The Desert Wine Guy - 2019 Cloud Break - Chardonnay

 

2019 Cloud Break - Chardonnay

    What would we do without the "big box" stores? Yes, I do get that they are generally less expensive than the so called "mom & pop" stores, sometimes even much less expensive. I also understand that their selection is better on most items, way better. I only ask this question because yesterday I happened to go to one of those big box wine/liquor retailer type stores in Gainesville, Florida which is about an hour away and also, where I purchased today's wine that is up for review. While the prices were pretty good, I did notice in general that they have gone up.....quite a bit (inflation anyone). One potential problem that always seems to crop up with these types of businesses in general and I think with good reason is how effective they are in eliminating the competition, the mom & pop stores? Once the competition is gone there is a vacuum left which in turn leads to a monopoly and prices will then really have the potential to shoot up since you no longer have a choice (competition) as to where to shop. I guess these stores are here to stay but does that mean we avoid the smaller stores all together. In my opinion, I don't believe we should. As a perfect example, there is a small wine shop not far from me and they have a wine from the Napa Valley winery, Pine Ridge that I was after but they were $3 higher than the big box store I go to yet I ended up buying the wine at the smaller shop anyway. As I finish up this intro paragraph I will leave you with my original question to answer for yourself. What would we do without the big box stores?

Chardonnay Waiting To Be Enjoyed

   Alright guys, let's dig into this wine now. As I already said, I purchased this wine from a big box wine/liquor retailer. As soon as my Daughters and I walked into the store we saw a few cases of the wine on an endcap and one of my daughters said "Daddy, you should try that wine". Well folks, what else could I do but buy the wine? I paid $8.99 for this wine and it is cork sealed but not by a real cork, it is a composite of some kind. Oh well, at least it's not a screw-cap right:) One last bit of information here, the alcohol percentage of this wine comes in at 12.5%.
   Let's talk label now. I like the label guys, it is bright and seems to celebrate the varietal visually very nicely. There is nothing distracting and even though the hair on the back of my neck raises when I see the words "barrel fermented" on it, I am willing to try and put that aside. I will tell you however that as someone who is not a huge lover of MLF (Malolactic Fermentation) this does scare me more then just a bit as in my experience this normally means an over abundance of both oak and butteriness.

Chardonnay Flavor Profile

   It is nose time now folks, time to see what the wine smells like. First up here as I start off is a note of oak as well as a buttery note and I immediately appear to have my concerns (MLF) reinforced. As far as any fruit notes being present here on the nose goes, I am getting massive tropical Green Apple as well as some pineapple. I don't know how this will translate over to the palate but I am kind of concerned that all of it will translate over as the bouquet is uncharacteristically very tropical & fruity for a Chardonnay. Hopefully the palate presentation of this wine will express itself in more of a refined way because if it comes across on the palate as it does on the nose, I might be ending this review very quickly.
   As far as the palate presentation of this wine goes.....yeah, it is severely lacking in almost every area other than sugary tasting fruit and mass amounts of butteriness and oak. I'll tell you right now in the beginning of this section that this is indeed going to be a short review as the wine is not worth me spending much time on as my fears of a buttery and oakey white wine have turned into reality. The wine is indeed very tropical and has enormous fruit to it but that fruit is way too in your face in the aspect of the wine coming across as being extremely sweet. Two other notes that really help in destroying this wine are oak and butteriness. The label was not lying when it said "barrel fermented". As if the wine needed another killer, there is a sweet, brightly tropically, and in your face Green Apple here that jumps right out at you and does nothing but cause you to sit back and go "whew" only not in a good way. The pineapple that the wine exhibits is mostly subdued and simply immersed in that massive sweetness as well. Guys, I am sorry, try as I might I can't go on with tasting this wine, there is simply no point in it. If I want to drink an overly sweet drink I can open a Monster or some other junky type energy drink. Let's move now to the conclusion paragraph and put this review (and my palate) out of it's misery.

Truer Words Were Never Said

   Alright so when they said "barrel fermented" they weren't kidding. If you believe that a quality or even semi quality Chardonnay is supposed to taste like eating a ripe fruit basket, then you are in luck as this is the wine for you. If however, you know what a quality Chardonnay is supposed to taste like, I suggest that you keep walking, wait, no.....running right past the end cap in the store and head on over to the 2018 Stags Leap, Napa Valley - Chardonnay which I rated at 96 points and cost me $29.99. This 2018 Stags Leap is the best Chardonnay that I have ever had the pleasure of reviewing. As for our review wine, this wine is very rich (think sweet) and very overpowering in the way of over the top tropical fruit, it is also without (almost) any redeeming qualities to note. In this wine reviewers opinion, this is wine is a huge flop folks. If you are a new wine drinker and still exploring your palate please don't taste this wine and assume that you now know what a Chardonnay really tastes like. This is an extremely palate offensive wine but does have one saving grace to it which is that it would be great for a pool wine but nothing more. If you have friends at the party who are into wine I highly suggest that you do not try to pass this off as a quality Chardonnay because you will be laughed at. I would suggest you tell your guests that the wine in their glass is some kind of white wine blend instead. On The Desert Wine Guy rating scale I am giving this wine a sink/drain cleaning 85 points. One other thing, this wine is way overpriced and if you insist on drinking it here is a tip to save you a lot of money. I have tasted the same junk for $2.99 from Wallyworld under the label Oak leaf.

                                                                                                                                     The Desert Wine Guy

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