Brett happens

Aconcagua 2010, Signos de Origen, Casablanca Valley, Emiliana Organic Vineyards ($22.25, 11639037)
A blend of organically farmed Chardonnay (65%), Viognier (20%), Marsanne (11%) and Roussanne (4%) aged in French oak barrels for 10 months.
Mango and pineapple custard. Clean, sweet fruit with a round-bordering-on-heavy texture only partly relieved by the underlying acidity. Long but not hot, despite the high alcohol (14.9%). Not much else going on. Unobjectionable but a bit blowsy and cloying. (Buy again? No.)

Chardonnay 2008, Red Claw, Mornington Peninsula, Yabby Lake ($35.25, 11640492)
Whole bunch-pressed Chardonnay fermented in French oak and aged on its lees for ten months. Mornington Peninsula is a cool-climate region about 50 km southwest of Melbourne in Australia’s Victoria state. The Yabby Lake winery is moving toward organic farming methods.
Faint tropical fruit cocktail with some minerals and a sour note. Clean and relatively complex, the flavours tending to lemon and minerals. Winey and a tad alcoholic (14%) but with a freshening acidity. Long, tangy finish. (Buy again? Not when I can get a 1er cru Chablis for the same price.)

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009, Prestige, Simon Alexandre ($30.50, 11600888)
A recent arrival not from the Cellier release. Made by Domaine de la Présidente, not that you’ll find any mention of it on their website. A blend of Grenache Blanc (50%), Clairette (20%), Roussanne (20%) and Bourboulenc (10%) from 25-year-old vines. Destemmed and cold macerated before being given a long, cool fermentation. I’d originally sampled this from a bottle that had been open for several hours and found it a tasty and even classy southern Rhône white that delivered good QPR, hence my decision to include it in a tasting.
Perfumy, spicy nose with cut apple, sour mash and even medicinal scents. On the palate, heavy, alcoholic (14%), chalky and not very flavourful, the shy fruit candied. “A wine that even its mother couldn’t love.” And yet after a half-hour in the glass, it had transformed into what I remembered: white flowers, yellow fruit and minerals on the elegant nose; supple, if unctuous, and nicely balanced on the palate with a long, elegant finish. The taster who took the tail end home with him reports that the wine was even better the next day. (Buy again? Yes.)