This week it was Chardonnays. Not necessarily my most favourite wine but I was quite surprised at how different climates and different conditions could produce such a wide variation in taste. Of the 6 wines we tasted, the one that truly tasted like a bog standard chardonnay was;

Domaine Begude “Le Bel Ange” Chardonnay 2012 PGI Pays D’Oc

Despite it being one of the pricier wines I would never buy this. This had a good write up by Majestic but I wasn’t impressed. In fact of the pricier wines there was only one that really impressed me and that was the;

Bourgogne Chardonnay 2010 Chateau des Jacques, Jadot at £13.99 a bottle

This was oaky and spicy and tingled nicely in the mouth and would be great with food or just on its own. I also like the Giesen Chardonnay 2012 Marlborough which was very oaky and rich but with more of a tingle on the tongue. Mike wasn’t as keen on this one.

2 other wines, Petit Chablis 2011 Union des Viticulteurs de Chablis and Septimo Dia Chardonnay 2012 Mendoza were disappointments, the first tasting very wishy washy as if someone had just put a slice of lemon in water and the second, to be frank,smelling a little of men’s loos which wasn’t endearing although the very oaky flavour was good. The initial aroma was just too off-putting.

Our favourite was the cheapest wine on offer, the;

Aspen Chardonnay 2012 South Eastern Australia

This was smooth to drink, but had some nice body and was just perfectly oaky. Surprisingly it is a little sweet in flavour which I wouldn’t normally like but this was lovely. We tasted it right at the start of the tasting and again at the end and despite being a little squiffy from all those small glasses of wine it still tasted just as good.