Newman’s Own Chardonnay 2011

2011newmansownchardonnayThe 2011 Newman’s Own Chardonnay is sourced from several California Coastal vineyards, but mainly vineyards located in Santa Barbara and Monterey Counties. Newman’s Own wines are one of Rebel Wines labels, they also do The Show, Bandit and 3 Thieves wines. Newman’s Own food and wine products started when Paul Newman decided not to give his neighbors the usual gift of an expensive bottle of wine one Christmas and instead hit the kitchen and conjured up his own salad dressing to bottle and give as gifts. The gifts went over well that Christmas, but by February the neighbors were dropping by to see if he any more of that salad dressing. One thing led to another and before too long he had a factory turning out bottles of salad dressing and orders from stores were pouring in. At that point, Paul Newman told his business partner that it didn’t feel right making a profit off these products and they should give all revenue after expenses and taxes to charity. Since Newman’s Own was founded in 1982, they have given over $350,000,000 to thousands of charities. They try to donate to all sorts of non profits, but the Hole in the Wall camp for children with serious and life threatening diseases was near and dear to Newman’s heart. So, a good portion of the money you spend on a Newman’s Own product goes to a wide variety of very good causes. The alcohol content is 13.7%.

The color is extra virgin olive oil yellow. The nose is smooth and mellow, apple, melon, lemon and Anjou pear. This is a medium to light bodied Chardonnay, the flavors come on strong and then start to fade and just when you think that this is something of a simple Chard, some interesting flavors start to bubble up on the mid palate. It starts with crisp apple, pear and lemon/lime, along with honey dew melon. The mid palate adds grapefruit, a touch of butter, a little spice and dried papaya. The acidity gives this Chardonnay some good length and the finish, while not strong, never goes away.

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The 2011 Newman’s Own Chardonnay is a very solid, inexpensive (around 10 bucks) wine. This is a value priced wine that has personality, often wines in the $10 range are varietally correct, they taste like they are supposed to, but they do not have that pizzazz, that little extra that makes wine so enticing. The Newman’s Own has a cheap price tag and a little pizzazz and people in need benefit while you enjoy a chilled glass of California Chardonnay.

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Don’t tell anyone, but there is absolutely no correlation between the cost of wine and the quality of wine.

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