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Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $8.94
On the nose, bright citrus aromas are accented by fresh meringue with a hint of vanilla. On the palate, enjoy the...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $18.62 $19.60
12 bottles: $15.83
A bold take on a California classic; flavors of peach, pear, vanilla and crème brûlée; partial bourbon barrel...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $16.71 $17.59
12 bottles: $12.35
There's more than meets the eye when it comes to our Chardonnay. A bright twist of lime unfolds into a silky caramel...
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $16.71 $17.59
12 bottles: $10.45
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.87 $15.41
12 bottles: $11.52
A deft touch with oak gives this medium- to full-bodied wine spicy complexity. It ranges from a toasted baguette...
WE
91
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.87 $15.41
12 bottles: $11.52
Medium, slightly round entry balanced by firm acid backbone. Oak well integrated. Uniform across palate with a tinge...
Case only
White
750ml - Case of 12
Bottle: $11.52
This wine represents the best of grapes grown in Monterey County. Our Chardonnay exudes flavors with grace and...
White
750ml
Bottle: $22.08
A straightforward white, with fruit cocktail flavors and a short finish. Drink now. 6,000 cases made.
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $13.43
12 bottles: $12.76
Pour a glass and you’ll discover a brilliant golden liquid overflowing with aromas of crisp citrus, green apple,...
White
750ml
Bottle: $39.94
12 bottles: $39.14
Musky apricot pit, peach and spicy vanillin oak on the nose. Densely packed but quite suave and fine-grained in spite...
12 FREE
VM
93
JD
91
White
750ml
Bottle: $34.69
12 bottles: $34.00
Bright straw-yellow. Rather wild scents of peach pit, strawberry, lime peel, hazelnut and musky lees. Rich and dense...
12 FREE
VM
92
WE
91
White
750ml
Bottle: $47.94
12 bottles: $46.98
A delicate bouquet of white tea, orange blossom and toasted almond build into captivating aromas. Opening with...
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White
750ml
Bottle: $16.63 $18.48
12 bottles: $14.25
Fields of exuberant yellow straw come to mind when describing this chardonnay’s color. On the nose, a bouquet of...
White
750ml
Bottle: $23.94
12 bottles: $22.13
Bright and citrusy with a lemon-rind scent and broader, more apple like flavors, this wine’s texture, with its...
W&S
91
White
750ml
Bottle: $43.94
6 bottles: $43.06
Grapefruit pith, flint, roasted almonds and toasted lemons here. It’s medium-bodied, flinty and gently toasty with...
12 FREE
JS
92
WS
91
Sale
Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $40.95 $46.80
The 2017 Chardonnay Sangiacomo Vineyards opens with aromas of lemon meringue, popcorn, banana chip and stone fruits...
WA
89
WS
88
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $19.43 $21.59
12 bottles: $17.80
With a pale silver straw appearance, the 2021 Chardonnay Alexander Valley has soft, fragrant aromas of white peach,...
JD
89
Instore only
White
5.0Ltr
Bottle: $19.94
Dry white wine with flavors of apple and pear. A crisp wine with a clean finish. Semi-dry and medium-bodied.
Sale
White
750ml
Bottle: $39.84 $44.00
The color of this wine is best described as pale straw with a slight tint of emerald green. The nose opens as a...
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Rapid Ship
White
750ml
Bottle: $24.94 $35.94
Moving to the four Chardonnays I was able to taste, the 2018 Chardonnay Sonoma Coast reveals a light gold color as...
12 FREE
JD
92
WA
90

Chardonnay Melon de Bourgogne Pinot Blanc United States

Of all the white wine grape varietals, surely the one which has spread the furthest and is most widely appreciated is the Chardonnay. This green skinned grape is now grown all over the Old and New Worlds, from New Zealand to the Americas, from England to Chile, and is one of the first varietals people think of when considering white wine grapes. Perhaps this is because of its huge popularity which reached a peak in the 1990s, thanks to new technologies combining with traditional methods to bring the very best features out of the Chardonnay grape, and allow its unique qualities to shine through. Most fine Chardonnay wines use a process known as malolactic fermentation, wherein the malic acids in the grape juice are converted to lactic acids, allowing a creamier, buttery nature to come forward in the wine. No grape varietal is better suited to this process than Chardonnay, which manages to balance these silky, creamy notes with fresh white fruit flavors beautifully.

One of the more unusual French grape varietals, Melon de Bourgogne has been grown in and around the Loire Valley for several hundred years. In fact, this grape was first planted in the Loire region of Pays Nantais back in the mid 17th century, after a devastating frost decimated most of the red grapes which were typical in the area. The winemakers of Pays Nantais were keen to cultivate vines which were hardy, high yielding, and capable of surviving another such frost, and so turned their attention to Melon de Bourgogne for this very reason. The native home of the varietal is actually in Burgundy, where it is still grown to a lesser extent.


Because Melon de Bourgogne produces naturally heavy yields, the vintners of Pays Nantais go to great lengths to reduce the amount of fruit the vines bear. This allows the finest characteristics of the grape to come forward, and also opens up the opportunity for it to express the wonderful granite and schist soils in which the vines are grown. Melon de Bourgogne is a minerally white wine grape varietal, with a very subtle set of fruit flavors. It is prized for its freshness and brightness, and is seeing a revival in the twenty first century as an excellent wine for pairing with a wide range of foods.

Pinot Blanc is a popular white grape varietal most commonly associated with the beautiful French region of Alsace, but which is also grown across Central Europe and Italy. In Germany and Austria it is known as Weisseburgunder, in Italy it is called Pinot Bianco, and is one of the key varietals in the alpine regions of Alto Adige. Pinot Blanc is the main white grape varietal in Alsace, where it is prized for its ability to beautifully express the fine terroir on which it is grown, and it is used to produce exceptional single varietal wines, as well as blended wine such as Edelzwicker. Pinot Blanc is also a key component in this part of France’s signature sparkling wine, Cremant d’Alsace.


The wines made from Pinot Blanc are typically medium to light bodied, but they possess a remarkable freshness and clean character, which reminds us of the cool, green hillsides of their homeland. Apple, honey and biscuity, yeasty flavors are typical in fine Pinot Blanc wines, as well as a good level of minerality, making it a popular choice for those looking to pair a fine white wine with a wide range of foods. Although it is almost never oaked in Alsace, Italian vintners have a tendency to age Pinot Bianco in oak barrels, adding an extra dimension to this wonderful varietal.

Of all the New World wine countries, perhaps the one which has demonstrated the most flair for producing high quality wines - using a combination of traditional and forward-thinking contemporary methods - has been the United States of America. For the past couple of centuries, the United States has set about transforming much of its suitable land into vast vineyards, capable of supporting a wide variety of world-class grape varietals which thrive on both the Atlantic and the Pacific coastlines. Of course, we immediately think of sun-drenched California in regards to American wines, with its enormous vineyards responsible for the New World's finest examples of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based wines, but many other states have taken to viticulture in a big way, with impressive results. Oregon, Washington State and New York have all developed sophisticated and technologically advanced wine cultures of their own, and the output of U.S wineries is increasing each year as more and more people are converted to their produce.