Chardonnay

To write the foreword of Vines & Vision, his new book about Santa Barbara wine, Wine Enthusiast critic Matt Kettmann turned to vintner Rick Sanford. If you ask us, the honor could have gone to no other: Rick planted some of the first vines in Santa Barbara County, which means that every producer there—from cult…

Nine Months. Countless bottles. 246 glowing reviews. The Bradbury Char Char Chardonnay, a luminous white wine from top Russian River Valley sites, is changing the Wine Access charts forever, racking up the type of reviews we normally see for $75+ icons and European stalwarts… and never expect from a value Chardonnay.  But Bradbury bucks the…

Our introduction to the stunning white Burgundy of Domaine André Bonhomme was made by the sommelier at Taillevent, the late Jean-Claude Vrinat’s Michelin three-star restaurant in the 8th arrondissement. This was years ago, and the sommelier, recognizing our bargain hunting instincts, suggested Bonhomme’s golden-hued 1978—a bottle that was still drinking beautifully on our last visit chez…

The Hill of Corton, located in the north of Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune, produces some of the greatest Chardonnays in the world—and they’re priced as such. Because bottles from the hill’s blessed slopes cost $100 easy (and often closer to $200), we’ve long been on the lookout for Chardonnay from the tiny village of Ladoix….

When Burgundy megastars Dominique Lafon and Domaine Leflaive expanded their holdings south to the Mâcon from the Côte de Beaune, it sent a signal to the wider world: The limestone-rich Mâcon is a Burgundy value powerhouse.  But by the time those major players moved in, Château de Messey had been there for years, making stellar…

Designated as a “Top Outstanding Value” by Burghound, the 2017 Domaine Dubreuil-Fontaine Les Crenilles is the kind of fabulous white Burgundy steal that many people will tell you no longer exists. But it’s on our radar, as well as that of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, which called Domaine Dubreuil-Fontaine “one of my favorite domaines in…

Just south of Volnay and Pommard in the Côte de Beaune, Meursault is ground zero for white wine production in the Côte-d’Or. The best sites in Meursault emerge in the western slopes just outside the town, and continue up into steep hillsides, where shallow soils encourage vigor and vines turn out lime-citrus-driven, gorgeous, racy whites. …

Only one thing in the world could make a sip of DuMOL’s golden-hued, naturally rich, balanced, and vibrant Chardonnay any more exhilarating. Three years of anticipation. Three years. That’s how long we’ve been working on an allocation of this Russian River benchmark’s stellar Chardonnay, from the Russian River winery that Wine Spectator has lauded as…

A Wine & Spirits Top 100 Chardonnay for Under-$30 James Suckling took the words right out of our mouths when he wrote: “Simply put, this is one of the best value Australian chardonnays being made,” awarding 94 points. At just $27.99 for this white Burgundy look-alike that won a spot on Wine & Spirits Top…

The name Chateau Montelena has been gilded ever since their Chardonnay took home the top prize at the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting. Mike Grgich—who had emigrated from Croatia and worked under André Tchelistcheff and Robert Mondavi—was the winemaker behind that Chardonnay. Needless to say, its performance made him a star.  Grgich Hills is still…