Wine Tasting: Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay

 

Cheers wine blog! This is my second tasting this week, and since I have only done tastings with red wines so far, I am switching it up. Today's wine of focus is Trader Joe's 2023 Coastal Chardonnay from the Central Coast of California. This bottle was $6.99 from Trader Joes. 

Vivino reviews of this Chardonnay consider the taste bold, mildly dry, and decently acidic.  It is said to have notes of "melon, peach, and pear" as well as "oak, butter, and vanilla."  

Visually, this chardonnay seems like a lighter yellow than some of the more buttery colored ones I have seen before.  It smells faintly of apple, pear, and lemon zest. I found it much more challenging to pick out scents in the white wine than in red wine, but I am excited to continue to practice with white wines.  

When tasting this wine, the experience is crisp and fresh. The Trader Joe's Chardonnay has a citrus flavor, with a slightly bitter citrus rind taste as well. There are notes of honeydew melon, and it is very minerally. I think the wine has a medium sweetness and a strong acidity.  

Wine Folly, page 96, describes Chardonnay as low sweetness and medium acidity which is what I got from this wine. This wine is also said to have notes of yellow apple, butter, and pineapple.  Even though I described the taste as green apple, I think yellow apple may be a more accurate description.  However, this Chardonnay is not very buttery, especially compared to others that I have tasted before.

For the low price, I would recommend this Chardonnay to someone who wanted a slightly sweeter wine, but I would prefer a dryer, more buttery Chardonnay.  I probably will not buy this bottle again, but I also prefer red wine to white wine because white tends to be sweeter.