” Unoaked Chardonnay 2005 ($13), shows the lemon-curd and citrus notes that come to the fore when Chardonnay’s character is not masked by oak. Yet what fascinated me was the body. Winemakers Jeff Ritchey and Sabrine Rodems aged the wine on the lees for four months (in tank, not in barrel as is common), which extracted a richness and mouthfeel that makes the wine entrancing and seductive on the palate. The wine is unfortunately not widely available, as it is now in California, Texas, Connecticut and Maine, with plans to distribute to New York and New Jersey in the near future. But keep it in mind. My other example was Clos LaChance 2005 ($15) from the winery’s hummingbird series. This wine struck me as Australian in style, overflowing with blowsy tropical fruits (hmm, I think I’m gonna hear about that one, but I mean it in a good sense!), especially pineapple. Upfront, flirtatious and downright enjoyable. And the other connection between these wines – Ritchey, whom I’ve written about before on this blog, used to be winemaker at Clos LaChance. Cheers! Dave

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