These Are Golden Days for Chardonnay Lovers

Considering the amount of criticism California Chardonnays are drawing these days from wine insiders, you’d think no one is buying them. But the people who are drink wine, rather than collect it. And these are bountiful times for the faithful.

Put simply, there is Chardonnay everywhere and at good prices. Demand for the wine is high, but the supply is even higher, due to tremendous overplanting in California and the tendency of grape growers to overcrop the grape in the vineyard.

The critics have a point: All too often the result of this ocean of Chardonnay juice is ordinary wine. But at the same time, there are reasons to cheer.

The first is the increased supply of Chardonnay from California’s Central Coast. Stretching from Monterey’s Santa Lucia Highlands to the Arroyo Grande Valley and Santa Barbara County, the Central Coast has become a major force in growing the best Chardonnay grapes--at both ends of the price spectrum.

Further, the ocean of Chardonnay means that there are bargains to be had. Virtually every Chardonnay tasting I hold reveals new wines that show how much quality you can get for the money. The Chardonnays below from Hogue Cellars and Monterra sell for less than $10, making them bargains unmatched in the wine world.

I am also encouraged by the emergence of a sense of balance, even in some of the high-ripeness, high-intensity Chardonnays. Producers such as Hobbs, Ojai, Talley, Merryvale and Cambria join Morgan, Farrell and Marimar Torres in understanding that Chardonnay is not about intensity alone.

* 2000 Acacia Winery, Carneros, $18. This is very good wine, relatively deep, extremely rich and somewhat complex, and at a very fair price. In fact, it came very close to earning a second star. It favors oak more than fruit, yet it is tasty and balanced.

* 1999 Au Bon Climat “Bien Nacido, Rancho Vinedos and Los Alamos Vineyards,” Santa Barbara County, $18. I sometimes think Au Bon Climat’s Jim Clendenen is the hardest winemaker in California to pigeonhole. He makes some of the best wines around and some of the worst. He has a bunch of Chardonnays in this vintage and here, in his least expensive, has come up with a balanced, brisk, fairly rich wine that is good now but can be put aside for another year or two while it gains a smoother, softer side.

** 1999 Chateau Souverain “Winemaker’s Reserve,” Russian River Valley, $22. This multifaceted, keenly balanced wine reaches for greatness with complex flavors that range from butterscotch to roasted hazelnuts. This is unlike the usual Chardonnay, which seems to focus on very ripe and concentrated fruit, and it may not be a wine for all palates or to serve with most foods. But it was good with a bean, chorizo and chicken stew.

$ 1999 Hogue Cellars, Columbia Valley, $9. This straightforward, blossom-tinged effort is centered on bright, somewhat simple, very easy-to-like citrusy fruit in nose and mouth. Very few inexpensive Chardonnays will taste better than this one.

$* 2000 Monterra, Monterey, $8. I can scarcely say enough about the Hogue at its price, yet here is a wine that is even better--and even cheaper. It is clean, fruity and quietly toasty, with a hint of the dried-leaf terroir that shows up in some Monterey County Chardonnays. It was in two tastings and showed better than a number of more expensive wines both times. For the money, I know of no Chardonnay that matches up to it.

** 1999 Ojai Vineyard “Talley-Rincon Vineyard,” Arroyo Grande Valley, $28. Ojai’s Adam Tolmach is rapidly becoming one of my heroes for the many fine wines he is making. Here he uses fruit from one of California’s most outstanding Chardonnay vineyards to produce another spectacular bottle. The wine offers a happy balance of deep, well-formed fruit, rich oak and roasted grain flavors. Its texture is supple, almost fleshy, but offset by a bright, lively, buoyant edge that gives it vitality and longevity. It shines now but it will get better with another year or two.

** 1999 Talley Vineyards “Rincon Vineyard,” Arroyo Grande Valley, $36. From the same vineyard, and an almost identical wine. If anything, this one is a smidgen richer, but that difference is barely perceptible, and the real difference is that one costs a little more. Both are superb.