Question about Aperitif's...

[Innkeeper]

Most (99.99999999999999%) of American Chardonnay I wouldn't buy with my last nickle. The reason is it tastes more like wood than grapes. That which sells under $15 is made this way by submitting the wine to giant tea bags of toasted oak sawdust, or they just let the sawdust filter down through the wine and settle on the bottom.

Most other New World Chardonnay is made the same way. Despite all this, I like chardonnay. Fortunately there are some sane vinters in both Australia and New Zealand that have had success with sales and with me by offering "unwooded" or "unoaked" chardonnay. Also, many of the Maconnaise Wines from Southern Burgundy and most Chablis (that Bucko mentioned) from Northern Burgundy are also oak free.

In sum, an "oakbomb" is a chardonnay (or any other white wine) that tastes more like a forest than a what come out of a vineyard.