Friday, December 5, 2008

Chardonnay...(Oct 30th, 2008)

Good Evening...

My apologies for the lack of activity over the last little while. Ellen and I have just returned from three weeks in California. We drove down the Oregon and northern California coast to attend the Elevate Film Festival in Los Angeles, which was an incredible experience. On our way back we had a week of meetings in Ojai, and then drove up through the wine country of Santa Barbara, Paso Robles and Napa. Along the way we had a great visit with dear friends and enjoyed a fabulous bottle (or two) of Turley Zinfandel (Thanks Chris and Sharon). More on the Zin in a subsequent note...The whole trip was a thoroughly memorable experience...
So, on to the wines...It is a bit of an international trio, and a full range of prices...All of these have been approved by my resident chardonnay critic. Please see some additional remarks under each label.

CONO SUR CHARDONNAY 2007, CHILE

Price: $14.50

UPC: 7804320242699

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Excellent finesse, light, zesty and killer value...This is a vineyard in transition to organic agriculture, which will please many our organically minded recipients.


RODNEY STRONG CHARDONNAY CHALK HILL 2006, SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

Price: $23 (over my limit, but well worth it)

UPC: 087512923256

Score: 91/100

Remarks: Consistent and good value, and delicious. It made it into the Wine Access magazines International Value Wine Awards (IVWA) for the best wines sold in Canada under $25. During our tour of California, I noticed that this was readily available...for all of our US friends.


MISSION HILL CHARDONNAY RESERVE 2006, OKANAGAN VALLEY

Price: $20

UPC: 00776545995780

Score: 88/100

Remarks: Buttery, tangerine, pineapple, vanilla, grapefruit rind flavours. A great BC Chardonnay that is readily available.


I really enjoy receiving comments and feedback from you folks...so keep them coming.
If you know of anyone who would like to be included, just let me know and I can add them. The more the merrier...
Enjoy...
Keith
Ellen in Calistoga

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