ButteryChardonnay.com Celebrates World’s Favorite Wine

DENVER - May 22, 2014 - PRLog -- Wine drinkers who favor full-bodied Chardonnays need no longer feel stung by the scorn of wine snobs and hipsters. Author and blogger Eliza Cross has launched a website that she says “unapologetically and enthusiastically celebrates big, buttery Chardonnays—for people who are tired of puckering up for tart, unoaked white wines.”

ButteryChardonnay.com features a curated list of wines Cross calls “likeable and drinkable,” all with retail prices of twenty dollars or less. “The BC List features American Chardonnays that are well-balanced and fuller bodied, with good fruit, medium acidity and a creamy or buttery flavor,” she says. Each recommended wine includes the average price, alcohol content and tasting notes. Readers can submit their favorite wines for consideration for the BC List, and the site also features Chardonnay reviews, events and news.

Chardonnay is the most popular varietal in the United States, representing one in five bottles sold, according to wine industry consultants Gomberg Fredrikson. The chardonnay grape is used to make the famed French white burgundies, and is one of the principal varietals in Champagne.

In recent years, however, crisp, unoaked Chardonnays have become more fashionable—particularly on restaurant wine lists.

Cross, who was once scolded by a waiter for requesting a buttery, oaky Chardonnay, has a theory about why the industry is pressing hard to change consumer taste. “Unoaked Chardonnays happen to be more profitable, because the wine ages in a stainless steel tank instead of the more expensive oak barrels,” she says. “But skillful oak aging adds the vanilla aromas and lightly toasted flavors we love so much in a rich Chardonnay.”

Cross admits her favorite Chardonnay exceeds the twenty dollar limit. “For special occasions I love the 2012 Rombauer Chardonnay, which is about $35 a bottle,” she says. “But for everyday drinking, I’m a big fan of Bogle, Toasted Head and good old Kendall Jackson.”

Eliza Cross is the author of seven books, including the bestselling 101 Things To Do With Bacon. She received the Chef of Wine Arts certification from the International Wine Guild, and her articles have appeared in Sunset, Parents and Mother Earth Living. In addition to launching http://ButteryChardonnay.com, she blogs at Happy Simple Living and is the founder of the bacon enthusiast society BENSA.