"The only other people that've experienced something like what we're experiencing now are our grandparents or our great-grandparents, " host Dan Ramey said on his radio show on WBEX-AM.
Mr. Ramey's two "basic" Chardonnays (he makes seven Chardonnays altogether) were among the 17 wines I tasted recently with friends most of whom said they rarely drank California Chardonnay because it had too much oak, too much sweetness and too little acidity.
In no particular order, our favorites included the fresh and citrusy 2011 Paul Hobbs CrossBarn Sonoma Coast, the lively 2011 Chamisal Stainless Central Coast, the complex 2010 Ramey Russian River Valley as well as the elegant 2010 Etude Carneros, the 2011 Williams Selyem Unoaked Chardonnay and the 2011 Mer Soleil Silver.