A good California-light Chardonnay

As mentioned in previous posts, your Two Wine Nuts are not big fans of typical California Chardonnays. For many years, we thought that all Chardonnays were thick, heavy, oaky, and buttery; indeed, that's how most California-style Chardonnays turn out. But there are actually some Chards out there that are...fruity! Most of the time, they are French wines, but more and more producers are discovering there is a growing American market for a lighter-touch Chardonnay. Having had some very positive experiences with other offerings from Oyster Bay Wines, we picked up a bottle of 2005 Oyster Bay Chardonnay recently and gave it a try a few nights ago with friends.

Oyster Bay Wines come from the Marlborough area of New Zealand's south island. Our favorite Sauvignon Blancs come from New Zealand, so we were eager to see what they would do with a Chardonnay.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Oyster Bay Chardonnay was not as fruity as we were hoping. It actually smelled very much like a typical Chardonnay -- lots of oak and butter and a hint of vanilla bean. Taste-wise, it is best described as a much tamer version of a California Chardonnay. There was butter, there was oak, and it had a creamy mouthfeel. But it was not nearly as heavy and in-your-face as typical California versions. This was a very good thing. While it didn't have the fruitiness we were hoping for, a friend who was tasting with us said, "I don't really care for Chardonnays and I could drink quite a bit of this!" So if you like California-style Chardonnays in concept but are turned off by how heavy they are, give this New Zealand one a try.

We bought the Oyster Bay Chardonnay at BevMo for $12.99, which is pretty reasonable but we'd be more excited to find it on sale for closer to $10. We will likely buy a couple more bottles the next time we see it, but we are still on the lookout for a fruitier, less oaky Chardonnay.