Ok first, so you don't look silly at the wine store, silky mouthed is a beer phrase. :). In the wine world the translation would be that you are looking for a buttery or oaked chardonnay with hints of vanilla/toast.

California chards from the central coast, Edna valley or Santa barbara area are known for this, but because French style is sort of in vogue for chards now you do need to specify you want an oaked Chardonnay, which is where that silky or buttery taste comes from. These both have nice vanilla/toast on the finish. Yummy with a great cesear salad :)

Two that quickly come to mind would be:

La crema 20
J lohr chard 20

I second J Lohr. It's one of my favorites. Price ranges from $10 - $16 a bottle here depending where you buy it. I can get it at Sam's Club for $10.

A few others:

Simi ($13 - $18)

Bohemian Highway ($6 - $8)

Lindeman's Bin 65 ($6 - $8)

No problem! You came to the right forum. :)

The best: Menage a Trois white wine. Yummy with anything. Seriously. Any. Thing.

Another one and VERY afforable: Barefoot Pinot Grigio.

And yet another: Middle Sister Pinot Grigio.

And for chardonnay: Bogle.

LOL!

Jan at Rosemary Cottage

Another J. Lohr fan!

Another vote for La Crema and Cameron Hughes Chardonnay, Lot 209.

I recently found Rodney Strong chardonnay at Costco. It's pretty good and very reasonably priced.

We recently tried the Menage a Trois white and found it too sweet and fruity (we prefer more dry).

Let us know what you end up choosing!

Inexpensive, although not the cheapest, chardonnays that I like are Kendal Jackson, Fetzer and and Beringer Stone Cellars.
And even cheaper, Black Swan, Clos du bois, Barefoot.

I think I'm cheap, twenty for a bottle of wine is out of my budget unless it's a special occasion. That would be La Crema here.

ttod I'll be interested to know if you do try any of the chardonnays mentioned and get that mouth feel that you're after. I cannot drink chards at all - that oaky taste instantly makes my teeth feel gritty and one glass is generally a guaranteed headache for me. Doesn't happen with Pinot grigio. Interesting the various ways we 'taste' things!

Has anyone ever heard of a wine called (could be wrong) Le Fitte, I think. It has an apple taste to it and it is delicious. I think it has a little cognac added, fabulous taste.

I doubt very seriously if ttodd is looking for this one. But, one she may want to put in the back of her mind for possibly an after dinner drink. I could be pronouncing and spelling it completely wrong.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to confidently springing for another bottle next weekend. I'm dumping the one that I got Friday. :( That bad!

The thing about menage a trois is that it's actually a blend of three whites (or reds) so (to me)you get more sweet and less butter. That wine was developed to sell because of it's name and because they use non specific grapes it's cheap to produce. It's too sweet for me too, but a lot of people do like it.

The original developers of that wine are friends of ours. They sold out to stutter maybe six or seven years ago. Sitter bought it for the name as well.

If you like that wine than look for their new wine called Hooker (rugby term) which is made in the same style.

Natal, thanks for posting the SAMs club prices. I knew they were cheaper but I couldnt remember and didn't want to understate. I am actually not a buttery Chardonnay drinker at heart, preceding white burgundy or Pinot Gris etc because I like the crisp taste. I'm not much of a hard booze drinker so this are my before dinner or with the appetizer drinks. About the only time I want a chard is when I'm having a really good cesear. They are yummy together!

I know you live in PA (as I do) with the State store system :( so here's what I do. I go to a bigger store and wander the aisles, specifically reviewing the "Chairman's Selections" (CS). Those have a sign with a description and any rating from magazines, such as Wine Spectator. If I like the description and it scored well, I try it. I have only had to return one bottle using that method (it was just awful). This way I've tried all sorts of interesting wines.

The big problem with this method is they don't always carry that same wines forever, usually just until the stock runs out. So if you really like one you need to go right back stock up. I found one I liked 2 summers ago and bought all they had left (which was a case). Being the PA state store :( they don't discount for a case.

And if you can believe them, some of the CS wines are offered at a much lower cost (in PA?!) than list price.

I've been on a Pinot Grigio kick for years but I find I'm returning to chardonnay. I like Liberty School chardonnay but it isn't carried at every store (though they will order it in for you). I also like J Lohr & Kendall Jackson Chard.

You'll just have to try, try, try until you find the one that suits you. It's a hard job but I'm sure you're up to the task.

We are dry red drinkers here, but keep a couple of bottles of dry whites and a rose or two for guests. A friend of ours likes Cartlidge & Brown (North Coast 2009) Chardonnay. I've tried it and it's very pleasant on the tongue.

If you like Chardonnays, you might want to try Catena (Argentinian). It's not "over-oaked" but has a nice mouth feel and nice fruit. We can get it by us at a local "big-box" liquor store for low-mid teens, and sometimes on sale. They have a lower price point version called Alamos, but we prefer the Catena (fun to do a side-by side blind comparison!).

DH and I were not Chardonnay fans until someone had suggested this one, and we liked it a lot. Have since branched out a bit to others; Toasted Head (oaky but very buttery), Cave St. Laurence--Pouilly Fuse (French, not very expensive, and we usually stock up on a few bottles if on sale), Chateau St. Michelle is decent, too.

If you want to try a nice Pinot Gris (though we have had some corked bottles in years past), Trimbach Pinot Gris is very tasty.

Overall, we tend to drink more reds than whites, but do enjoy a nice white wine in the warmer months or with certain dishes.

Happy tasting!

Very nice! I was in a hurry on Friday and it was snowing again and I was convinced that my parking spot that I'd taken so long to shovel out on Thursday would be gone again, so I went to the state store down the street from me. Very small. I was looking for the CS displays and there weren't any! I knew I should have gone to the larger store a little ways down.

My boss bought me a wonderful white for Christmas and I couldn't remember what it was. She wasn't available for me to text while I was in the store.

So it's not 'mouth feel' in wine terms huh? LOL! Okay then for you wine afficienando's - can you tell me what the term 'buttery' relates to or means? I think I have an idea but I don't want to take anything for granted!

It doesn't have to ne a chardonnay. To be homest I couldn't tell you the differences between the types of white wine to begin w/.

So what did you buy that you didn't like?

dlm, I get a headache from Chardonnays, too (and red wines). I'll just throw out a couple of wines that don't give me headaches and that I really like (I'm not a 'wine person' in general so to find a couple that I actually like is great).

* Bonnie Doon Reisling (bonuses: pretty bottle and screw top!)

* Louis Jadot Macon-villages (label says Burgundy Chardonnay, I think, but it's not like a normal Chardonnay... someone who knows something about wine could probably explain it!)

Buttery...ok it's kind of what it sounds like. Picture warm melted real butter. Think of drinking that...it's very rich with an almost overwhelming rich "butter" taste to it.

Now take a drink of grapefruit juice right afterwards....how would the butter coat your tongue? Almost a cloying thing butter....you can't necessarily cut it, it's just that rich that it makes other tastes pale in comparison. Butter brings out rich flavors like vanilla and nut flavors. Grapefruit on the other hand is going to overwhelm butter and only strong flavors like apricot and herbs will be able to stand up next to it.

This is an oaked (Chardonnay wine aged/developed in oak barrels) will have going for it. Suck on a lemon, then an almond....see what oak or that toasted nut imparts? If the chardonay was aged in stainless steal it would develop the crisp flavors of acid like grapefruit, apricot, green apple...but not to the extent another grape (ie a Pinot Gris) will develop but the key is oak...which makes butter on the mouth.

A frisking grape can be heavy or buttery as well but what they are really known for is their sugars. You start with the grape and develop what you want from it and with reislings you develop the sugars.

The burgundy Chardonnay just means a French burgundy, which is Chardonnay in steel verses oak but from the burgundy region (you can't call your wine burgundy if it's not from burgandy).

But you like butter and vanilla...so California oaked chards are your ticket to heaven :).