Oaked vs Unoaked

Let me start by saying I'm not a huge fan of oaky Chardonnays, the buttery, vanilla that is so typical of big California Chards. I have been hearing a lot about the "new" Napa style of unoaked, steel fermented Chards and have been eagerly anticipating a larger presence of these.

That said, some friends and I wanted to see for ourselves what the big difference is between oaked and unoaked Chards, and also Sauv Blancs (which are muche less frequently fermented in oak). So we gathered together for a blind tasting of 1 oaked chard, 1 unoaked chard, 1 oaked sauv, 1 unoaked sauv. This is what we discovered:

#1: tart, grassy, lemon. We all agreed it was probably the unoaked Sauv Blanc.
#2: vanilla nose, buttery, slight smoke, rounded, smooth, and a nice finish. We all agreed this was probably the oaked Chard.
#3: This 3rd one threw us off. The nose smelled oaky--slightly warm and sweet, and actually it smelled like dank rotten lettuce. We wondered if maybe this is was oaked Sauvignon Blanc smells like. The taste made us question everything: it was well-balanced, citrusy, and rather pleasant. It did not have the vanilla/butter/smoke after taste of an oaked Chard. What was this one? Unoaked Chard? Half of us thought it was the Oaked Sauv, the other half thought it was the unoaked Chard. Weird.
#4: Made us even more confused. Pear and citrus on the nose, effervescent well-rounded and slight acid finish. I really liked this one, it was probably my favorite. Everyone had their own theories. Personally, i thought this was the unoaked Chard. I think the 3rd had more oaky qualities than this last one.

The Verdict:
#1: Girard Sauv Blanc 2007, unoaked
#2: White Oak Chardonnay 2006, oaked
#3: Silver Chardonnay 2007, unoaked (WOW!)
#4: Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc 2007, oaked (DOUBLE WOW!)

The first two were easy, the last two were not so easy. I thought the buttery vanilla of the 3rd was indicative of oaking, and the smooth clean flavor of the 4th was what Chard tasted without oak. I was wrong! The buttery vanilla flavor is simply what this particular Chard tasted like, even without oak. And the oak in the 4th on functioned to smooth out the natural acid vinegar of Sauv Blanc.

I guess maybe I DO like oaked wines.