Tasting Note: 2010 Bonterra Chardonnay

I've been feeling like such a sellout since I started blogging. Why? Because all of the wines I've tried have been really good. Thankfully though, I tried a Chardonnayvfrom California yesterday that changed all this.

I havn't had much Cali Chard and those I have had have been carefully selected based on my preferences for old world Chardonnay. Yesterday I felt like giving a low priced Chard a try. I brought home the 2010 Bonterra Chardonnay which I knew nothing about.

Tasting note for the 2010 Bonterrra Chardonnay:

On the nose I pick up some apricot, peach and oak. Already at this point I'm starting to fear this wine. I like oak if it's balanced, but this nose points in the direction of that this might not be the case. One the palate I pick up peach and butter and one more thing: oak, oak and more oak. This wine is so heavy and so over-oaked that it makes me nauseous. There is no acidity to balance it out. 74 points

Wow, this was fun and very painfull at the same time. Fun because I haven't had a lot of wines that are so over-oaked and unbalanced and painfull also due to the over-oaking and the lack of balance. A couple of hours after I had a glass of this wine it still felt like I had wood chips stuck in my mouth that needed to be pulled out.

I'm sure there are people out there with palates that would apreciate this wine, but for me, this is just a bad effort.