The acidity in this chard is brighter than the stuff that comes out of bleeding Aliens (from the horror movie). If you like your whites a little more mellow, hold onto this bottle for a year. But, the acidity makes it food's best friend, and that's not something every California chard can say!

And when it comes to food, all you need to remember is that chardonnay is a fun guy! (It's a mnemonic device… just go with it.) If you're having mushroom risotto, creamy mushroom soup, stuffed, scalloped or skewered mushrooms, sautéed mushrooms over mushrooms, or shitake ice cream you need to pair it with chardonnay. It's a no-brainer match that brings lots of flavor out of both the food and the wine. The bright acidity only adds to the fun.

Food will also help with this wine's one flaw: a slightly empty mid-palate. This chard starts off strong, dies a bit in the middle, and then finishes big with oak, apple and pineapple.

But that little shortcoming is no reason to not find your thrills on Chalk Hill. Most scary movies start off good, have a big lull in the middle and then close with all the mayhem and dismemberment that you expect. If you'll sit through two hours of that, you'll give this white four stars and two thumbs up.

We traced the call - it's coming from inside the house,
TSW

It came from Sonoma!

2001 - A Chard Odyssey

Attack of the Killer Chardonnay!

OK, maybe not killer… but it's damn good stuff.

"Chalk Hill" is Rodney Strong's middle tier chardonnay, and it's at least good enough to merit that space in the line-up. Geographically speaking, Chalk Hill is - as the oenologists and viticulturists like to say in their technical wine lingo - a kick-ass place to grow this great, white grape. Better still is that Señor Strong's team is doing a dandy job in Chalk Hill while keeping its street price significantly lower than that of other chalk-like substances (which sadly are closer to what a lot of California chards are going for).

The aromas on this pale-in-color, but very tasty, wine are big, bold and immediately pleasing. Vanilla and cream are right up front, along with white pepper, sweet tropical fruit, pear and just a touch of apple.