Wine of the Month September 2008
Plate Licker Unwooded Chardonnay, 2005
(Margeret River, Western Australia)
Many astute readers have noticed that there was no wine of the month posted for August, and the e-mail complaints have been non-stop. I apologize for the deficiency. But then again, you're not paying anything for access to this website, so you got what you paid for! Unfortunately, I was too busy with work and other commitments to get a wine posted during August. Additionally, I could not find anything last month worth writing about. September, however, is now upon us and we have a great wine of the month to talk about. We all know the national economy is in the tank, and many folks are struggling to make ends meet. In such times, expensive luxury wines are simply out of the question for many wine aficionados. It is during these times that we must go out of our way to find good wines at reasonable prices. Plate Licker delivers well in this respect, and as such, has earned wine of the month honors!
You won't find anything written about Plate Licker in the mainstream wine press, as the wine represents a brand new wine venture imported into the USA for the first time less than a year ago. Plate Licker makes three wines, an unwooded Chardonnay, a Cabernet-Merlot blend, and a Shiraz-Viognier blend (a la Clonakilla and D'Arenberg's Laughing Magpie). The Plate Licker wine "brand" is the product of San Diego residents Mark and Anne Paulsen. Anne's family lives in western Australia, and have been growing premium wine grapes for local Australian wineries for some time. The majority go into a local Aussie wine called "The Growers", which is well regarded in Australia, but generally unavailable in the USA. Plate Licker represents Mark Paulsen's attempt to take some of the better fruit from the family vineyards, put it in the hands of experienced Australian viner Phil May (from "the Growers"), and then bring the wine into the USA. I have tried all three of the Plate Licker wines, and I found them all to be excellent, and all sell at very attractive prices.
To be truthful, I am generally not a huge fan of most Chardonnays, or at least those that are produced in the USA, or made abroad and intended for the American market. I find them too oakey, buttery, vanilla-laden and heavy. Many Americans love this type of wine, but many of us do not. We have been affectionately known as the ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) Club. I am, however, a fan of non-oakey Chardonnay. Unfortunately, the only place where non-oakey Chardonnays are made with care and sophistication is in the Chablis district of France (a sub-appelation of Burgundy). Authentic Chablis wines are always 100% Chardonnay, and the majority use no wooden barrels to age the wines. This is in contrast to most California wineries that do age their Chardonnay wines in oak. Most French wineries outside of the Chablis region also use abundant oak for Chardonnay. So when you get right down to it, if you are looking for non-wooded Chardonnay, you have very few options outside of Chablis. A mediocre Chablis will cost about $25-30 per bottle, and the good ones are $40 and up. Chablis lovers on a budget would be well advised to check out the Plate Licker unwooded Chardonnay, which sells for about $12.00! Like many fine Australian wines, the bottle is closed with a screw top to minimize risk of cork-tainting.
For those who have never had an "unwooded" Chardonnay, I would strongly recommend that you try the Plate Licker (or a nice Chablis if your budget will allow). The fruit flavors are crisp, and the wines are much more refreshing than with the oaked variety. Think "Sauvignon Blanc", but without the grassiness.
The 2005 Plate Licker unwooded Chardonnay has a delicate bouquet of lemon, wet stone, and fresh squeezed lime. The wine is cool and refreshing on the palate, with lime and green apple dominating the flavor profile. The wine has a zippy finish. The wine is great to drink on a hot summer or autumn afternoon. It is the perfect accompaniment to a crisp salad, broiled lobster, shrimp cocktail, raw oysters, and delicate fish preparations. The wine is very "food friendly", but will drink well as a stand alone beverage.
Before closing, I will also say a few words about western Australia. It seems these days Australian wines are becoming vogue in the USA. This is a good thing, as it will undoubtedly lead to a larger selection of fine Australian wines in our country. Unfortunately, most wine retailers as well as wine journalists rarely venture outside of the Barossa Valley when exploring Aussie wines. Barossa Valley (near Adelaide, in South Australia) is a fantastic wine region, but there are several other wine regions in Australia that merit our attention. One of these is Western Australia/Margaret River region (near Perth). Australians have known for years that great wines are produced in Western Australia, and such wines are highly sought after in the Australian marketplace. For reasons that are not clear to me, the region and it's wineries have been virtually ignored by Americans, with the sole exception of Leeuwin Estate, which makes one of the most famous Chardonnays in all the world. At some point one should have to wonder if Leeuwin makes one of the greatest Chardonnays in the world such that it commands premium pricing at international auctions, are there not additional wineries near by that produce wines of similar caliber but without the reputaion? The answer to such a querry is YES! There are a slew of good Western Australian/ Margaret River vineyards and wineries, and saavy American wine consumers should seek them out.
I rate the wine 4 stars when one considers the quality to price ratio. The wine sells for roughly $12.00 Plate Licker unwooded Chardonnay (and other Plate Licker wines) can be found at Seaside Market in Cardiff, the Wine Loft in Carlsbad, the Wine Spot in Carlsbad, and 3rd Corner in Encinitas. They may or may not still carry it at Wine Street in Carlsbad, as they had it previously, but were out of stock last time I went there. I believe some of the Hillcrest and Point Loma wine shops may be carrying the wine as well. To learn more about Plate Licker wines, and the derivation for the unusual brand name, you may click here to go to the Plate Licker web site.
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