My Favorite Wine - Castle Rock Chardonnay

Wine review by a guy who knows nothing about wine - A layman's unpretentious wine review

Castle Rock Chardonnay Edna Valley 2005 is a pretty good bottle of wine you can purchase at Trader Joe's for $5.99. With hints of pineapple, mango, and a strong citrus taste throughout, this Chardonnay is a good wine for the hot months. It's definitely a summer wine and can be enjoyed cold by itself or with fish or chicken. Hell, you can drink it whenever you want to--and at $5.99 a bottle, it's a steal. (As usual, prices may vary depending on where you live).

When I judge a wine, I don't think about things like "bouquet" and "nose" of the wine. I judge it by two things: taste and price. Also, what food it goes good with sometimes comes into play. But, since I generally drink wine cold out of the fridge before or after dinner, what the wine can be paired with is less of a factor for me. Castle Rock Chardonnay 2005 ranks pretty high on my list of good wines. Okay, so it's a short list.

I really like this wine for several reasons. One, it tastes good. Two, it's affordable. It is a good overall wine because it has vanilla, citrus, and melon flavors, while maintaining subtle oak flavors. After you take a sip of the Castle Rock Chardonnay, the aftertaste is not even close to overpowering. You can taste the alcohol in this wine, trust me it's in there, but it is not too strong. Also, the citrus taste, which can often be too strong or sour, is mellowed by the smoky oak flavors. All and all, the wine has a good balance. In my book, these elements, in conjunction with the fact that it is cheap make it a pretty good wine. That is why I like Castle Rock's Chardonnay 2005.

After I decided to try the Castle Rock Cardonnay, I read more about the wine and I found that it was selected by Wine Spectator magazine as one of the top 20 best values for California Chardonnay. So it's got a good reputation with those who know about wine.

In addition to recommending the Castle Rock Chardonnay 2005, I have a good recipe that would go good with this wine. This Chard is a summer wine that goes good with barbecued meat.

Here is a suggested recipe:

This wine would be great with teriyaki chicken, pineapple, and yellow onion kebabs (boneless chicken breasts sliced and put on skewers alternating with pineapple and onion.) Just marinate the chicken in teriyaki for an hour or so, put it on the skewers, and grill them on the barbecue at a medium heat. Cook some white or brown rice to go with the chicken.

Castle Rock Chardonnay also can pair will with Aidell's Chicken Apple Sausage--grilled of course.