Wine of the week: Decoy, 2020 California Chardonnay

Making an affordable chardonnay in California is pretty easy. Making a great affordable chardonnay is the real challenge.

This is how Dana Epperson, the winemaker of Decoy and Migration brands, sees it. Epperson is behind our budget-savvy wine of the week winner, the Decoy, 2020 California Chardonnay at $20. With the added expense of gift giving this month, this tasty chardonnay is one way to keep your budget in line. Citrus meets tropical with this Decoy chardonnay. Balanced, yet layered, it has aromas and flavors of honeysuckle, lemon zest, green apple and caramel. This wine edged out the other contenders because it over-delivers for the price of this chardonnay. It’s a smart buy.

Other tasty chardonnays, at a range of price points, include: Alma Rosa, 2019 Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay at $48; Gary Farrell, 2018 Russian River Selection, Russian River Valley Chardonnay at $35; Merry Edwards, 2019 Olivet Lane, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County Chardonnay at $66; and Three Sticks, 2019 Gap’s Crown Vineyard, Sonoma Coast Chardonnay at $60.

As for the winning Decoy chardonnay, Epperson said making it a “great affordable chardonnay” had everything to do with where the grapes were groomed.

“Ultimately, it always comes back to our vineyard sources,” she said. “While this chardonnay is labeled California, almost 60% of the fruit comes from Sonoma County, with another 33% from Santa Barbara County and Napa Valley. These are some of the finest winegrowing regions in the world, and because we are using the California appellation designation on the label, we can blend elements from each area to create a very complete, complex and delicious wine.”

Epperson said the Sonoma County fruit in the chardonnay blend gives the wine its “energy, tension and beautiful aromatics and flavors.”

Stylistically, Epperson said, she selected the most vibrant and citrus-driven lots and then accentuated the fruit and floral qualities by only allowing a modest 20% malolactic fermentation, so the wine doesn’t taste too buttery.

Achieving a layered, approachable style starts with picking decisions, the winemaker said.

“Harvesting at optimum ripeness means picking the grapes at a time when the fruit flavors shine through, but you are still preserving those more fresh, delicate and nuanced characteristics,” she said. “From there, we use oak very judiciously to create a backbone that elevates the fruit without too much overt oak influence.”

The winemaker said the Decoy chardonnay is a good one to uncork over the holidays because it pairs well with a range of foods.

“Because this wine is very bright, balanced and refreshing, with relatively modest oak, it’s really versatile in terms of pairing possibilities,” Epperson said. “It’s a perfect wine for when you’re sitting down for a holiday meal with an array of yummy side dishes. It has these lovely citrus and tropical notes that complement a lot of food flavors, and it has just the right amount of energy and acidity to keep your palate fresh and bright, which makes good food taste even better.”

Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.