“After decades of drinking Chardonnays that taste like overripe tropical fruit” soaked in new oak barrels, some wine drinkers have given up on the grape, said Bob Hosmon in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. But I’m not yet ready to join those crying “ABC”—“Anything but Chardonnay.” After all, the Chardonnay-based whites from France’s Burgundy region have none of those heavy flavors. Still, those wines “can be expensive, sometimes very expensive,” so I went looking for more affordable options.
2008 Morgan Metallico Unoaked Chardonnay California, $20
One of “a growing number of California Chardonnays that don’t spend time in new oak barrels,” this wine from Monterey County “tastes of fresh fruit with a crisp finish.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
2007 Mer Soleil Silver Unoaked Chardonnay California, $25
“The way Chardonnay should taste”—like fresh, clean fruit. This vintage from the Santa Lucia Highlands is excellent with seafood, roast chicken, or by itself as an apèritif.
2007 Yarden Odem Vineyard Chardonnay Israel, $18
Produced in the Galilee region, this is a first-rate wine with “hints of fruit and spice.”
-
August 10 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a global plastics problem, GOP enthusiasm over tariffs, and more
-
5 thin-skinned cartoons about shooting the messengerCartoons Artists take on unfavorable weather, a look in the mirror, and more
-
Is Trump's new peacemaking model working in DR Congo?Talking Point Truce brokered by the US president in June is holding, but foundations of a long-term peace have let to be laid
