Babich Hawkes Bay (New Zealand) Chardonnay, 2015

I bought this Chardonnay regularly in the late 1990s. It was one of my best introductions to really fine unoaked Chardonnay. There is so much aroma and flavor in this wine that it's hard to imagine why a winemaker would want to sacrifice that by adding the all too familiar traits of new oak.

Good bright color. The label mentions mango and peach, and it's hard for me to get past the mango. Mango, melon, papaya--all of those complex smells and flavors of tropical fruit. Very finely focused. Creamy on the palate with a long, pleasant finish. My ideal (or close to it) in unoaked Chardonnay.