Here are two un-oaked Chardonnays from River Road Family Vineyards that provide very different experiences. When you think of un-oaked Chardonnay, you think of bright fruit, including apple, peach and citrus flavors. You don’t think of wood tones, and the buttery aspects that some heavily oaked wines can bring. Both of these wines avoid the heavy oak, or any oak at all for that matter. They do it in different ways. Let’s see what that means.
Wine #1:
Wine: 2020 River Road Reserve Un-oaked Chardonnay
Winery Location: Russian River Valley (Sebastopol, CA) – this wine is listed as from the California AVA, so grapes from anywhere in California)
Tasted By: Neil Date: July 2021
Tasting Notes: the wine is straw colored with a greenish hue. On the nose you get pineapple, citrus, apple, peach and, yes, banana. There’s a lot going here. On the palate you there are lots of ripe fruits, but also some structure and richness. There is a nice body from the contact with the lees that this wine benefits from. It finishes long and clean, with good balance throughout. This wine is very pleasing from start to finish. There’s some complexity here.
Price Point – SRP of $16.99
Would We Buy It? – yes, this is a high quality un-oaked Chardonnay. Anything under $20 is a good value here.
And now the second, and very different wine:
Wine: 2020 River Road Un-oaked Chardonnay
Winery Location: Russian River Valley (Sebastopol, CA) – this wine is listed as from the California AVA, so grapes from anywhere in California)
Tasted By: Neil Date: July 2021
Tasting Notes: light straw in color, this juice has a vibrant nose of peach and pear. On the palate it is off dry, with noticeable sweetness. Apple, peach and pear flavors abound, along with a hint of citrus. It is clean and fresh throughout. This is a more straightforward wine than the one above, but it is delicious none the less. It sports a long, clean finish.
Price Point – SRP of $14.99
Would We Buy It? – Absolutely. This is a delicious white. If you like an off dry Vouvray or Riesling then you’ll like this wine as well.
Both of the wines above are well made, value priced and sure to please. Well done at River Road.
A votre santé!
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