Still America's favorite white wine, chardonnay continues to evolve, always seeking that sweet spot of consumer satisfaction.

In the 1990s, California chards became heavy, sweet and strongly scented from oak-barrel aging. At the begining of this decade, some makers gave up oak-barrel aging, resulting in wines with little character. Today, everybody's doing his/her own thing, so if you taste around, you can find a chardonnay you like.

Napa Valley's Shafer Vineyards, working with grapes from its top-rated Red Shoulder Ranch, ferments 80 percent of the wine in French oak barrels for lushness and 20 percent in stainless steel vats to retain crisp acids for a wine of supreme complexity. I know this one hits !!BEGIN TAG!! a10 !!END TAG!! my sweet spot.

Near Santa Barbara, Sanford Winery is aiming for a chardonnay from its new Sanford & Benedict vineyard in the style of France's famed white burgundies -- barrel-fermented, mineral-scented, rich and ripe.

Nickel & Nickel in Napa plants its 10-acre Searby vineyard with a chardonnay clone, plucks individual leaves from the vines to achieve just the right sun exposure to ripen the grapes without burning them and ages the wine in French oak barrels to produce a big, crisp chard with tropical fruit flavors.

Newton Vineyard, on the eastern flank of the Mayacamas range that separates Napa and Sonoma, produces a chardonnay with grapes from both valleys.

In Carneros, the cool southern end of Sonoma County, Gloria Ferrer continues its venture into still wines with a lean chardonnay with intense fruit and crisp acids.

Just keep tasting until you find your bliss.

HIGHLY

RECOMMENDED

• 2007 Shafer Chardonnay, Red Shoulder Ranch Vineyard, Carneros: huge, lush, crisp, spicy and complex; a hint of oak and intense vanilla; melon and citrus flavors; $48.

• 2007 Gloria Ferrer Chardonnay, Carneros, Sonoma County: hint of oak and minerals; intense golden apple and ripe pear flavors; crisp acidity; $18.

RECOMMENDED

• 2007 Nickel & Nickel Chardonnay, Searby Vineyard, Russian River Valley: lush, sweet; tropical fruit flavors and crisp acidity; $45.

• 2007 Nickel & Nickel Chardonnay, Truchard Vineyard, Carneros, Napa Valley: hint of oak; rich golden-apple and mineral flavors; $45.

• 2007 Revenswood Vintner's Blend Chardonnay, California: ripe pineapple aromas and flavors; crisp; $7.

• 2007 Beringer Founder's Estate Chardonnay, California: crisp green melon aromas and flavors; $10.30.

• 2007 Sanford Winery Chardonnay, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Barbara County: hints of oak and minerals; ripe pineapple and banana flavors; crisp; $22.

• 2007 Newton Vineyard Chardonnay, Napa-Sonoma: spicy, rich; golden apple flavors; $23.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@