Wines of the Week | Crisp New Chardonnays

After years of devotion to Oaky Chardonnay, American wine drinkers have had enough of these big, lush, buttery whites and are moving toward newer, leaner, fresher styles modeled on Chablis.

Best of the New Chardonnays @ http://www.cocktailsandwines.com

2008 Brampton Unoaked
Price $11.00
Brampton, a second label from top South African producer Rustenberg, takes its name from the estate's Jersey bull, Brampton Beacon Bloomer, Despite those solid origins, this Chardonnay is delicate and fragrant.

2008 Cousino-Macul
Price $11.00
This Bright, appealing Chilean Chardonnay goes from vine to stainless steel tank to bottle without ever touching even a scrap of Oak.

2007 Monjardin El Cerezo Unoaked
Price $12.00
Spain's Navarra is known for red wines, not Chardonnay, but this is a great example of the unoaked style: citrusy and vivid, with a light prickle to its texture

2007 Babich Hawke's Bay Unoaked
Price $13.00
New Zealand's Hawke's Bay is a source for ripe Chardonnays, many of which, like this melon, inflected wine, are made in an unoaked style.

2007 Le Drunk Rooster
Price $14.00
While this earthy, flavorful white may have a silly name, its a serious Chardonnay for the money. Its produced by a family owned winery located in Southern France.

Five Terrific Chablis:

Chablis, from Northern Burgundy in France, is the exemplar of the unoaked Chardonnay style: chalky, flinty, crisp and focused. Admittedly, not all producers in Chablis are strict stainless steel devotees, some allow their top wines to spend time in old oak barrels or vats(which impart little or no oak flavor), and some use new oak(a practice many of their peers forwn upon). and some use new Oak(a practise many of the peers upon). But the overall thrust of great Chablis is toward purity and finesse. The extraordinary "Domaine Francois Raveneau Les Clos Grand Cru", from the region's most renowned producer(and most renowned vineyard), is the apogee of Chablis. But since that wine runs $200 a Bottle, four substantially more affordable introductions to good Chablis are listed below.

2006 Jean-Pierre Grossot Chablis
Price $25.00
Citrus and flower aromas distinguish this chalky wine from an up and coming producer, peach flavors come out in finish.

2007 Christian Moreau Chablis
Price $28.00
Moreau, who comes from a longtime Chablis producing family, is known for steely, focused wines. This intro level bottling is green gold in color and has the flavor of tart green apples, along with a hint of earthiness.

2007 Louis Michel Premier Cru Montmain Chablis
Price $42.00
Michel is a top producer in the all stainless steel style, and its premier cru wine from Montmain has the flinty, wet stone character from which Chablis is so well know.