This renowned chardonnay producer has regularly topped Cuisine tasting and many shows with his fabulous Cab Francs, merlot and Reserve Chardonnays. 2001 gave Tim (the winemaker) such an abundance of fruit that he felt he could add a tier to his already existing two tiers of Chardonnay.

The fruit from this wine is the same fruit that goes into the Reserve (94 points for 2001) and this can be seen with the high alcohol 14.5% which transfers into a beautiful texture.

Although Unoaked Chardonnay is often cheaper this example is $22 NZD ,considered quite expensive by NZ standards. However it is worth the price.

Colour: lime gold
Nose: strong spiced citrus, with elegant stonefruit (mostly peach) with a developed phenolic character which intergrates the aromas very well. Malo-influenced notes also hint at the edge fo the nose.
Palate: Rich with strong phenolic bitterness, the acids are solid but are overpowered by fruit and phenols. The texture is stunning.
Overal: A great unoaked chardonnay, one of the best I've had. A B+ on the QPR and a 88 on the Jeremy Scale.

Jeremy Ellis<br />Brown's Seriously Fine Wines<br />Auckland, NZ<br />mighty turnip hunter. The animals are just to damn fast.

Although, as good as their Chardonnays are, I can't imagine a reason to make the unoaked style. Their regular and reserve Chardonnays are yummy!

Yesterday, I put up some Te Mata and Selaks notes... Sample bottles from Simon Buck.

highdesertwine

Providing an unoaked style can often highlight the quality of the juice, because oak can be used to hide certain undesirable characters.

Personally I'm not a huge Unoaked fan, but do enjoy them occasionally.

I think the vintage caught Tim unawares and he hadn't ordered enough barrels. BUt I'm not sure.

Jeremy Ellis<br />Brown's Seriously Fine Wines<br />Auckland, NZ<br />mighty turnip hunter. The animals are just to damn fast.

Not a big fan of the New World unoaked style either (love Chablis though), but Shaw and Smith unoaked Chardy from the Adelaide Hills is not a bad drop. Ever tried it Jeremy?

Wine tastes better upside down.

Sadly no, but I've been recommended it by a couple of good friends who know what they are talking about.
I've also enjoyed the Irvine Unoaked. A little more zesty than the Clearview but still quite a reasonable drop.

Jeremy Ellis<br />Brown's Seriously Fine Wines<br />Auckland, NZ<br />mighty turnip hunter. The animals are just to damn fast.