Grayson Cellars Chardonnay

California

2018

The 2018 Grayson Chardonnay is brilliantly ripe and shows bright, brisk acidity and good minerality with notes of pineapple and apricot. The palate offers green apple fruit with a crisp finish showing gentle hints of apple pie and vanilla flavors.

About Grayson Cellars

There are fewer family-owned wines from California at this price point available today. Our family’s attention to winemaking quality separate Grayson from the larger, corporate brands that dominate the market. When our family started Grayson Cellars we asked our winemaker to look throughout California’s finest growing regions for the best grapes for Grayson wines. We believe these grape sources combined with nearly 30 years of winemaking experience make Grayson wines some of California’s finest values. Taste the value of Grayson wines yourself and see if you agree.

WineChump Notes

Recently, we’ve been on a bit of a white wine kick. Perhaps it’s the summer, or maybe it’s our penchant for Retail Consulting and Grocery chains in the United States. Dunno.

What we do know is this Chardonnay is a steal at less than $10. We joke that it’s a close second to Meiomi’s Chardonnay (which is perhaps the best other than Rombauer for twice the price). For our less-than-sophisticated palates, we recommend trying this one.

And a note on the smaller wine producers is necessary here. Don’t get us wrong, Constellation and other multi-label brands produce very good wines. But, when you have a family-run producer, like Grayson, it’s worth noting that they’ve done it their way. And, we like it! Look, you can get Fred Franzia’s wine (fermented in concrete vats!) any day. Just go to Trader Joe’s (and, yes, we love Trader Joes!). There’s nothing wrong with today’s version of Two-buck Chuck. But, it ain’t this.

Considering the smaller producer is key when they are making wines that, quite frankly, compete with the big names (like, dare I say, Meiomi?). So, yes, let’s give a nod to Grayson. And, hold your glass up while you say, cheers and well-done!

Find this at Winestore (Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Morrisville) or Total Wine
for less than $10.