An ongoing tasting of wines under the $10 mark, accessible in Vancouver, that we will post about regardless of whether we loved it or it was absolutely putrid. We will wade through bottles of bad plonk to find those hidden gems around town and hope that in doing this, you won’t have to do the same.

Select Pampas Del Sur 2008 Chardonnay/Chenin

So, after the wacky debacle that ensued in C.A.C. #6, I was well aware that this time around I had indeed chosen the white version of last time’s red.  The Pampas ‘08 Shiraz Malbec was a hit and, I thought, great value for the $9.65 price point.  When I was at Brewery Creek earlier today looking for a cheap white, I zeroed in on this one right away, hoping that for the same price - it might offer similar quality.

Meh.

Quite a golden, green-tinged colour.  It starts out with a promising lemony nose, but a couple sniffs later led more to wet straw and a general basement-y dankness.  Those citrus notes came up on the palate, but structure-wise it’s fairly flabby.  I wanted a little more zing and freshness to it.  The acidity is lacking and the more I tried it, some green bean and asparagus notes came through.  And not in a good ‘Marsanne/Rousanne’ way, more of a bland ‘canned, soggy asparagus’ kinda way.  The lemon/lime flavours prevail, but  barely.  I don’t think oxygen is a good friend to this wine.

My wife suggested that it could be improved by making a White Sangria out of it.  I’d certainly have to agree that adding some fresh berries, peaches, fresh-squeezed lime, sparkling water, ice cubes and maybe even a splash of brandy or Calvados certainly couldn’t make it worse…