The nose has enough green notes (like young citrus right off the tree, before you cut into it) to keep it fresh, and enough yeast to keep it rich, and enough fruit (pear, tropical fruit, green apple) to balance out the butter.

The palate is big on oak, and has lots of tart apple that you wouldn't expect. (You'd expect apple, just not that tart.) Still, there's a lot of rich fruit to make this a big chardonnay that just happens to be tart (read: "just happens to go well with food").

If you think of summer as the time to drink light, fun, happy-go-lucky, not-gonna-offend-or-inspire-nobody white wines, you should stay away from this chardonnay. But if you're looking for a wine that'll kick your booty all around the ring, duke it out with Edna Valley!

Come on, you can trust me. After all, Wilder on Wine is "the single greatest wine recommendation service to ever write, or even think about writing about wine."

Cheers,
TSW

WoW
…really excited about wine

Don't you hate it when hyperbolic claims are made that just don't hold up? Ringling Bros. says it's the "Greatest Show on Earth." Sorry, but I've seen Cirque du Soleil. James Cameron may be a decent director, but King of the World? Not with "Titanic" in his canon.

Sadly, unlike Muhammad Ali, most times someone says he's the greatest of all time he's not. That's why I was nervous when Edna Valley Vineyard slapped "Paragon" right on its chardonnay's label. Luckily, it floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee, metaphorically speaking.

OK , maybe "the greatest" is a little much, but this chard is one of the best of its price range and, unless you can pay $50 for chardonnay, that's really all that matters. After all, who cares if wine is amazing if it's totally unaffordable?

You need both parts of the one-two punch to be a winner, and this wine's got 'em.