Enfield Haynes
Liquid Farm White Hills
Cheers
Warren
Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond. Super helpful.
I’m in Nashville, and I think the local Costco might carry the basic Ramey chard. If not, there are a few decent wine shops that are likely to have at least some of the nominees. I’ve always been curious about Arcadian - I’ll see what I find.
Happy holidays, everybody!
If you have the Liquid Farm La Hermana in your market, it should be around $40 and is excellent. Also, look for the Varner El Camino Vineyard for under $25. A real deal.
If you’re willing to go a few bucks over $50, I’d strongly recommend Mount Eden Chardonnay. In my humble opinion, one of the finest chards in all the land. Served a 2011 over Thanksgiving - my brother-in-law, who’s ITB, was amazed at how good it was.
Check out Chasseur.
They make really good wines.
A little higher then $50.
However they have a holiday sale.
Their $60 chard is 30% off.
50% on a case.
The pinots are good too.
Mount Eden of course, but maybe over $50.
Then Mayacamas, Montelena, Ridge Monte Bello (for a few dollars more), or Ridge Estate (for a few dollars less). Rhys is out of the price range and anything available is likely too young.
Basically, if it says ‘Santa Cruz Mountains’ you will almost certainly find what you are looking for.
Dan Kravitz
Since time is an issue, do you have a local shop with a website? Then we could recommend something you could actually find and pick up in time for the weekend.
Great recs.
Super easy for me. Thinking of wines
Arcadian
And the slam dunk for the price would be Matello or Marcus’s other label, Goodfellow.
But I guess you need them for the weekend, you will have to go with something locally sourced, as Wes said.
Jason
Many excellent recommendations here. I agree with Jason and others that Arcadian is excellent. I love the Rhys Chardonnays. Joseph Swan’s Trenton Estate Chard is great but scarce, though I find Rod’s Ritchie and Saralee’s bottlings to be really excellent. His Ritchie is my favorite of any producer. Rochioli’s Estate Chardonnay is a solid bet. I dig the Williams Selyem Allen and Drake Estate bottlings.
There’s really good Chardonnay out there in California. It can get a bad wrap, but there is a ton of delicious juice.
You might want to consider Chalk Hill Chard…or if looking for a bargain priced everyday Chard, give Foxglove a try… From Varner but costing less than their El Camino Vyd chard.
Ridge Estate Chardonnay is truly terrific and can often be found for a bit less than $40. The 2010 is drinking great right now.
Chappellet makes great Chardonnay. Both Napa and Signature (Carneros) are under $50.
The Ridge chardonnay is another excellent choice!
Definitely the Varner.
Lots of great suggestions here - I’ll second Rhys, Littorai, Ramey and Ridge.
The one name I’d add is Ceritas. The Heintz and Porter-Bass are both quite good, and possibly available below $60.
Mount Eden probably my favourite Cal Chard, if you can spring for it. Haven’t tasted Donaine Eden, have had the Edna Valley which is good QPR.
Maybe half and half Domaine Eden and Mount Eden will get you to your budget!
First post here, so my two cents probably isn’t worth much, but I’ve always been a big fan of the Lewis Chards…the Sonoma and Napa both come in right around $50.
My favorite producer for CA Chardonnay is Hansel. Their Chardonnays range from $30-45.
Some of the Talley and Au Bon Climat bottlings should be good options (with a couple years of age, preferably). I’m not as familiar with recently-available vintages, but I’m sure others could chime in.
The Chasseur RRV 2014 is killer.