Is that the laziest pun ever, up there in the headline? I mean, It’s not Ron Washam lazy, but as far as puns go…
At any rate, Chardonnay Week continues, and with this Sonoma County offering, you get a little bit of both worlds of California chardonnay. It’s not quite all butter and toothpicks, and it’s not actually unoaked.
It’s a happy medium between the two. I could drink this with food (in fact, I did), I could cook with it (in fact, I did), and I could drink it on its own (did that too). This is right in my wheelhouse as far as good, solid, everyday-style chardonnays go. I might personally still prefer sauvignon blanc, riesling, and viognier… but sometimes chardonnay comes calling.
The Murphy-Goode is an excellent answer.
It’s a light straw yellow in the glass, but there is a hint of green here too. It’s not always easy to see (and no, I wasn’t holding the glass up to a green wall or anything) but it’s there. The nose features aromas of oak, grass, lemon zest, and rain.
Yeah, I said rain, wanna fight about it?
The wine is medium-bodied, with a light oakiness, but the wine in general is clean, crisp, and light. There’s a little of that chardonnay “butteriness” here too, but so’s some minerality, a nice wet stone minerality that cuts the butter (haw!) and keeps everything a little more light hearted.
A solid, solid addition to any chard fan’s cellar. Murphy is, after all, Goode.
Verdict: 88/100