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THE REFRESHING TRUTH ABOUT CHARDONNAY:

IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE EXPENSIVE NOR FANCY TO BE GREAT

 

By Carolyn Evans Hammond, published in Outreach Connection and distributed privately on 19/02/10

Lindemans Bin 65 from Australia is probably one of the best Chardonnays you can buy for about $11 in Canada and $6 in the US.  Better yet, it’s a huge brand, which means it’s stocked everywhere, tastes the same year in year out, and is totally affordable.  What’s not to love?  The best big brand wines, much like Big Macs and Starbucks’ Frappuccinos, are reasonably-priced no-brainers you can count on not to let you down.  No wonder they’re popular, accounting for nine out of every 10 bottles drank in North America.  But big brands are not created equally.

So I figured I would write a book that compares big brand wines by price and grape variety.  It’s called, Good Better Best Wines: A No-Nonsense Guide to Popular Wines, it hits shelves in April, and it’s (rather surprisingly) the first buying guide to focus exclusively on popular wines.  I think it fills a niche in wine criticism that needed to be addressed. 

Good Better Best Wines leaves out jargon, keeps the structure intuitive, and shows bottle images so you don’t need to know much about wine, or spend much time with the book, to use it.  I think wine drinkers deserve to know which big brand wines taste best, don't you? 

Lindemans Bin 65 was one of the big brand Chardonnays that came out on top in my book.  And clearly I’m not the only wine freak to recognise it; the wine is a top seller in Canada and the United States with its delicious pineapple and melon flavours that end with a final lick lush creaminess.  To millions of wine lovers, Bin 65 is a great drink for the price that works as well as a cocktail as it does with food. 

Other big brand Chardonnays that came out on top in the book include:

Stone Cellars by Beringer Chardonnay, from California (LCBO 606806 $13.85)

This seriously seductive rendition of Californian Chardonnay exudes creamy coconut aromas before bathing the palate with sun-soaked fruit suggestive of pineapple, melon, and citrus topped with coconut cream. Dry and fruity with an impeccable balance that makes it seem rich and smooth. Delicious and seriously underpriced.

Catena Alamos Chardonnay from Mendoza, Argentina, (LCBO 801571 $13.95)

Offering seriously good value for money with its ripe, rich, citrus-laden expression of fruit layered with subtle floral-spice-vanilla nuances, this wine is a full-on winner.

Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay from California(LCBO 369686 $19.95)

Coconut and tropical fruit cocktail nose leads to fresh flavors of juicy pineapple, marzipan, and toasted coconut. Long and seductive coconut cream finish. Seamlessly integrated oak and pristine purity of fruit creates quite a stylish, refined wine. Full-bodied and beautifully balanced. 

Isn’t it nice to know wine doesn’t have to be expensive or fancy to be terrific?

 

Carolyn Evans Hammond’s latest book, Good Better Best Wines, A No-Nonsense Guide to Popular Wines, hits shelves in April.  Her critical articles and reviews have appeared in such eminent magazines as Decanter and Wine & Spirit International in the United Kingdom, as well as Maclean’s, Taste, and Tidings in Canada and her first book, 1000 Best Wine Secrets, earned critical acclaim and international distribution with the distinction of being a best-seller by Canadian standards.  Qualified sommelier and seasoned journalist, Carolyn holds the Diploma from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust and a BA from York University.  Carolyn has lived in many cities in North America and Europe, and now resides in Toronto, where she was born.

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