On 7/7/07 I hosted a wine tasting party at my brother’s house with about 18 of his friends and neighbors present. The focus was on the ubiquitous California Chardonnays from various regions. We went into some depth discussing and tasting the effects that oak aging has on these wines. They were all of very good quality, some outstanding, but all very different and interesting. I hope everyone learned a bit about the Chardonnays from our state, and about the effects of oak “seasoning”. Although some of the wines had some obvious oak, most of the it was nicely integrated into the wine, and several wines had very little evidence of oak at all. Based on these tastings, California winemakers do seem to be continuing the (welcome) trend of reducing the amount oak in many of California’s Chardonnays. Thanks to all for a very fun evening, and follow the links below for my notes and recommendations based on my (subjective) scores. Please feel free to add your own comments and notes.

FOUR VINES

“Naked”
Santa Barbara Chardonnay
2006

EDNA VALLEY VINEYARD

Paragon Vineyard Chardonnay
Edna Valley AVA
San Luis Obispo County
2005

BABCOCK

Grand Cuvee Chardonnay
Santa Barbara AVA
Santa Barbara County
2006

DOMAINE ALFRED

Califa “Chamisal Vineyard”
Edna Valley AVA
San Luis Obispo County
2002

PESSAGNO

“Lucia Highlands Vineyard”
Santa Lucia Highlands AVA
Monterey County
2005

CAKEBREAD

Napa Valley
Napa Valley AVA
Napa County
2003

HDV

Carneros AVA
Napa County
2004

GARY FARRELL

“Russian River Selection”
Russian River AVA
Sonoma County
2005

KELLER ESTATE

“La Cruz Vineyard”
Sonoma Coast AVA
Sonoma County
2005