Sorry I’m a little to the game here.  I know this wine has been out for a while and a few of you have been asking for a review.  Well, it’s still in stores as we write this so we’re going to get it in after all.

That said, I think this Chardonnay from Sonoma’s Russian River Valley is about on par with year’s past, hitting me perhaps a little less favorable than the 2014 vintage we tasted last year.

But that price tag of $12.99 always gets me.  There just isn’t a lot of Russian River Valley Chardonnay priced this low to compare it to.  For the price, I can say I’m a fan.  It’s not a bad buy, although I’d prefer to pay another $5 and bump up the quality a bit.

This is a decently balanced wine that lets the fruit shine through with just a little oak influence.  That’s on the positive side.  On the other side of spectrum, it’s hard to ignore that there’s just not a lot going on here, hence the “it’s ok for $13” message. It’s very one dimensional.

The wine is pretty tarty, with loads of green apple flavor, citrus and orange; healthy acidity with a touch of oak and spice on the finish but this one wraps up pretty fast.

Not a bad wine to have on hand for a mid week everyday meal or occasion.  Or perhaps pour a few bottles in a large pitcher and serve as your white wine at a holiday party.  But if you want to dig into an interesting Chardonnay from this awesome area, you might be better off spending a few more dollars and moving up market a tad.

CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 87 points (bonus point for value; minus one point from ’14 vintage)

Costco item number: 789895

Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA

Alc. 13.6%