Value Wine: Classic California Chardonnay

Our Value Wine No. 3 is the 2010 Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay from the Central Coast of California. The 2010 K-J Grand Reserve is widely available and should be able to be purchased for $17 or so with careful shopping. This Chard is the definition of smooth, with hints of peach and tangerine and crisp acidity, and just a touch of oak on the finish without straying into the unpleasant area code of over-oaked, buttery domestic Chardonnays. What do the experts think? Wine Enthusiast laid a salty 92 on the 2010 Kendall-Jackson Grand Reserve Chardonnay, naming it as an Editor’s Choice and noting that the 2010 K-J Chard is “a great price for a wine of this distinction.”