Chapel Down Chardonnay 2010, England (~£14 – ’09 is current vintage, but ’10 should be available from chapeldown.com, slurp.co.uk, Majestic)
(from vineyards in Kent, Sussex & Essex)
Pale and very interesting style, quite bracing, and showing easy yeasty bruised/baked apple flavour with a nutty undercurrent – think Mâcon fruit, Chablis acidity. S-
Santa Rita Medalla Real Chardonnay Gran Reserva 2009, Leyda, Chile (£10.99 Majestic)
Not sure if this is prematurely oxidised, but it’s a rather tired, buxom fruit cocktail type of Chardonnay, with creamy, smoky, clumsy oak. C
Miguel Torres Cordillera Chardonnay/Viognier 2009, Limarí, Chile (£10.99 Yorkshire Vintners, Thomas Peatling, Cairns and Hickey, Hoults Wine Merchants, Roberts and Speight, www.vintagemarque.com)
Shows quite fresh and dainty apple, melon and lemon flavours, with some Viognier cashew nuttiness and at touch of vanilla. But overall, it’s a bit heavy and ‘made’. B(-)
Wakefield Eighty Acres Chardonnay/Viognier 2010, Clare Valley, Australia (£10.99 Nidderdale Fine Wines, Whole Foods Market, Sipp, Slurp.co.uk)
Reminds me of old fashioned Semillon/Chardonnay blends, quite weighty with a touch of the jelly cube, easy drinking, but just too simple and confected for class. C+
Really enjoy your videos Simon. Living in the middle of nowhere in Italy, how I would love to try some of the wines you get to sample. Here if it ain’t Italian (and local to boot) it ain’t worth putting on the shelf. Not moaning ‘though, well not too much. Good choice here of…Barbera, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Arneis, Ruche, Timorasso etc etc
Thanks for your comments Leigh, given the choice of only drinking wine from one country for the rest of my life, it would be a toss-up between France & Italy