Bought at the local supermarket called "Albert Heijn" for €6,99. Alcoholpercentage is 13%. "Subtle use of oak adds" can be read on the label. This can only mean the hanging of oak beams in the stainless steel barrels or the use of oak chips. Maybe oak powder but I rate Penfolds high enough not to do this. I can appreciate their honesty though, by mentioning this on the label for everyone to see. At least you now know how to rate this particular wine. Even the word "subtle" isn't a lie. No noticable oak flavours were apparent. The wine had a crisp acidity, green apple I tasted. The distinctive creamy buttery flavour which I'm so familiar with in New World chardonnay wines, was also there. I also tasted a tiny sweetness. All in all very nice, very typical, but there's too much of this going around. It lacks originality.
Showing posts with label grape: chardonnay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grape: chardonnay. Show all posts
Penfolds Rawson's Retreat Chardonnay 2008
Bought at the local supermarket called "Albert Heijn" for €6,99. Alcoholpercentage is 13%. "Subtle use of oak adds" can be read on the label. This can only mean the hanging of oak beams in the stainless steel barrels or the use of oak chips. Maybe oak powder but I rate Penfolds high enough not to do this. I can appreciate their honesty though, by mentioning this on the label for everyone to see. At least you now know how to rate this particular wine. Even the word "subtle" isn't a lie. No noticable oak flavours were apparent. The wine had a crisp acidity, green apple I tasted. The distinctive creamy buttery flavour which I'm so familiar with in New World chardonnay wines, was also there. I also tasted a tiny sweetness. All in all very nice, very typical, but there's too much of this going around. It lacks originality.
Napa Cellars Chardonnay 2007
A white wine this time and not just any white wine. The first time I had this one, was at the wedding of a wine-expert at dinner in combination with a salmon dish. A week later I could still playback my memory of the taste of this wine and yearned for it. I ordered a box of this wine on the internet, you can get it at multiple places, nobelwijnen for instance. Here it costs €15,95 a bottle shippingcosts excluded. Alcoholpercentage is 14,2%. This is a far more expensive wine than the ones I usually get, but for me this chardonnay has become a benchmark among chardonnay's which have matured on oak. Any other I will taste will have to measure up to this one because it is FAT! Literally. it's buttery, creamy with an enormous aftertaste. Of course the taste of oak maturation is also apparent. White wines usually are served chilled, cold even, but this one is more expressive at roomtemperature, 17° or 18° Celsius. This is not your daily glass of wine, this one should be opened at dinner, preferably with fish of some kind, salmon works best for me. When prepared correctly the tastes of the wine and the dish will enhance each other. This wine can easily be stored for a couple of years, but the older it gets, the colder it should be served, otherwise the oak flavour becomes dominant. If you like oaked chardonnay's, you have to try this one!
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