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It is quite difficult to tell the difference between Chilean, Australian and Californian Chardonnay. While there are some pointers that can help you make a stab at it, flying winemakers work in all three areas, using grapes that are fairly identically ripe, so many wines are indistinguishable from each other. Californian Chardonnay tends to be sweeter, more toastily oaky and with higher alcohol than the other two. Australians can be quite buttery and rich, but Chile doesn’t really have a signature, other than quality. On average, Chilean Chardonnay is cheaper than the other two, in both senses.
There are exceptions to this, but most of the wines we tasted were fair, but no better. The exception in our case was Errazuriz Max Reserva Chardonnay 2005, which is £8.99 from Waitrose. As a brand, Errazuriz is very reliable indeed and often surprises with really exciting wines. If the word looks impossible to pronounce, it sounds like this – ee-raz-your-iz. It smelt strongly of new oak – like lime pith – very clean, fresh and inviting. Lorraine was reminded of mango chutney. The taste was clearly in a different class from the others. However, it was pretty oaky and rich and Lorraine felt that it was like drinking ice cream in that the finish wasn’t absolutely zingy with acidity.
The Co-op’s own Chilean Chardonnay 2006, at £3.99, is a brilliant buy. It wasn’t heaving with aroma, but it had an attractively fresh taste, more like Sauvignon in character, with some gooseberry. If there was oak, it was in the background. Refreshing and delicious.
Antu Mapu 2006, which is £4.49 from Morrisons is also a good little wine to have in. Like the Co-op wine, though, the label looks very cheap. It was heavily perfumed with vanilla which, over the evening, evolved into something like Malibu. The taste is certainly oaky, with sweet vanilla and warm alcohol, but it’s an enjoyable mouthful.
Concha y Toro’s Winemaker’s Lot Chardonnay 2006, is £7.99 from Majestic, reduced to £6.49 until the end of October, if you buy 2. I really didn’t like this wine. It smelt creamily of pineapple chunks but the taste seemed over-oaked and the finish was nasty.
Los Nucos from M&S smelt of bananas and was fizzy but dull to the point that it reminded us of Pinot Grigio, which in this context is fairly damning. Errazuriz Unoaked was similar, but without the nasty finish from too much oak. However, we felt it was also dull. Dona Dominga from Oddbins was fresh, clean and cheap tasting. Alex thought Sainsbury’s Reserve Selection smelt of cheap sweets and the taste was flat, then watery. Not ideal.
However, all of the above were drinkable. Cono Sur, one of my favourite Chilean brands managed to make a very nasty Chardonnay. It smelt of rotting tropical fruit and tasted revoltingly of very, very ripe fruit. The vintage was 2004, which is just too old for wine of this quality.
The problem with Chilean wines is that we don’t think of Chile when we want to push the boat out, so they don’t send us their great wine, so we don’t think of Chile when we want to push the boat out.