Smoking Loon: Unoaked Chardonnay

This week I’m bringing you something extremely easy to find and well within the affordable budget.  Smoking Loop wines are affordable and a decent quality.

Don’t feel like you need to wear sunglasses, a baseball cap, and pull your jacket up to hide your face when you make this purchase at the grocery store.  Yes, there are wines you should only purchase when you’re in a full disguise.  (We all know which ones those are.)  This is respectable.  Purchase proudly.

The first time I purchased this one, it was because the budget needed a value UnOaked Chardonnay.  I crave Chardonnay.  Desperately sometimes.  But then when I taste it, I remember why I don’t like it.  Then a wonderful wine shop owner introduced me to unoaked Chard.  She’s like my fairy godmother.  But unlike Cinderella, the spell didn’t wear off at midnight and I’m still dancing in my unoaked, steel barrel slippers.

I love this wine.  In those few weeks when a grocery store is out because they’re changing years, I am very sad.  I probably have a bottle on my shelf.  But knowing I can’t get another one until the next year is released isn’t a fun place for me.

It’s nose is full of sour apples, pineapple, and pear.  The apple comes to the top and carries over everything else.  I can also catch some melon smells higher off the glass.  Try smelling the wine from different distances and angles.  You’ll find different flavors come forward.

The flavor is acidic without the buttery flavor oak instills in a Chardonnay.  I can pick up a little bit of lemon in the flavor, too.  This wine is heavier than a Pinot Grigio or a Savignon Blanc.  If you’ve been outgrowing those lighter, summer whites, and you’re looking for something a little heavier, this is a good wine for you.

This one needs something salty to match the flavor profile.  Pancetta, perhaps mixed into a pasta, is the first place my mind takes me.  A pepperoni pizza would make a fabulous pairing, too, if you prefer white to red.

This wine rings in at most stores around $7 per bottle.  Grab a bottle or two and keep them on hand for the cooler fall weather.