Winesday: The Bargain Chard Deathmatch

In this corner, marked down to $60 a case in the tasting room because they were trying to clear out their remaining stock: Stevenot 2006 Chardonnay.


In the other corner, off the shelf and into the basket with the frozen stir-fry vegatables for $5.98: Trader Joe's 2009 Grower's Reserve Chardonnay.

Round One: Both put in the freezer to chill, then briefly forgotten. An amount of time later, remembered and retrieved. Trader Joe's was frozen solid (but, and this is important, not cracked) while the Stevenot remained in liquid phase. Advantage: Stevenot, and the power of a higher alcohol content.

Round Two: Bottle of Stevenot has already been half-drunk and left overnight in the fridge, possibly biasing the results. On the other hand, freezing a wine solid is not generally recommended for optimal flavor, so the disadvantages are considered a draw. Both are poured, and tasted extensively.

Nose-- TJ's takes a lead here, with nice floral notes and some citrus.
Body-- Stevenot somewhat fuller here, with a bit more weight to it; TJ quite light, almost more sauvignion blanc-like.
Sugar-- TJ noticably sweeter than S, unless we got the glasses mixed up and it's really the other way around.
Finish-- Both bottles.

 Now, let's go down ringside for the results.

And the winner, in a split decision, is. . . whichever wine is in this glass! Let's hear a big round of applause for Your! New! Champion!

(Seriously, they were both good for the price, and it seems both mean and arbitrary to declare a winner and a loser when it really wasn't that easy to tell them apart.)