Please excuse my tardiness. International Chardonnay Day was on May 27. There was a kerfuffle. However, I know this is one holiday people will be celebrating all year long.
My research team worked overtime gathering information for this article. Fourteen bottles gave up their cork or screw top. There were quite a few bottles priced over $30, so the competition was stiff. There are three bottles I couldn’t resist sharing.
The conversation kept circling back to two of the $14.99 bottles of chardonnay no matter how much higher in price or prestigious the name of the other bottles.
Ternion, The Power of Three, is a blend of grapes from Sonoma, Monterey, and Santa Barbara counties in California. This wine exudes a lot of tropical and pineapple flavors. It's the perfect party wine. The flavor profile is so well balanced that it would please fans of oaked or non-oaked chardonnay. This was great with Chef Beau Schmidt’s clementine shrimp as slices of grilled pork tenderloin. Fourteen ninety nine never tasted so fine!
Hope Estate chardonnay comes from down under in Australia’s Hunter Valley. This wine was another great $14.99 bottle that paired perfectly with white figs. Beau’s clementine shrimp was fantastic with this Aussie white that showed flavors of creme brulee and pineapple. If you are specifically looking for a tasty, affordable, screw-top chardonnay, then look no further.
Freemark Abbey’s Napa chardonnay was more that double the price of the previous two winners, but worth every penny. It’s an incredible food wine as it went well with mushroom risotto, pork tenderloin, clementine shrimp, and my favorite Carmona Olive mix.
This was another well balanced wine that would please chardonnay fans no matter which side of the oaky fence they stand. The thing I found to be most impressive was that the wine still tasted amazing even after the bottle had been open for four days. This wine isn’t widely available, but can be ordered from any shop that deals with Southern Glazer Wine and Spirits. It is worth the extra effort. Trust me.
