Cheaper Chardonnays with Charm

If you are looking for a cheaper Chardonnay, yet with plenty of character, here are three suggestions. Surprisingly, rich Chardonnays can be difficult to pair with food but they go well with salmon, tuna, swordfish, lobster or roast chicken. They’d probably go well with Thai-style fish dishes and they work brilliantly with fully flavoured Brie or Camembert cheeses. Always serve Chardonnay well-chilled.

Let’s start with a real bargain. Described on the label as a "full, distinctive Chardonnay", this is a light golden colour with a greenish tinge and a pleasingly oily appearance. As soon as you open the bottle, there’s an assertive aroma of fruity pineapple, honey and peaches with a background of fresh citrus fruits. Despite the 13% alcohol, it has a soft mouth feel and a medium body. The honey comes through on the taste too, along with the pineapple. The acid is quite forward, giving the wine a crisp character. There’s a long, citrus, buttery finish, typical of a good Chardonnay. This wine went superbly with some pieces of odiferous Tasmanian Double Brie that I found at the back of the fridge.

Don’t let the Black Cat put you off! Despite the commercial-sounding trade mark, this is a jolly decent wine and an easy drinker too despite the 13% alcohol content. It’s a typical pale gold with an appealing, slightly viscous appearance. Take a sniff and you’ll smell the characteristic buttery aroma of bananas and peaches. You can almost feel the wine shouting, "I’m a Chardonnay!" Behind the fruity aroma, I think I detected a faint hint of fresh, moist tobacco. However, it’s extremely subtle and if you’re not a good sniffer, you might miss it altogether.

The wine has a satisfying dry mouth-feel and a good balance of acidity. It’s quite assertive, with a good firm body and a long peppery finish.

Wolfgang Blass arrived in Australia from his native Germany in the early 1960s and over the years, his winery has grown from a humble tin shed to one of the most successful wineries in South Australia. The wine is a characteristic pale gold, with a greenish tinge. The lovely buttery peach, melon and honey aroma fairly zaps out of the glass. The peach and melon come through in the taste and there’s a silky mouth-feel with a pleasing balance of acid – just a touch and not too much.

It has a long peach and citrus finish too, always a good sign. This is a pretty classy little number and absolutely on target. If you like Chardonnays with real character, give this one a try. OK, it’s a tad expensive but worth every baht.