Looking for the perfect Chardonnay

[TexasWino]

I'm looking for what I would consider the perfect Chardonnay. I've tried virtually everything I can get my hands on within a reasonable price and a few more expensive. Since the last flavor I enjoy in a Chardonnay is fruit, I'm having a hard time. Here is what I'm looking for, in order of importance:

Buttery/oily
Heavy/leggy
Heavy tannins
Vanilla
Smoky
Subtle fruit, preferably pear

I had the Beringer 2002 Napa Private Reserve last night and it had a good finish, similar to what I'm looking for but not quite there and the start had too much of a bite. I prefer something smooth and velvety from beginning to end. Please let me know what you recommend and the associated price. Much thanks!!

[Bucko]

This is a joke, right?

[TexasWino]

Not at all...why would you consider the question a joke?

[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).]

[Innkeeper]

Welcome to Wine Board TexasWino. Try the Chard from Forest Glen.

[robr]

Also try Yellow Tail chard. It's got an oaky finish.

[Bucko]

Buttery/oily -- means malolactic fermentation, which often leads to soft or flabby wines.

Heavy/leggy -- legs have nothing to do with the wine, rather imperfections in the glass itself.

Heavy tannins -- white wines don't have heavy tannins, and even if they did, this is not a desired quality in wine -- balanced tannins are.

Vanilla -- equals oak.

Smoky -- equals oak.

Subtle fruit, preferably pear -- the most desirable component of wine placed last?

Me thinks thou pullest our leg.