Rodney Strong Chardonnay

In 2006, I visited the Rodney Strong winery in Sonoma, CA. What I remember most about it was the very nice tasting room and the extremely knowledgeable staff in that tasting room. When you go to a winery, you often get an opportunity to taste wines that you'd never be able to get in the store. In fact, some of our favorite wines from that trip (namely Gundlach Bundschu wines) are not even available in my neck of the woods (NY).

I enjoy trying to find the Sonoma wines that we had in California out here. So whenever I see a Rodney Strong, a Chateau St. Jean, or a Sterling (all of which are fairly easily available here), I pick them up to see if they taste as good here as they did there.

This 2008 Rodney Strong Chardonnay was on sale at my local wine store for about half it's normal price (which is around $14). It had an aroma of yellow delicious apple with a hint of oak. It was fairly smooth, with a slight fruitiness and a bright aftertaste. All in all a good solid (but not great) chardonnay. Would I get it again? Yes. Would it be good to bring to a dinner or party? Yes. I suspect it will taste even better in another year.