Edna Valley 2004 Chardonnay, Paragon, San Luis Obispo County

I realized after two nights of drinking red wines with what was clearly white wine affair, I needed to get some more whites in my wine rack. I went out and picked up some whites that were all under $10.00 and this was one of them. We enjoyed it with some chicken pasta a couple of nights ago. Try this recipe!

Color: Pale-straw yellow, still looks vibrant, long thin legs showing its high, 14% alcohol.
Nose: Some melon and peach aromas are pilfering through the intense coconut, vanilla and American oak.
Palate: The wine sits nice on the front palate and then gets hot and spicy on the way down from the high alcohol. It clearly has gone through malo-lactic fermentation because of the strong diacetyl, buttery character but the acidity is still sharp helping the wine to linger for a while.
Overall: A nice wine, normally $12.99 here in GA, I think it is a decent buy on sale under $10.00. The alcohol makes it a bit hot and makes it less food friendly than I would like but it has a good amount of buttery oak which makes it appealing to most California Chardonnay consumers. The above recipe should pair nicely though. I give it a B-