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.

A good Cabernet for cooking

We needed a basic Cabernet Sauvignon for our favorite tri-tip marinade recipe so we went to our local Albertsons to see what we could find. We picked up a 2004 Chalone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon on sale for $12.99 (regularly priced at $18.99). We had had good experiences with this pioneer Monterey County (California) winery in the past so we figured we had a safe bet. And the verdict? Eh. As a drinking wine, it’s great for a marinade.

This Cab was a deep rich purpley red, as we expected. Its smell, however, was not very pronounced. Aside from a wine smell, the only scent either Wine Nut could pick up was “dusty.” Having just taken the wine glasses out of the dishwasher, we know the glasses weren’t the dusty culprits.

Taste-wise, this California Cabernet started off nice and fruity but quickly disappeared. Because the flavor did not linger after the wine was swallowed, we would describe this wine as having a “short finish.” By contrast, a wine with a long finish – a very good thing – is one where even after the wine has slid down your throat, you can still taste various flavors and can continue enjoying the wine well before your next sip.

One Wine Nut also declared this pick to be over-oaked. He determined this by the astringent, dry feeling in the mouth and the wooden taste. Cabernets are very typically aged in oak barrels for some length of time in order to impart some of that oak – and often vanilla – flavor into the wine. A wine can get too oaky either by spending too much time in an oak barrel or by hanging out in a newer barrel. Some people like a lot of oak flavor in their wines (California Chardonnays are famous for this); your two Wine Nuts, not so much.

Overall, this Cabernet Sauvignon served its ingredient purpose well but it wouldn’t be our choice for a drinking wine. However, on a recent trip we picked up a bottle of a Chalone Vineyard Merlot at a grocery store. We shared it with some family while chatting in a hotel room and it was quite tasty, even when served in Styrofoam coffee cups. So if you want to try this old-standby Monterey County wine, go for the Merlot and skip the Cabernet…unless you’re marinating tri-tip. And $10-13 for either makes it worthwhile.