Continuing to bottom feed at TraderJoe's, I tried Sat:
1. BigChurn Chard Calif (14.5%) BigChurn/Napa 2015: Med.dark gold color; very strong buttery/vanilla/oak light melony/lemony/Chard/celery rather simple nose; very soft/fat slight tangy/bitter very strong buttery/vanilla/Chard light melony/Chard/lemony rather simple flavor; soft/fat/porky rather short very buttery/vanilla/oak light melony/Chard/lemony slightly bitter finish; a bit on the simple/confected side of Chard w/ oak as advertised; certainly a step above the CharlesShaw Calif Chard; not unfairly priced at $7.00 (TJ)
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. I am such a weakling. When I saw the back label on this wine "Smooth & rich as fresh churned cream, this full-flavored & sumptuous Chard takes the classic oaky-buttery profile to new heights of perfection", I knew I just had to try it to see just how low a Calif Chard could sink.
Well...to tell the truth...not as low as I expected. It spoke of Chard varietal character and certainly had a lot of oak, but there was no di-acetyl obvious in it. But I'd had Chards that had shown much more oak. I was not nearly as boring as the 2$Chuck Chard and I thought it was better than the Butter Chard of JaM Cllrs (John & Michelle ??, 2'nd generation NapaVlly vintners) that sells for $16. I was able to choke down about 2 glasses afore I admitted defeat.
The Napa address suggests that this concoction came from FredFranzia. I'm pretty sure the wine never saw the inside of an oak barrel.
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2. This is called "taking one for the team". Thank you...you're welcome.
Tom