These days every winemaker in California seems to be talking about dialing back the use of oak in their Chardonnay. The trouble is, I don’t see very much of this in practice. Okay, some, but the change is pretty minimal.

My suspicion is that the winemakers, or their marketing people, are talking this line because they think it’s what wine writers and sommeliers want to hear, but are shying away from it in practice because their tasting room sales tell them another story. Just a guess.

There is also a growing trend to make unoaked Chardonnay, but many of these are disappointing wines, thin and watery. When you take inferior grapes and remove the camouflage of oak, there’s not much left.

But some, like this week’s Five Star Nick’s Wine of the Week, the Toad Hollow Unoaked Chardonnay 2009 ($15) shine brightly.

Frankie Williams started making wine in 1993 with her husband, Todd, now deceased, and their friend Rodney Strong, then owner of the vineyard that still bears his name.

Frankie explains that “Rodney had some Chardonnay and he suggested to Todd that he do something with those grapes because he had been selling them to a very large producer and he felt like he wasn’t able to see what the grapes were really all about because they being blended.”

“We partnered up with Rodney and made 3000 cases of this Chardonnay and it was Rodney’s idea that we do something a little different. He had spent time in France and enjoyed French style wines, so he said ‘lets do stainless steel, lets not use any oak.’ ”

“So we were ahead of the times, but we found a niche immediately. People loved it.”

And they still do — Williams now makes 60,000 cases of this delightful wine. It’s fresh, alive, clearly focused and brimming over with Chardonnay fruit. And besides, in its homage to Wind In The Willows, the name and label are utterly charming.

+++++

To find this wine near you try www.wine-searcher.com

+++++

Listen to Nick’s WineCast here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download