Sweet Oaks 2017 Chardonnay – Tasting Notes and Pairings

Chardonnay is a beautifully versatile grape that responds well to being gently aged. It matches well with a wide range of food choices, and this flexibility means that the Sweet Oaks 2017 vintage will provide you with satisfying and memorable opportunities for delicious Chardonnay pairings for many years to come. 

 

Grown in the warm sunshine of the Temecula Valley, the cool ocean air drawn into the valley each day helps keep the perfect balance of acidity in these gorgeous grapes, which is a characteristic of all of the fascinating wines they produce. This is a wine that strongly speaks of the land it comes from.

 

Tasting Notes

The shimmering straw color with an attractive note of gold gives a hint of the time that this wine has spent carefully maturing to develop the flavors. None of the vibrancy of the fruit has been lost over this time, however, and the nose is bright and fresh with lemon-lime zest in the foreground and a more restrained aroma of soft, golden apple aromas that follows right behind. It is also possible to pick up some delicious bready, autolytic notes from the time the wine spent on its lees. This distinctive brioche character also comes through on the palate, along with vibrant and punchy citrus and some more restrained tree fruit flavors. This fresh taste is a consequence of the wine being fermented and matured in inert stainless steel vessels.

 

The apple and pear notes add depth and interest to this easy-going wine. The moderate acidity and relatively full body are well balanced, giving this Chardonnay a beautiful texture and mouthfeel. It ends with a clean, relatively short but evocative finish that makes this wine extremely easy drinking whether on its own or combined with food, in one of the vast arrays of Chardonnay pairings.

 

Taste Sensations: Great Chardonnay Pairings

The versatility of Chardonnay pairings is one reason that the grape has gained such global popularity. Its versatile flavor reflects the climate where it has been grown and the level of ripeness the grapes have achieved. It is essential to take the origins of the wine into account when selecting a suitable food match to enjoy.

This light wine has all the refreshing acidity, vibrant fruit and a rounded mouthfeel that make it an excellent match for fish, seafood, or creamy pasta dishes. Try this easy-to-follow salmon pasta recipe for an easy-to-make dish that will be transported to the next level by paired with a chilled glass of Sweet Oaks 2017 Chardonnay.

 

You might also like to try Chardonnay pairings with soft cheeses. In particular, goat cheese is an excellent choice as the fresh sharpness of the cheese will complement the citrus flavors of the wine perfectly, leading to delicious harmony on your palate. The soft creaminess of Camembert also makes it a fantastic choice to match with this light Chardonnay. The balanced acidity of the wine will cut through the rich butteriness of the cheese, creating a harmony of the two opposing elements on your palate. Throw together a simple cheese and charcuterie board to serve with this delicious wine at a picnic to wow your guests and to let them enjoy their experiments in pairing!

 

The moderate ripeness of the flavors in this particular vintage means that it will make a great companion for white mushroom and truffle – foods rich in umami that can often be quite hard to find suitable matches for. Those slight characters of brioche and breadiness give the wine the structure and texture to work well with mushroom dishes, but here again, it is best to stick with mushrooms accompanied by creamy sauces rather than tomato-based ones. Creamy mushrooms on brioche toast would perhaps be the ultimate dish to pair with this wine, with the added decadence from a sprinkling of crisp lardons of bacon over the dish to garnish. Those little jewels of saltiness will add extra zip to the pairing, bringing out the best of the fruity notes in the wine.

 

Buy this wine direct from the Sweet Oaks Estate and see for yourself how versatile it is for pairing with food or enjoying on its own.

 

Top Tip

Taking this particular wine out of the refrigerator around half an hour before you serve it is advisable. Letting the fridge chill dissipate a little as the wine comes to a slightly more ambient temperature helps the wine to open up and reveal the very best of its character.