Buttery Chardonnay?!
Buttery Chardonnay?
I am looking for a really big and buttery Chardonnay (or any white). Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Answers: Chalk Hill is one of my favorites but if you want to spend a little bit of money, my absolut #1 favorite is Far Niente. It is the epitome of "buttery". Happy drinking! Source(s):
25 years on the restaurant and bar business Chalk Hill Chardonnay (Sonoma, CA) makes a good buttery Chard! Kendall-Jackson is like that now. (Which is why I quit drinking it.) About 10 years ago or so the wineries churning out chardonnay started doing barrel aging, which gives it that oaky buttery taste. It's hard to find a clean chardonnay anymore. Virgin Vines (yes, the one apparently owned by Sir Richard Branson) makes a very nice Chard that's also quite reasonable. Should run you about $10. Camelot Chardonnay is also very buttery, and it's not very expensive. But there is definite malolactic fermentation, which is what leads to the buttery taste. As someone above mentioned, the Kendall-Jackson is like that too. Also, Kenwood Chard was pretty buttery last time I had it. In descending order by price:
Rombauer
Mer Soleil
Newton
Belvedere
Toasted Head
Columbia Crest Grand Estates
The buttery flavor you enjoy is due to malolactic (or ML) fermentation malic acid is converted to lactic acid. Malic acid is tart, lactic acid is rich and buttery. Combined with oak aging, it creates the wine you like.
Increasingly, Chardonnay winemakers are going away from ML and oak, but the above wines have it in spades. Be careful of the California Chardonnay. Over the years, they have become very acidy and oaky - the new trend of Chardonnay wine making.
If you want Cali Chard, Far Niente Chard ($55) is probably the best. I also like Pride Char ($50), Rombauer ($35), and Robert Mondavi Canero Chard ($35). If you are going for the cheaper wine, see if the wine stores or grocery stores have some free tasting.
The other source of great buttery chardonnay is French, so you can look for French Chardonnay - rather different style from American, tend to be softer. I honestly can't remember any overly oaked and dry Chardonnay from France before. They tend to be cheaper as well. Kendal Jackson.