In a word, lousy! Try Hayes Ranch, Coppola Gold Label, Kendall Jackson or Dynamite for a chardonnay, or their Shiraz-Cabernet, which is much better.

It’s a wine with a clear, bright straw-yellow color but with no real structure to the wine. It doesn’t seem to have much taste or nose either, save for a mild fruit taste that can best be described as fruit salad. It needs a bit more intensity on both counts. Its mild oak and astringency give this wine a “wet” taste that some might like. The balance is OK, and the finish short. There also seems to be a somewhat metallic taste at the end which doesn’t seem to help this wine at all. Look elsewhere for your chardonnay choices.

Grade: D Price: $8

Wine Reviewed:
Black Swan
2006
Chardonnay
South Eastern
Australia
Alcohol: 13.2% by volume.
Closure: Synthetic Cork