Wegman’s Chardonnay
🍷 Blind Chardonnay Tasting — The Wedding Wine Tasting
Lynn & Scott | Top of the Ridge Cabin, Slaty Fork, West Virginia
With Ryan and Kimberly’s wedding only two weeks away, Lynn and Scott sat overlooking the West Virginia mountains at Top of the Ridge Cabin to answer an important question: Which Chardonnay should be served at the wedding? 🥂💍
Four California Chardonnays from Wegmans, all priced between about $13 and $17, were tasted completely blind. There was also a wildcard: Butter Chardonnay, winner of a previous Whole Foods blind tasting, was secretly somewhere in the lineup.
🍇 The Varietal — Chardonnay
Chardonnay is one of the world's most versatile white-wine grapes because its personality is shaped enormously by climate and winemaking technique.
🍏 Cooler-climate Chardonnay tends toward green apple, pear, lemon, lime, citrus and mineral notes, usually with brighter acidity.
🍑 Warmer-climate Chardonnay can become fuller and riper, showing peach, melon, pineapple, mango and other tropical-fruit flavors.
🪵 Oak aging can add vanilla, toast, baking spice and a creamy texture, while malolactic fermentation can produce the famous buttery character associated with many California Chardonnays.
✨ Unoaked or lightly oaked Chardonnay retains more fresh fruit and acidity and can come across as crisp, bright and refreshing.
That distinction was particularly important in this tasting because Lynn readily admits she isn't traditionally a Chardonnay drinker. She prefers the crisp, tart character of Sauvignon Blanc and specifically wanted to avoid the heavy, buttery style of Chardonnay.
🌎 California & Sonoma Chardonnay
California Chardonnay encompasses many different climates, so styles range from rich, tropical and heavily oaked to surprisingly crisp and citrus-driven. Coastal influence in places such as Sonoma can preserve acidity while still allowing ripe fruit development.
The most geographically specific wine in this tasting was Rodney Strong's Chalk Hill Chardonnay. Chalk Hill's combination of ocean fog and volcanic soils is associated with crisp citrus and mineral tones, floral notes and baked apple. Rodney Strong actually planted Chardonnay there in 1965, well before Chalk Hill became an official AVA in 1983.
And that combination of California fruit + refreshing acidity + restrained creaminess ended up being exactly what Lynn and Scott gravitated toward.
🥂 Wine #1 — Rodney Strong Chalk Hill Chardonnay 2023
🍷 Wine: Rodney Strong Chalk Hill Chardonnay
📅 Vintage: 2023
📍 AVA: Chalk Hill, Sonoma County, California
🏡 Winery: Rodney Strong Vineyards — Healdsburg, California, USA
🛒 Purchased: Wegmans
💵 Price: $15.99
⭐ Scott: 16/20
⭐ Lynn: 17/20
🏆 Combined: 33/40 — Tied for 1st
Rodney Strong's winery is in Healdsburg, and its technical sheet confirms this is 100% Chardonnay from the Chalk Hill appellation, aged 12 months in French oak, 35% new.
👃 Aromas
Right away, Wine #1 presented as clean and clear. Lynn and Scott found an unexpectedly broad collection of aromas:
🍏 Green apple
🍐 Pear
🍑 Peach
🍋 Lemon
🍉 A subtle savory watermelon note
Importantly for Lynn, there wasn't an obvious vanilla-heavy aroma.
👅 Taste
This wine immediately distinguished itself through crispness and acidity.
Lemon and tart apple came through strongly, producing a bright sensation that Scott compared to the refreshing feeling of lemonade—not that the wine actually tasted like lemonade.
The flavors also lingered.
“It stays in your mouth.”
The surprise came toward the finish, where a little buttery Chardonnay character appeared—but gently.
Instead of overwhelming the fruit, the butter came across as a soft aftertaste, giving the wine some Chardonnay richness without burying the acidity.
Interestingly, Rodney Strong's own notes describe golden apple, pear, vanilla, creamy oak and mineral-laced acidity—quite consistent with what Lynn and Scott discovered blind.
🛒 Buy Again?
Scott: YES — Party Wine 🎉
Scott would confidently bring this to a party as something he considered genuinely good wine.
Lynn: YES — Party Wine 🎉
This matched Lynn's personal preference extremely well because of its strong tartness and freshness.
Overall: ⭐ 33/40
🥂 Wine #2 — Custard Chardonnay 2022
🍷 Wine: Custard Chardonnay
📅 Vintage: 2022
📍 Region: California
🏡 Producer/Bottler: Don Sebastiani & Sons — California
🛒 Purchased: Wegmans
💵 Shelf Price: $16.99
🏷️ Sale Price: $14.99
🍾 Alcohol: 14.5%
⭐ Scott: 12/20
⭐ Lynn: 15/20
🏆 Combined: 27/40 — Tied for 3rd
The transcript identifies the wine as being vinted/bottled by Don Sebastiani & Sons and gives Napa, California on the bottle.
👃 Aromas
Wine #2 was visibly a little deeper yellow than Wine #1.
The nose leaned toward:
🍑 Peach
🍐 Pear
🌼 Honeysuckle
🍦 Hint of vanilla
🍏 Apple
There was noticeably less lemon character than Wine #1.
Scott also picked up an unusual aroma that he described as almost plastic-like, which probably contributed to the wine failing to distinguish itself.
👅 Taste
Scott's initial assessment summarized the wine well:
“This would be good table wine… it doesn't stand out.”
There was definite vanilla on the palate, suggesting more traditional Chardonnay character, but it retained enough tart apple acidity to keep Lynn interested.
The biggest weakness was the finish—it simply didn't linger or develop like Wines #1 and #4.
🛒 Buy Again?
Scott: YES — Home Wine 🏠
At 12 points, Scott would buy it to drink casually at home but wouldn't specifically select it to bring to a party.
Lynn: YES — Party Wine 🎉
Lynn liked it considerably more, scoring it 15 and saying she'd be comfortable sharing it with others.
Overall: ⭐ 27/40
🥂 Wine #3 — Butter Chardonnay
🍷 Wine: Butter Chardonnay by JaM Cellars
📅 Vintage: No vintage identified on the bottle during the tasting
📍 Region: California
🏡 Producer: JaM Cellars — California
🛒 Purchased: Wegmans
💵 Price: $12.99
🍾 Alcohol: 14.8%
⭐ Scott: 10/20
⭐ Lynn: 17/20
🏆 Combined: 27/40 — Tied for 3rd
And here was the surprise of the tasting.
Butter had won Lynn and Scott's previous Whole Foods Chardonnay tasting. This time, it tied for last. 😮
The transcript identifies it as cellared and bottled by JaM Cellars in Lodi, California; JaM's current description emphasizes its rich, creamy style, stone fruit, baked lemon and long vanilla finish.
👃 Aromas
Wine #3 was lighter in color and produced:
🍏 Ripe/young apple
🍐 Pear
🍋 Lemon
🍈 Lime
🍬 Candy apple
Lynn and Scott both immediately noticed its tartness.
Scott also thought the wine smelled somewhat higher in alcohol.
👅 Taste
Then came the tasting's most unusual flavor:
Licorice.
Lynn was surprised enough to comment that she couldn't remember ever encountering that flavor in a white wine.
Along with the licorice came tart apple and several other strong flavors. The wine was intense on the sides of the tongue and had a substantial, exceptionally long finish.
And this wine produced the tasting's biggest disagreement.
Lynn liked the combination of tartness and Chardonnay character enough to give it 17 points.
Scott went in the opposite direction, giving it just 10.
🛒 Buy Again?
Scott: NO ❌
At 10 points, this was Scott's only wine of the four that he specifically said he would not buy again.
Lynn: YES — Party Wine 🎉
Lynn gave it 17 and would happily buy it again and bring it to a party.
Overall: ⭐ 27/40
That 7-point scoring gap was easily the largest disagreement between Lynn and Scott.
🥂 Wine #4 — Decoy California Chardonnay 2024
🍷 Wine: Decoy California Chardonnay
📅 Vintage: 2024
📍 Region: California
🏡 Producer: Decoy / Duckhorn portfolio — California, USA
🛒 Purchased: Wegmans
💵 Price: $16.49
⭐ Scott: 15/20
⭐ Lynn: 18/20 — Lynn's #1 Wine
🏆 Combined: 33/40 — Tied for 1st
Decoy's 2024 Chardonnay is 100% Chardonnay. The winery describes ripe tangerine, melon and mango aromas with oak spice, followed by mango, pineapple, vanilla, bright acidity and a round texture.
👃 Aromas
The palest wine of the tasting had a fresh, appealing nose:
🍋 Lemon
🍈 Lemon-lime citrus
🍏 Granny Smith apple
🍐 Pear
Lynn particularly liked the aroma because it suggested exactly the kind of tartness she prefers.
👅 Taste
This became the most interesting Chardonnay of the tasting because it seemed to combine two different Chardonnay personalities.
It entered the mouth like a classic California Chardonnay:
🧈 Soft
🧈 Velvety
🧈 Slightly buttery
But instead of remaining creamy and buttery, the character suddenly shifted.
💥 Citrus exploded through the wine.
Lemon, apple and pear appeared behind the initial softness, replacing the heavy butter sensation with a fresh, energetic finish.
Lynn summed up exactly why the wine worked for her:
“This comes in nice and soft, and then it explodes with the citrus and the lemon, apple, pear.”
Scott's immediate reaction wasn't much different:
“Oh wow. Wow. I like that.”
This was essentially the compromise Lynn had been searching for—a Chardonnay that still tasted like Chardonnay without becoming overwhelmingly buttery.
🛒 Buy Again?
Scott: YES — Party Wine 🎉
Scott scored it 15 and would confidently bring it to a party.
Lynn: YES — Party Wine 🎉
At 18 points, this was Lynn's highest-scoring wine.
Her description captured it perfectly:
“Enter with butter, finish with spark and sparkle.”
Overall: ⭐ 33/40
📊 Final Results
FinishWinePriceLynnScottCombinedBuy Again?🥇 T-1Decoy Chardonnay 2024$16.49181533/40Both: 🎉 Party🥇 T-1Rodney Strong Chalk Hill 2023$15.99171633/40Both: 🎉 Party🥉 T-3Custard Chardonnay 2022$14.99 sale151227/40Lynn: 🎉 / Scott: 🏠🥉 T-3Butter Chardonnay$12.99171027/40Lynn: 🎉 / Scott: ❌
🏆 THE WINNERS — Decoy & Rodney Strong
For the first time, there wasn't one outright winner.
Decoy Chardonnay 2024 and Rodney Strong Chalk Hill Chardonnay 2023 tied at 33/40.
🥇 Lynn's Winner: Decoy Chardonnay 2024 — 18/20
For Lynn, Decoy was the clear winner because it accomplished something the others didn't quite manage: it maintained enough classic Chardonnay character to feel like Chardonnay while delivering the crispness she personally enjoys.
The soft, buttery opening → bright citrus, apple and pear finish gave her the best of both worlds.
🥇 Scott's Winner: Rodney Strong Chalk Hill 2023 — 16/20
Scott's highest score went to Rodney Strong. Its combination of green apple, pear, peach and lemon, crisp acidity, refreshing character and subtle buttery finish made it balanced enough that he'd confidently serve it to other people.
💍 So Which One Should Be the Wedding Chardonnay?
The blind tasting produced a wonderfully inconvenient answer:
Both. 🥂
Rodney Strong — $15.99 and 33 points
Decoy — $16.49 and 33 points
Only 50 cents separated them, both are recognizable California wine labels, both received a Party-level Buy Again from Lynn and Scott, and each won one taster's preference.
Which led to perhaps the best suggestion of the entire tasting:
“Maybe we just split them… get a case of each.” 💍🍷🥂
For a wedding, that's actually a fitting result: Rodney Strong for the brighter, crisper Chardonnay drinker and Decoy for the guest who wants a little more classic Chardonnay softness without an overwhelmingly buttery finish.
