Tasting: Lobetia Chardonnay

Lobetia Chardonnay
La Mancha, Spain
2011
$9.95
Review Provided by The Vintage Cellar: Clean bright coloured at sight, with greenish yellow tone. On the nose, exotic fruits like pineapple scents. Full flavoured, fresh, with good acidity in mouth, it recalls a tropical fruits bouquet. Great with every kind of fish.
My Review: A 100% Chardonnay wine, I learned this wine did not receive the oak treatment and instead sat in stainless steel. I have come to discover that I really like the flavors that oak brings to wine, so that always kind of disappoints me when it skips out on that treatment. It was very soft on the palate though, which is always refreshing to me. Sometimes, I don't really want that harsh bite that some wines have.

Tasting: Stickybeat Chardonnay

Stickybeak Chardonnay
Russian River Valley, California
2010
$12.95
Review Provided by the Vintage Cellar: The nose shows intense characters of pear, spice and almonds. with underlying peach notes. The palate is long and powerful displaying dried pear, toasty, creamy, custard tart and nuances of cashew with lingering stone fruit and a fresh, clean acid finish.
My Review: Stan, the guy pouring wine at the Vintage Cellar on Saturday, gave us a good explanation of where the term "Stickybeak" comes from. Stickybeak may be located in California, but it is Australian-owned. "Stickybeak" is an Australian term for someone who is nosey or a busy-buddy. When you look at the label, you can see above the hole in the fence so that a nosey neighbor can see in to the next neighbor's yard to see what's going on. I could definitely tell this wine had spent some time in oak. Stan told me that it is mostly stored in old oak, but can be stored in new oak as well. I got that sense from the spicy, toasty, almond tastes dancing on my palate.