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EP 893 Supermarket Wine Week – California Chards

Gary Vaynerchuk continues supermarket wine week with 3 California Chardonnay’s.

Wines tasted in this episode:

Smoking Loon ChardonnayCalifornia Chardonnay
Bogle ChardonnayCalifornia Chardonnay
2008 Rombauer Carneros ChardonnayNapa Chardonnay


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luca bercelli

93/100

Lines of the day, all three of them! ‘This wine is too legit to quit’, ‘we may have a highlight reel just of this show’ and ‘It’s Kendall Jackson with fancy clothes on’

Great show, camera goes for a walk with GV, stories of school days, dad getting in the way (Gary looked like at one point he was going to tell him to butt out). It was all happening here and I loved it all

Tags: chardonnay, review, Video, white, wine, wines

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  • Anonymous

    Cause knowledge is power!

  • castello

    1st!

  • NY Pete

    hey hey

  • erikwait

    I've tried the Bogle Chardonnay on more than one occassion, it seems to me one of the most temperature senstive Chards I've ever had – too warm and it is HOT on the back end, too cold and it tastes like water, but just a hair under room temperature (68 degrees) I find it to have a nice mouth feel and loads of tropical characters without any butter or oak.

  • jenna35

    top 5!

  • vinoreviews

    Lately my favorite California Chard has been Fess Parker their 2008 Santa Barbara County chard for $14 bucks is pretty good stuff especially for the price. That said, I go back and forth on California Chard as historically I am not a huge fan of the over oaked butterballs and typically prefer the stuff from Burgundy.

  • Looks good – all easy-to-find labels

  • johnfarrin

    Back on my own time. Top 10

  • castello

    Nice try 😀

  • mattgmann

    I hope something good comes from this.

    If not, try two vines naked chard.

  • What I learned in this episode:

    1. Rombauer is the Tom Jones of Chardonnay
    2. To work at Wine Library TV, you must flunk a foreign language class
    3. Sasha = No fear

    And remember kids…knowing is half the battle.

  • mattgmann

    smoking loon….nooooooo I haven't had the chard, but the other smoking loon wines I've had have been flat discusting.

  • mattgmann

    sqotd: marzapan, generally delicious, but I've had some bad incarnations too

  • mattgmann

    gots to try Eve Chardonnay from Charles Smith. <$15, crisp, full, fairly simple but kinda awesome.

  • mattgmann

    although the alcohol is a little much

  • What?? Rombauer for $24? I can't find it in the Palo Alto area for under $28? Well, not that I seek it out… Agree with Gary that you can find less expensive Chard with same style, such as Cuvaison or Logan by Talbott.
    Wine Spect rated the Bogle 87 points- I've seen it on several restaurant menus under “wine-by-the-glass” section and liked it!
    QOTD: My fav American Chardonnays:
    Kistler
    Peter Michael
    Ramey
    Talbott
    Patz & Hall
    Failla Keefer Ranch
    Cuvaison
    Qupe bien nacido Y block

    Marzipan? Only if it's coated with chocolate. 🙂

  • mattgmann

    more sneak peak please….

  • Wow… same shirt, both sleeves rolled up. As I watched the field trip, I came to the realization that the Wine Library is gargantuan in size(!!!!) and when I make it to the east coast it will warrant a stop. Very fun episode!

    Side QOTD: Marzipan, yes, I have had it and love it, always looking forward to pastries filled with it. I am Dutch and it is featured in the best Dutch pastries (Rondos, etc).

    Real QOTD: Do not drink Chardonnay enough, I prefer Italian and Spanish white varietals a lot! But, Hawkes winery in Sonoma makes a nice Chardonnay.

  • drt999

    QOTD — there are so many other white wines out there, I rarely drink American chards

  • Ditto on smoking loon!

  • castello

    Dunno, rarely drink Cali Chard. Not sure why. I keep trying White Burg and my mouth is pissed at the $50 Poilly Fuisse from Jadot. Like rocks in water. I know, I need to try it with shellfish or something. Trying it again now with a almond butter sandwich. Not bad and cuts through the butter. No fruit in sight though. Refreshing for a hot day. Not so angry now.

  • Randall

    Amen, brother!!

  • Stefan

    2007er Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay

  • mattgmann

    is someone purposely klinking wine bottles in the background to add atmosphere to the show?

  • Randall

    $50?!?! Sucker!!
    🙂

  • Isn't it Four Vines naked chard? (yeah, it's good).

  • Randall

    Not a big fan of ANYTHING S.L. has put out…

  • bobbytiger

    QOTD: My favorite Chardonnay is the Farallion Central Valley CA.
    I use to purchase it at Total Wines at about $9.00 per. It was oakey, and buttery, which I like in my Chards. Unfortunately, they stopped producing about 1 1/2 yrs ago. I have been trying to duplicate the taste of the Farallion, but to date, have been unsuccesful. I will try both the Bogel, and perhaps more importantly, the Smooking Loon, which sounds like it might be a good substitute for me. But,
    even though they are not producing, Farallion is still my favorite. At least in my memory.

  • jenna35

    I loved the field trip…that area is much more crowed with wine compared to the July 10th party. Sasha= awesome. I saw him 2x in my last adventures at WL, next time ill say hi! Got great items for sangria last Friday @ wl!

  • Randall

    Alright… you don’t have to get pissy…
    😉

  • Rshrive

    Hi GV – The best Cali Chard I've had SO FAR… and I haven't had many… is the 2006 C. Donatiello Chardonnay you sell on this site! Got some earlier this year in the $13 price range and thinking about some more as it is your wine of the month, but at around $18 now.

    However, I am a fan of trying widely available and inexpensive supermarket wines, so will try the Bogle chard. The VERY FIRST wine I ever had in my life (not until I was 52!) was Smoking Loon cab… and thank goodness after that experience, I knew there just HAD to be much, much better wines in the world. So I will not be very likely to try their chard.

  • A dumb Rhein king

    lol. You seemed a little peeved at the party in your office 🙂

    SQOTD: No. Never seen it available. I suppose now I'll start seeing it everywhere.

    QOTD: I personally like unoaked Chardonnays. The reason is kind of weird. I drank dirty, dirty, dirty dishwater when I worked at DQ for $$ from my coworkers (maybe a dollar from a couple of people). When I first had an unoaked Chard, the lemon flavor immediately reminded me of that buster cup full of dirty dawn dishsoap water and I hated it. But for some reason, I kept buying them … maybe it was nostalgia.

  • johnfarrin

    QOTD: Just don't drink chardonnay enough (once every three years) to answer this. Sorry

  • mattgmann

    QOTD: american chard? I honestly don't drink them often…. American wise, I really like the charles smith Eve out of Washington. Perhaps because it's not very chard like. Green appley, crisp, no oak.

    But, when the mood strikes for a standard Cali chard that I know will deliver, I just dish out the extra $ for Far Niente. It's not something I like all the time, but about once a year I'm in the mood, or I know it will deliver for guests palates. I honestly don't know enough about cali chards to seek a value wine, so in the rare occasion I buy one, I normally buy taste insurance in the form of buying a more expensive wine.

  • winephix

    Not a big white wine drinker, but on occasion, i'll pop a bottle for dinner if red just doesn't fit (i'm looking at you, steamed clams) my favs:

    1) Gainey “Limited Select” Chardonnay – Santa Ynez – can't got wrong, works every time, great balance of fresh fruits and a little oak! The Limited Select is harder to find but their “white” label is pretty good too and a good value.

    2) Frank Family “Napa” Chardonnay – It's a butter stick, might as well call it, “Frank Family Butter-churned Chardonnay”, but it gets me every time, i don't know why?

    3) Kistler – thanks Lisa S, forgot about this one, any of the Kistler whites, there seem to be about twenty, are good!

  • kbartj

    Great show. I have to admit, my wife and I are supermarket (grocery store) California Chardonnay drinkers. My usual is Acacia, usually 9.50 bones, lighter than the Rombauer, a little more interesting than the Smoking Loon. I'm going to the store now….going to make my wife taste all 3 from today's episode, + Acacia…..PAPERBAGGED.
    Thanks Gary

  • Leeinsb

    Four Vine Naked Chard all day long

  • winecrazy

    Homey!!!! Great show. I like the interactiveness and the roaming around WL. Nice!!! You need to hit the basement next time.

    QOTD. Kistler….gotta love Kistler..!!!!!

  • castello

    Gary seems to get the best prices on the planet. Even shipped cross country. It's 30 bones at KandL and we're right down the road from Rombauer.?
    I got some great chocolate coated marzipan at the German store in Redwood City and some decent German wine and beer.

  • WineEventsUSA

    What do I like in CA Chard? low price, go with Four Vines Naked, and the new low end Pine Ridge unoaked chard for $15, excellent…… for expensive, Buttery, have to say my two favorites are Talbot Sleepy Hollow Vineyard and Newton Unfiltered Chard……..

  • Interesting that the Bogle is $7. It's $20-22 in this market (Vancouver, BC), and the dollars are pretty much even these days.
    I had a very similar experience to you in high school and college with Spanish. Endless Fs and INCs – it was always the course that got left out/behind when I was busy with other stuff.
    One September, the same university prof I seemed to get every year was taking attendance on the first day and when she got to my name she said “Welcome Home!”

  • This was a great, great show. Side question: No, I've never had marzipan at least what I can remember.

    Bogle really makes some good wines for the price. I think you hit all of them on the head from what I can remember.

    QOTD: Good one, easy if it's Australia (Devil's Lair) but California? I'll go with Girard, Far Niente and should I even mention it, Buehler. 🙂

    Cheers!

  • QOTD: I like a lot of different California chardonnays, but I've always had a soft spot for Saintsbury

  • That's a good Chard.

  • Mad Hatter

    Gary,

    That was one the best episodes in WLTV history. It felt like WLTV from 2 years ago with the spontaneity, Brandon, and best of all Sasha. Also, the value and “supermarket” wine reviews are great! Keep up the amazing work!

  • You're welcome.. just wish I could afford to drink Kistler more often!
    I've heard that the Frank Family Napa Chard is good… didn't know it was a butter bomb. Will have to try it anyway. 🙂

  • You're right..we are down the road from Rombauer! how does he (Gary) do it? Will look for German store in RWC. Thx.

  • lawrenceleichtman

    Chaotic episode what with the whole German class thing. I like very few American chardonnays as too many of them have the whole malolactic oak issues going. Even inexpensive French chardonnays are better to me and often cost 1/2 what they do from California. My wife likes Ramey and that juice is expensive!!!

  • Marianne

    Favorite American chardonnays we've enjoyed lately include Chateau Ste. Michelle Canoe Ridge, Luli, Hess Su'skol Vineyard, Chalk Hill, and our favorite, Rombauer Carneros (which we served at our daughter's wedding last November, along with Rombauer Cabernet and Shramsberg Cremant).

  • NeilMc

    Who hasn't tried marzipan? It's just sugar and almond paste.

    QOTD: We don't usually drink Cali Chard but if I had to go there (WLTV is a “safe zone”) it would probably be Mer Soleil Silver un-oaked. Granted my palate has changed thru the years – we served KJ VR Chard at our wedding. Somewhere in the last decade I had enough of that style and prefer ABC (Anything But Chardonnay). I'd rather have a Sauvignon Blanc instead.

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