The Wine Sisters and Their Surprisingly Inexpensive California Chardonnay

This past week, I had the pleasure of meeting the McBride sisters. We had lunch and sampled their wines, and I was very satisfied with their Truvée Chardonnay, which is drinking well.

It’s a 2014, made from grapes grown in Chalone, Edna Valley, and Monterey County. We were eating seafood (langoustines and bass), and I appreciated the wine’s vivaciousness. Its oak flavor profile is barely perceptible, which is, in my book, a good thing, but the floral notes in the glass worked well with the food, as did the acidity. New and neutral French oak barrels were used, while a balance of the wine was fermented in stainless steel.

This is a crisp and refreshing wine, and I opened another bottle this past weekend and served it with shrimp, and was again pleased with the way it accentuated and elevated the crustaceans (I prepared them with a bit of garlic and olive oil, simply.) When asked to describe the wine, my dining companions used words including “peach,” “stone fruit,” and “citrus,” all apt.

When I first tasted this wine at lunch, I had no idea how much it sold for, and when I discovered that it can be bought for $15.99 i was surprised. It is a great value, and it’s available at a large number of merchants around the nation, including Kroger and Randalls.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.