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Best Wine in Lincolnshire
Written by Ben Straw on 12th April 2011
Versatile, easy-drinking for summer and perhaps one of the best known varietals in the world of wine. This month eschew shabby chardonnays and shoddy chablis for fine wines designed to shine throughout the summer, from every appellation under the sun. Ben Straw of Lincoln’s Steep Hill Wines is your guide for this month's recommendations for the best wine in Lincolnshire...
Chardonnay is a wonderfully versatile grape variety, with the ability to grow under conditions that would make many other grape varieties suffer.
Its ability to blend with other varieties and the ease with which oak, soils and winemaking practises can influence the final product make this a great varietal for the winemaker to craft in his — or her — own style.
Some of the greatest Chardonnays come from France with the White Burgundy and Chablis appellations producing stunning, complex wines.
Climate affects the final flavours in many ways. Cooler climates — think Burgundy or parts of South Africa — and high altitudes tend to give Chardonnay a more citrus, lean, crisp style, warmer climates — Australia and New Zealand's North Island — give a more tropical lean to the fruit content. Flavours of melon, stone fruit and even pineapple can all turn up in a warm climate Chardonnay.
1 Currabridge Unwooded Chardonnay, Australia — £6.95
Currabridge keep things simple, allowing the varietal to do the talking! This sees no oak contact, so it shows very clean ripe peach and melon fruit on the palate. A joyfully easy drinking summer white.
2 Cranswick Estate Chardonnay, Australia — £8.50
This Chardonnay is grown on the deep alluvial soils of the Barossa Valley. The juice is fermented on French oak staves in stainless steel tanks. Shows fresh, clean citrus fruit mingled with white peach on the nose. Flavoursome ripe tropical and stone fruits with just a hint of butteriness on the palate finishing with clean, crisp acidity.
3 Errazuriz WiId Ferment Chardonnay, Chile — £11.50
Full-bodied, rich and mouth filling with creamy, ripe fruit characters and toasty, spicy oak balanced by crisp acidity and a long finish. Fermention using wild yeast, making it a slower fermentation, produces this rich and complex wine with elegance and balance — one of the best wines in Lincolnshire
4 Enate Chardonnay-234, Spain — £11.99
Under the protection of the Pyrenees, Enate's vineyards benefit from the dispersion of the clouds and lower temperatures. This allows the grapes to mature slowly, getting a higher acidity and a more European feel. Intense bouquet of apple, peach and passion fruit with a discrete mineral background. On the palate the wine is complex with rich mouth filling fruit and a long crisp clean finish.
5 Domaine Billaud-Simon Chablis 2008, France — £14.95
Billaud-Simon never fail to deliver on their scintillating village Chablis. Crisp citrus fruit is to the fore on the nose and on the palate, where it combines with softer peach flavours and a smoky minerality. Very pure and elegant.
6 Domaine Sylvain Langoureau Saint-Aubin 2008, France — £16.95
This village Saint Aubin is made in exactly the same method as Sylvain's Meursault, Chassagne or Premier Cru Saint Aubin. It has a lovely texture, both rich and charming on the palate. There are interesting pear and apple notes, accompanied by a hint of oak from the barrel fermentation and aging on the lees. A wonderfully charming wine.
Featured wines and advice on the best wine in Lincolnshire are available at Steep Hill Wines, Lincoln. Call 01522 544737 or see www.steephillwines.com.