2010 Louis Latour Pouilly-Vinzelles En Paradis

If you’ve read some of my previous reviews of wine, you’ll know I am no fan of New World, oaky, buttery, vanilla-candle-smelling Chardonnay. I am a very big fan though, of crisp, non-oaky, high acidity Chardonnay, like those gorgeously austere wines from Chablis. In fact, Chablis may be my very favorite expression of the Chardonnay grape.

Tonight’s wine is a Chardonnay also from Burgundy, France. White Burgundy does sometimes use oak, and very often uses malolactic fermentation (the process by which tart malic acid is converted to softer lactic acid, the same acid found in dairy) for Chardonnay, but there seems to be a restraint and balance to these wines that set them apart from their New World cousins and which I greatly prefer. The village name tonight is Pouilly Vinzelles, in the Maconnais region of Burgundy and it is a straight forward example of such a wine. There is apple and pear on the nose, as well as a hint of something slightly floral. It is dry and medium bodied with very nice balance and a butteryness that points to malolactic fermentation, but not overdone. It’s  simple, tasty and a nice daily drinking white.