An end to Californian Chardonnay

It usually starts off innocently enough at a California winery tasting room, “Here, try our Chardonnay.” I shake my head in a vigorous, whiplash-inducing “no” to which the tasting room employee invariably says, “It’s good, not like your typical Chardonnay.” At this point, my mind always says, “Bullshit. You lie. It’s all the same…”, but then I go and taste it anyways only to find that yes, it is yet another over-oaked, brash insult to this otherwise majestic grape. Now, not everything is as dreadful and tree-filled as Clos du […]