Chardonnay (oaked)

What is it?

Chardonnay is a white grape, and it is among the most popular grapes grown around the world. We had an unoaked Chardonnay; the wine we had this week was an oaked Chardonnay, which means it was aged in oak barrels. Oaked Chardonnays are generally more rich and smooth than the unoaked varieties.

Primary flavors are lemon, yellow apple, butter, vanilla, and pineapple. Oaked Chardonnays tend to be richer and lean on the richer flavors listed, like butter. Similarly, oaked Chardonnays pair well with rich foods. We had this wine with salmon with a Dijon glaze and quinoa.

Molly's Rating and Tasting Notes

6.6. On the nose I don't get much except alcohol. The wine is lemony and rich on the tongue, with a bit of a creamy feel in the mouth. It doesn't linger long. It's not very sweet, and definitely not as sweet as the unoaked Chardonnay from last week. I don't love it. My ratings are definitely messed up and in need of some normalization because I know that it doesn't fit in to the rating scale relative to other things we've tried. (You can view this as a hint of an upcoming post next spring when Ryan is gone.)

Ryan's Rating and Tasting Notes

8.2. On the nose I get vanilla, pineapple, caramel, and yellow apple. If I sniff too hard, I also get a little bit of chlorine and paper towel, but I'm not sure how much of that is the wine or the glass. Upon tasting, I am met with a friendly, smooth sensation. Their is a bit of heft to this wine and it does a good job coating and filling up the mouth. Some of the tasting notes I get are lemon, chamomille, and honey. There's a little bit of vanilla, and maybe a dash of cream in there as well. It's a little bit sweet, with some decent acidity, and a nice long finish. The taste of the wine sticks around for a while, which is nice as it is a tasty wine. Overall this is a quality wine that I would come back to.

References

[1] Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack. Wine Folly: The Master Guide. Avery - A Penguin Imprint, New York, NY, 2018.

[2] "Chardonnay." Wine Folly. https://winefolly.com/grapes/chardonnay/Accessed: October 2023.

Wines we haven't finished

  • None this week!