WTN: NZ Chard and Texier CdRhone '07

Weekend drinking was two cheapies: one fine in its style but not really to my taste; the other generally an area not to my taste but this producer always manages to be awesome:

Te Mata Estate Woodthorpe Vineyard Chardonnay 2007 - Hawkes Bay, New Zealand; 13,5% abv; c.14€

A pretty decent drop if one likes oaked Chardonnay. It starts out with a fair bit of toffee aromas but gladly the oak recedes very much to the background with air. After an hour open it becomes a bit Mâcon-like with nice greenish (not under-ripe by any means, though!) hints to the bright and crisp fruit. The palate, however, stays thick and more oak influenced throughout. It finishes a bit alcoholic, too. It is among the more interesting of the sub-20€ Chardonnays here, but not interesting enough that I'll be trying it again.

And of course we opened a Texier (I seem to be on a mission to empty the world of his wines! ) - a Côtes-du-Rhône 2007. Texier commented that the '07 (contrary to the hype) was a tricky vintage with too much ripeness and alcohol. This wine, however, was perfectly balanced. Only 13% abv, bright red fruit, not jammy, but ripe and spicy and peppery. As always with Texier, it has proper structure from both tannins and acidity. For a "basic" CdR this gives massive enjoyment.

Otto

This is effectively their entry level chardonnay. If you haven't tried it yet, see if you can track down the Te Mata Elston Chard. This is consistently one of the top 3-4 chardonnays in NZ. Restrainted, elegant wine with great use of fruit. Well worth the effort.

Mark

This is effectively their entry level chardonnay. If you haven't tried it yet, see if you can track down the Te Mata Elston Chard. This is consistently one of the top 3-4 chardonnays in NZ. Restrainted, elegant wine with great use of fruit. Well worth the effort.

I just did a search for it - it isn't available here. This is maybe the most annoying thing about our monopoly: they so rarely have more than one product from a winery available (and usually what they have is the spoofiest one), so it is difficult to get a handle on the winery's style unless one gets invited to the importer's tastings (which with this one I never have).

That really is a pity because the Elston is lovely wine and an excellent example of just how good kiwi chardonnay can be.