Looking for the perfect Chardonnay

[TheEngineer]

While wine lovers know that everyone has different tastes, there are general do's and don't about wine (I mean would you put ketchup on a $150 Wagyu beef steak?).

Some people prefer Chardonnays that express the area where it is from and increasingly fewer people like the type of chardonnay that you describe, commonly called "over-oaked". The overuse of wood is like the overuse of ketchup. In some quantities it may be good but when all you drink is ketchup...well you get the point.

Overuse of wood covers the actual wine so that the only thing you taste is the wood....or the characteristics that you descibed in your list of desires. Some makers, in order to "out oak" its competitors, even put wood chips in the wine so that you got even more wood.

Good luck with your search but you may find it increasingly difficult to find a wine that will suit your needs.... In fact, many wineries now go to significant stretches to make sure you know that their Chadonnay's have no oak in them. Give California Chardonnays may be more to your liking as some tend to do the types of wine you describe.

(BTW, whites do not generally have tannins, only reds do as tannins come from the stem, peel and seeds which are removed when making white wine).

[This message has been edited by TheEngII (edited 09-18-2005).]