A South African Unoaked Chardonnay

A kosher Chardonnay? ...

Backsberg vineyards

We’ve been doing a lot of Chardonnay reviews recently with prices running from about $7 to the mid-fifties. Today’s wine is a kosher South African Chardonnay well within the $15 price range. The companion wine is an inexpensive Chardonnay from Chile.

Backsberg Cellars was chosen as one of the Top 100 Wineries of the Year by Wine and Spirits Magazine (New York). C. L. Back was a refugee from Lithuania who came to South Africa early in the 20th Century. He and his family have been making wine for almost a century only a few miles (about 10 kilometers) from Paarl in the Western Cape region of the country. They produce a variety of wine including kosher and organic, and some brandy. Like many wineries, they have a tasting room and a restaurant. Unlike many wineries they also run a culinary school.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed
Backsberg Chardonnay 2009 13.5% alcohol about $13

Let’s start by quoting the marketing materials. Description: Backsberg Estate has been producing fine wines since 1916. This unoaked Chardonnay is fresh and lively with lots of peach and melon fruit flavors leading to a long, creamy, soft finish. Enjoy alongside roast chicken with cinnamon, apricots, and apples; or pair it with salmon croquettes. And now for my review.

At the first sips this wine was elegant, almost ethereal, and slightly carbonated. The first meal was a quite dry honey and garlic barbecued chicken breast. In response the wine’s acidity stepped up. There were light fruits and later some honey. A moister barbecued chicken wing sharpened the Chardonnay’s acidity and I tasted white peaches. When it accompanied potatoes roasted in chicken fat, the wine showed delicious acidity and I tasted honey and lemon. In the presence of Moroccan style carrots with cumin and sliced green olives the wine may have been elegant but its fruit was cut short. Its pairing with fruit juice candy was fairly nondescript, but the Chardonnay maintained its acidity.

The next meal was vegetarian, starting with puff pastry and spinach appetizers. The wine was powerful, long, and elegant. The main dish was a zucchini, onion, portabella mushroom, tomato, and eggplant casserole that wasn’t nearly as tasty as it sounds. In response the Chardonnay was long and round, tasting of melons that should ripen in a day or two. This meal earned me two desserts. With fresh (out of season) strawberries, the Chardonnay was mouth filling at first but finished weaker With fairly good bittersweet chocolate this wine displayed nice acidity but not much fruit.

My final meal was an omelet with plenty of ground chilies. The Chardonnay was feathery with light lemons. It was elegant. With fresh tomatoes this wine picked up power, power that it lost when paired with roasted red pepper humus.

My first cheese was a yellow brick. The wine was round with nice acidity and light fruit. When paired with a more interesting Swiss cheese its acidity intensified. I tasted peaches that weren’t quite ripe.

Final verdict. I liked this wine and would be glad to buy it again. And I’ll be looking for other wines from this producer, and perhaps other unoaked Chardonnays. But don’t hold your breath waiting for a brandy review.

Access the companion wine A Wine Lover's Weekly Review Of $10 Wine - A Chilean (Rapel Valley) Chardonnay

About the Author

Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet, but to be honest, he would rather just drink fine Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. His wine websites include
www.theworldwidewine.com    and    http://www.wineinyourdiet.com

Visit his website devoted to Italian travel www.travelitalytravel.com

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