Tasting - Boutinot El Viejo Del Valle Chardonnay

 

Name: Boutinot El Viejo Del Valle Chardonnay
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Valle de Maule
Country: Chile
Year: 2019
Price: $8

Winery Review: A Chilean Chardonnay won't taste like Napa Chardonnay. It is more similar to a Sauvignon Blanc but with more tropical fruit and apple-pear flavors. Given the heavy minerality and noticeable acidity, Chilean Chardonnay should pair nicely with dense fish dishes, white meats and possibly some scallops or lobster.[1]

Wine Folly: The cooler Costa areas is where you’ll find the best Chardonnay.  The most popular style is buttery from oak aging, and comes from Casablanca and San Antonio Valleys. The outer regions of Limarí and Aconcagua offer the most minerality and are uniquely salty [2].

My Review: Being late into the night and a few tastings of other wines having passed, this chardonnay remained as light as it's color in it's ability to drink. The light yellow in shade hinting at the sweet and honey like smell it imparted, with an ever so slight ethanol tinge. I found the El Viejo Del Valle chardonnay to have a sweet taste upfront with a rather bitter after taste, perhaps reflecting it's nature from it's name, as if interacting with an old man of a valley who is sweet and kind at first but is quick to turn bitter.

Citations:

[1] "Regional Style: Chilean Chardonnay," vivino.com, [Online]. Available: https://www.vivino.com/wine-styles/chilean-chardonnay [Accessed: Jan 22, 2023]

[2] M. Puckette and J. Hammack, Wine folly: The Essential Guide to Wine. New York: Avery, 2015.