Foxglove Central Coast Chardonnay 2009, $12.99

OK. By now, if you've been following either of my blogs for any amount of time, you probably know that I am a big chardonnay fan as far as the non-red, non-sparkly wines go. I know, I don't get it either. But this bottle, which I picked up at Stew Leonard's, has a 91-point rating. That's a pretty high rating for a pretty small price.

For a white wine, this wine is so heavy that it almost, almost forms legs on the glass. Yeah, baby! That's the kind of white I like to drink, heavy. On the nose, I get a sweet, happy aroma, a bouquet of apricot, pineapple & peach. To be more specific, it smells like you took the juice that covers the pineapple rings & mixed it in with canned, artificially-sweetened apricots in that sugary syrup. I can also sense the teensiest scent of a sauvignon blanc in there. It's a tight, complex nose.

This wine tastes exactly how it smells. It doesn't fake you out or pull any punches. What you smell is what you get. And this wine goes down like water. Water. It's smooth, light, and clean. I don't even feel that alcohol-laced tingle on the underside of my tongue or the back of my throat as I swallow. Which is quite a feat, considering the 13.9% alcohol content.

This wine is great: well-priced, easy-drinking, highly-rated, and tastes just damn good. With a respectable alcohol content, to boot! Now, I know that I'm not supposed to pick favorites, but this one is a winner. Go look for it, it's a can't-miss! Find out more at www.varnerwine.com.

Cheers!

Kate