$16 vs $55 Chardonnay

Hey, what's up? It's Madeline. I am a certified sommelier and co-founder of WinePolly.com where we learn by drinking. Tonight we've got Chardonnay. You either love it or you hate it. Do leave a message below if you're a lover of Chardonnay and especially if you work in the business and you still love this grape. So this grape is madness. It can be so many things and it grows in so many places but it doesn't necessarily grow in so many places well. I have with me here tonight two California Chardonnays from two different regions that I'd like to compare and talk to you a little bit more about Chardonnay and where it grows best. Let's get tasting. So this wine right here is this bottle right here and this wine right here goes to this bottle right here. This is Dutton Goldfields Chardonnay from Rude Vineyard. It's the 2016 vintage. It's from Green Valley in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma. People love this spot for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The next wine is called Phantom Chardonnay, the 2017 vintage. It's from Bogle Vineyards. This is a large producer but they're an independent producer and my gosh they have over 1,900 acres of grapes. In my opinion they do like to focus on quality here so it'll be exciting to taste this wine. Price-wise this dog right here cost $55 and this guy right here costs only 16 bucks. Whoa majorly different prices. First wine I'm gonna try is the Phantom from Bogle Vineyards. So it's a multi-regional blend from California. Proletariat Chardonnay. Smells like baked apples, brown bread, and a little bit of like pineapple sauce, like baked, like cooked pineapple sauce. Give it a taste. It actually has pretty decent acidity. When I think of a large producer making Chardonnay, I'm usually, and especially buttery Chardonnay, I'm usually like oh no please no thank you. But this has pretty good acidity. Finish is, has a little more of those dried sort of raisiny flavors. So it's definitely on the like baked fruit side. They're definitely picking very very ripe grapes that they're making into this Chardonnay wine. And yes it's buttery. Has sort of this caramelly creme brulee finish on my palate that is still on my palate. For people who like rich and infatuating Chardonnays, I'd say for $16 it's a great value. For people who love Burgundy, this is not, this is not your boat baby. Get on the next boat. Next wine. This is the Dutton Goldfield. This is from Russian River Valley. Let's see how we do. $55 bottle of Chardonnay. Fancy. Right away very different on the nose. I get more of the citrus notes, sort of like pretty, sort of lemon peel, yellow apple. And there's a little bit of creaminess, almost like a lemon curd. Like you're having a lemon curd yogurt. Really got to stick my nose in there to get a sniff. Wow. This wine tastes much more acidic. It has a much longer tingly finish. It's still tingling. Hangs out enough on your palate that the, the heaviness in the back of the palate that we get from the malolactic fermentation, that's the stuff that makes your wine taste buttery. That is less present. This one has a lot more of the right things in the right places on my palate. So I'd say quality wise, it does seem to like appeal to my sense of balance in tasting wine. What's interesting about these two wines and what I found to be so fascinating is the pH of this wine and the pH of this wine are very, very close. This is 3.42 and this one's 3.45 pH. So they're very similar in terms of what kind of number they're shooting for. And they're both aged in French oak. They both use Lee's stirring. They both have malolactic fermentation. The thing that makes them so different than each other is this guy over here. This phantom bottle is using much riper grapes and that's what's making those pineapple-y kind of notes on the palate. Whereas these guys are using fresher styled grapes. They're, they're less sweet coming into the winery which is why it's a little lower alcohol. And that's what's producing these sort of fresh fruit, apple flavors and the lemon citrus notes that I'm getting. If you're a Burgundy fan, this is what we all want to know. What's the best taste like? If you're a Burgundy fan, you're gonna lean towards this Dutton Goldfield. Like, hands down. It's much more your style. I would say body wise, it's still bigger and richer than a lot of Burgundy wines. But I'd say for a Chardonnay lover, these kind of both hit the marks in a lot of ways. So, that's buttery Chardonnay tasting. What do you want me to taste next? How are you doing tonight? All of that stuff. Anyway, until next time, this is Madeline. Peace out!