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The Intermingle California Chardonnay 2020-Aldi is a $6.99 wine made by Sutter Home Winery. Sutter Home is a brand owned by Trinchero Family Estates and produces over 40 wine brands including Menage a Trois, Joel Gott, and Charles and Charles.
The front label indicates that this is a California Buttery Chardonnay. There are three main techniques to add a buttery sensation to Chardonnay wine. The first is to use toasted oak to age the wine, this can add a vanilla flavor. The second is to have the Chardonnay undergo malolactic fermentation. This changes the tart acid in the Chardonnay grapes to more rounded lactic acid which is more milk-like.
The toasted oak and the malolactic fermentation go a long way toward getting that buttery flavor. The third technique is to stir the lees. The lees are the dead spent yeast that can be kept with the wine during aging. The more the lees are stirred (battonage) the creamier the Chardonnay gets.
There are no tech notes on how the Intermingle California Chardonnay 2020-Aldi was produced. Often value-priced wines have creative methods to reach the desired flavor profile. This Chardonnay has an alcohol content of 13.5%.
The Intermingle California Chardonnay 2020-Aldi Tasting Notes
The color is pale sunshine yellow. The nose shows toasted oak, butter, melon, green apple, lemon curd, and topical fruit. The Intermingle California Chardonnay 2020-Aldi has a butter flavor but is well balanced with an array of fruit and citrus.
This Chardonnay tastes like apple, lemon, melon, a slap of popcorn butter, a little spice, and nectarine. The mid-palate offers guava, dried pineapple bits, and lime. The acidity allows the flavors to unfold, giving this $6.99 Chardonnay a good length.
The Summary
- The Intermingle California Chardonnay 2020-Aldi at $6.99 is about as inexpensive as you can go to get a solid buttery Chard.
- It has a nice display of flavors, the butter isn’t over the top, and the price is more than reasonable.
