Les Paturons Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2009

Two muscadets I have tasted and I can almost copy/paste the description from the one I described yesterday, because the differences are minimal. This bottle I picked up at the E.LeClerc in France for €3,67 alcoholpercentage is 11,5%. So far the biggest differences. Light yellow in the glass, slightly aromatic. Aromas of apple, not the yellow one, not the green one, but right in between. Acidity is a bit higher but in this one the creaminess is also higher. It's slightly tingly on my gums, but again not mouthwatering. It certainly isn't chubby but not very suitable as an aperitive. It would probably do much better in combination with a light salade or a fresh, salty entree of fish and/or shellfish. This also goes for the muscadet I tasted yesterday.

Les Charmes Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie 2009

During my SWEN2 course I once was fooled by the name of a certain wine. I mistook the word "muscadet" for "muscat" which is an entirely different type of wine. Muscadet wines are very dry and muscat wines usually are sweet. So now I'm "punishing" myself by tasting two muscadet wines for learning purposes. This one I bought at the MITRA for €5,99 alcoholpercentage is 12%. The sole grape variety is "melon de Bourgogne", also known as plain "melon" or "muscadet". After the fermentation the most ripens "sur lie", its own dead yeast cells, before it is bottled. This should result in more freshness, because of less contact with oxygen. It's light yellow in the glass. Slightly aromatic, certainly no scent bomb. Aromas of lemon and light sweet yellow apples. The acidity is much lower than in my recollection, but it's far from being chubby. It's not really mouthwatering, my salivary glands remain inactive thus making this wine less suitable as an aperitive. Maybe I've kept it in my cellar for too long, but in my view this is a very neutral wine with no striking characteristics.

Provins Premium Fendant 2009

This one I bought at the GALL & GALL for €9,99 alcoholpercentage is 12%. I think the price is a bit high but maybe this is because exports from Switzerland are not as high and yields are low. However, wine from the chasselas grape variety, or fendant as it is called in Switzerland, is traditionally accompanied with cheese fondue. It's light straw-yellow in the glass and I must say, this bottle from 2009 cannot be called young anymore. It has lost its fruitiness. It's very dry, has a nutty taste, like almond, and it tingles a bit around the tongue. Especially this nutty flavour I keep running into with white wines which in my opinion I should have opened earlier. I will have a hard look at my stock of white wines to salvage what is left. This is a wine which I would like to try again, but then with cheese fondue, but on its own it's rather dull.

Gran Sasso DOC Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2010

This wine I bought from an internetshop called Villa Vino for €6,08 alcoholpercentage is 12%. The grape variety in Italy is called trebbiano, but this is the same as the variety from France which is better known as ugni blanc. A grape which is known for its high acidity, but in this wine this seems to be missing. Light pale yellow in the glas, slightly aromatic, no real distinctive aroma however. At first you can taste its moderate sweetness, then there is some nutty flavour, I call it Brazil nut. Acidity is there but certainly not as high as expected. The wine gets a bit chubby, as I call it, there's not enough tension.

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!