This French white is a great choice to serve to people who think they don’t like Chardonnay: Its unoaked flavors are bright, soft and terrifically pure.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Not a lot of Chardonnay grows in France’s Loire Valley, where zippier, lighter whites like Muscadet and Sauvignon Blanc dominate. It’s intriguing to taste what a Loire family like the Chons, who own Domaine de la Jousselinière and have been making wine in the area since 1719, do with this variety. This wine tastes neither like a Burgundy (where Chardonnay is king) nor a California version: It’s fresh, fruit-driven and free of any of the toasty, vanilla-ish flavors that a wine acquires when it has contact with oak. The result of the Loire’s moderate, maritime climate and the Chons’ traditional approach to winemaking (oak barrels came into vogue here only recently) is a round, pretty white with clear fruit flavors.