It's Wednesday, August 8, which means it's the three-year anniversary of Wine Blogging Wednesday (now with its own website). This month is hosted by the originator, Lenndevours, and the theme is perfect for the dog days of summer: Naked Chardonnay.

(As an aside, I want you all to know that I am naked as I am blogging this. Seriously.)

I was torn as to what to taste tonight. I went so far as to put a bottle of 2003 Domaine Daniel-Etienne Defaix Chablis Vielles Vignes in the fridge to cool. Instead, Liz popped over to our local wine shop and picked up a bottle of 2005 White Knot Chardonnay from the McLaren Vale in South Australia (care of Red Knot Vineyard) for 10 bucks.

Regular readers will remember that Liz and I have been taking an intense wine studies course. It's amazing how, with practice, one can pick out individual characteristics of a wine simply by its aroma and taste. Equally striking, however, is the seemingly effortless way that a wine marketing team can make an otherwise ordinary wine seem like a classic vintage Grand Cru Burgundy while still retaining more than a sliver of truth in its tasting notes.

With that in mind, I'd like to present my notes in response to those of the talented marketing folks at Red Knot Vineyard:

Pale straw with a youthful green tint. Lifted aromas of peach, citrus
blossom and lime peel dominate the fresh, fruit driven nose. The lively palate is a fusion of zesty citrus and rich peaches and cream. A full bodied, unoaked Chardonnay with softness and a finely balanced fresh acidity. This wine can be enjoyed in its youth.

from the stylish website of Red Knot Vineyard

Any good marketing message starts off with an obvious truth, and theirs opens spot on -- I would describe this chardonnay as pale straw with hints of green. Note here the "youthful" descriptor used by said marketing folks; this becomes important later.

The nose was slight, almost non-existent. Chardonnay is not by nature a fragrant grape variety -- it relies on fermentation style to bolster its aroma, and without oak, one requires a certain amount of practice to detect anything specific at all in its bouquet. I suppose this is what is meant by "lifted." Regardless, I got notes of lemon-lime and ripe pear in the nose here.

Instead of "lively" in the mouth, I would have said (in fact, I am saying) "creamy," which the marketing team seems to equate to "peaches and cream." My thoughts were that the character of this wine was derived from lees contact (or perhaps malolactic fermentation), giving it its soft, creamy mouthfeel. Peaches and cream, though, doesn't ring a bell. (It's also quite hot in the mouth; this is still a New World chardonnay).

Finally, we are presented with the payoff: "This wine can be enjoyed in its youth." Taken on its own, this statement suggests that it would be fine to file this wine away until next Christmas to go with your family's lobster dinner. But paired with that "youthful" color, the subtext is clear: You should drink this wine now, while you can. Time is running out.

I especially enjoyed the marketing folks' use of the "zesty" descriptor. For me, the wine had a touch of bitterness in the finish, but a pleasant, unobtrusive bitterness that I equated to lime zest. Zesty imparts the connotation of activity, or of being high-strung, and this is definitively a lethargic glass of wine.

I paired the White Knot with an herbed frittata of sweet Italian sausage and peppers, accompanied by a mixed green salad dressed with a lightly truffled sherry vinaigrette; the creamy emphasis in the wine married nicely with the egg and cheese. Not a tremendously complex wine, but a fun wine to pair with dinner.

As for the White Knot marketing team's notes: I would characterize them as floral.