Warbun Estate - Gossips 2006 Chardonnay

I was on the hunt for a clean-skin wine. From my understanding there are two reasons why clean skins exist. The first reason is due to the current wine glut - wine producers in Australia have produced excess for the current market, so some wine is rebadged as a 'clean skin' primarily to get rid of the excess stock. This means that you can be purchasing a quality wine for nearly a quarter of the price.

The second reason why clean skins exists is because some wineries experiment with various wines and release them as clean skins to gauge the market response.

Either way, they are a relatively cheap and quality alternative for use primarily in cooking.

So when I was in the bottle shop and noticed this Warburn Estate wine on sale for $6 I figured it was just about as cheap as a clean-skin yet was branded.

Tonight we opened it to along with the steamed fish and I was very pleasantly surprised.

The aroma was fruity and pleasant, though subtle. The palate was refreshingly crisp and fruity for a Chardonnay. No lingering buttery taste was found at all. Not much else to say aside from the fact that it was very pleasant considering it's low cost.

McWilliams 2005 Inheritance Chardonnay

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I feel the need to start this first review with a bit of a caveat - I enjoy wine, I love the aromas, the taste on my palate and the smooth finish of a good wine. However I'm no expert and this is simply my opinion. The people who will read this blog will most likely not share my passion for wine - but that's ok. This review, and others like it to come, will hopefully get you to see what I'm talking about!

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This is a rich, fruit-driven Chardonnay featuring ripe mango and tropical fruit aromas. The palate has an abundance of fresh peach and nectarine flavours balanced with a crisp, clean finish.

So reads the description on the back of the bottle. Often I wonder how they come up with such descriptions - sometimes you wonder if they've subtly added these flavours during the fermentation process or if what's written is just a load of waffle.

Unfortunately with this wine it felt like a lot of waffle. Whilst it seemed to promise lots, I was relatively disappointed it didn't live up to it's labelling. That said it was still a relatively nice Chardonnay, having most characteristics of Chardonnay I have come to expect. Whilst lacking the fruity aromas I was hoping for, it certainly delivered on the crisp and clean finish. The palate, whilst fruit generally, didn't appear to have the peach/nectarine qualities I was hoping for, or they were too subtle for me to notice.

Overall a nice, but mostly average, drop considering it was only $8.

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