2018 Firebrand, Reserve Chardonnay

   Hey guys, today I am reviewing another small label wine which is the 2018 Firebrand, Reserve Chardonnay. Let me go ahead and open up this review by telling you that I paid $12.99 for it and it is cork sealed. The wine comes in at what I believe is a rather high alcohol percentage for the varietal which 14.5%. This was one of those wines that is from small wineries which usually seem to line the main walkway of the big box liquor stores. In actuality, that was actually cool as it was my plan to buy one of these wines to review that day anyway so, mission accomplished there. The Firebrand label is made by O’Neill Vintners & Distillers (https://www.oneillwine.com/) and O’Neill Vintners & Distillers is owned by Bogle vineyards (https://boglewinery.com/#).
    Let's go ahead and talk about the label on this bottle for a minute. Simply put, I love the presentation of the label. The front label is Black with the words being in gold & Chestnut Brown. Looking at the fonts I have to tell you I'm in absolutely love with them. Vibrant label colors against a wine that appears as a goldish brown in the bottle looks fascinating. What a wonderful presentation it all creates when combined all together. Here is a label created by someone talented in the design field.

Chardonnay Grapes

   Let's now check out the visual presentation of the wine itself. As I look at the wine in the glass and while being held over a piece of white paper, I see that it has a super nice gold edge. Past this super nice gold edge, the overall wine itself has a very light beautiful golden appearance. I am really liking what I am seeing right now Chardonnay fans. This is a beautiful and visually classy looking wine sitting in front of me in the glass. While the review is still in the very early stages and a wines appearance doesn't always translate into it being a good wine, rightly or wrongly, I am beginning to have some high expectations for this wine.
   Right off as I start on the Bouquet, there is a big ripe nectarine Note here folks combined with a spicy, oak type aroma here as well. Intermixed with these two notes is a very forwardly presented Honeysuckle Note. Overall I think the Bouquet is super nice.
   While everything so far is appearing to be rather nice, the wine on the Palate presents overall a somewhat different story unfortunately. Starting off here is a bit of a nectar type Palate presentation right up front. The Honeysuckle I got on the nose transfers over from there and onto the Palate and comes in just under that nectar Note in Palate dominance levels but it also brings with it a big sweetness to the wine, an overdone sweetness. There is a nice bit of oak just after these notes which also comes over from the Nose of the wine and it is actually nicely presented. Being a Chardonnay I wasn't surprised that the wine showed a bit of butteryness to it from that oak. This butteryness is not exactly light on the Palate but at the same time, it wasn't overpowering either, however, you will taste it. Here in my opinion comes the Note that really put this wine over the top as far as sweetness and simply killed it. A butterscotch Note is certainly here as well and it is not shy. This butterscotch is where another dose of sweetness comes into play and that is not a good thing as the wine does not need any more sweetness then what it received from the Note of nectar. By the way, this butterscotch Note in a Chardonnay usually comes into being when the varietal spends a little too much time in oak. To me this butterscotch note is way overdone guys and helps to make for a very sweet, almost syrupy wine. There are a couple of nice notes here and at times you can tell that the wine really wants and tries so hard to be a good wine but the overdone sweetness and sense of syrupiness overall, really simply does this wine in. One of the notes in particular that is really nice is the note of a wonderful pepper spice. This note is presented pretty nicely, is forward on the Palate and does it's best to impact the Palate in a wonderful way, here I was very impressed. Trying to enjoy this peppery Note unfortunately just made it harder to drink the wine because I kept thinking of what the wine could have been yet try as I might these good Notes simply weren't enough to save the wine. Look guys, I can go on telling you about the my disappointment but why bother, it's time for the closing paragraph.

   If you aren't expecting a Chardonnay or know what one tastes like, you will enjoy this wine, it is tropical/Honeysuckle/butterscotch and sweet to a fault in my humble opinion. The wine itself however is a decent pool wine and guests I think will will enjoy it for that. As a whole however, I do think it is overpriced and should be selling for no more than $5.99, sorry.  I am going to issue a caution here, do not attempt to offer this wine up as a Chardonnay to a critical wine drinker or anyone who has a Palate developed enough to be able to identify varietals because you will be laughed out of your own gathering. In this case, tell your friends that you bought a white Summer blend specifically made for the pool at.....$5.99. A wonderful label, a beautiful looking wine but it is all for nothing as if falls flat in the long run. On The Desert Wine Guy rating I am giving this wine 86 points, certainly NOT recommended if you are expecting a Chardonnay in any way, shape, or form.

                                                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy

www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/

www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos

https://www.brighteon.com/channel/thedesertwineguy