Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives
So here is my wine review for the week of February 9th, 2009...
STERLING VINTNER’S COLLECTION CHARDONNAY 2007
Description: Sterling is an interesting winery. They used to make medium to high quality wine consistently and sell it for a reasonable price, often making their wine accessible through such outlets as Costco. Now, the winery produces literally dozens of different types of wine in an attempt to flood the market with all sorts of choices in all price ranges. This always results in an overall lowering of the quality of wine, but occasionally such wineries still hit a homerun. Since everyone is looking for a bargain these days, I chose a lower end Chardonnay for this week’s review.
How and when I drank it: Saturday, February 7, 2009 at my house.
How to get it:It’s easily accessible via the internet as well as at most Bevmos, Costcos and many grocery stores.
How Much: The bottle is listed at $14 new from the winery, although I grabbed it for $10 from a local SaveMart supermarket.
My Thoughts: The wine world is buzzing that the 2007 vintage was spectacular. Often times, these initial claims turn out to be overblown in an attempt to goose sales. One leading indicator can be lower priced wines; they often indicate the quality of a vintage (if the lower end wines are great, the upper end should be phenomenal is the logic). As to the Sterling Vintners Chardonnay, this is a very pleasant white wine, leaning more on fruit flavors than butter or oak. It’s ripe and ready to be drunk right now.
Overall Score: For just $10, this is a very acceptable white wine to enjoy as spring nears or to start a nice evening of wine drinking. I wouldn’t suggest opening a second bottle for the group on the same night as the fruit flavors grow tired after a glass or two. Don’t hold that against the wine though. Finding quality like this for $10 is a score these days.
4 Vines.
STERLING VINTNER'S COLLECTION CHARDONNAY 2007 =  |
