The New Year has been a very busy one, as the start of the year brought a lot of changes at work.  While my position hasn’t change, there are a lot of new people that I’m working with, which automatically means more work.  Thankfully, though, that first Monday back after the New Year was quiet, so it gave me a chance to get a jump start on reorganizing, meeting new people, and trying to settle in to a new routine.   By the time I got home, though, I was exhausted, so Hubby treated us to a fun dinner and I opened a bottle of Chardonnay that came highly recommended.

The 2008 Tobin James “Radiance” Chardonnay (winery) was a medium lemon yellow.  On the nose, there was a tropical fruit bowl filled with pineapple, kiwi, and mango, which was followed by a hint of wood dust that was reminiscent of a sawmill.  In the mouth, there pineapples, kiwis, and mangos, followed by a hint of pink grapefruits, vanilla, and the woody taste you get when chewing on a popsicle stick.

Is this worth a glass after work? Eh…if you have a bottle on hand, drink it, but I wouldn’t go searching it out either. At $14, I probably shouldn’t have expected too much, as I tend to be picky about Chardonnay, but as I mentioned earlier, this wine came highly recommended from a trusted source.  Unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me.  The wine was trying to strike a balance between being not oaked and being an oak monster, but in the process seems to have lost its personality.  I was hoping that pairing it with steamed lobster tails with drawn butter and sautéed garlic broccoli would create a mouth-singing pairing, but I was wrong there, too.  All the way around, this wine was a bit disappointing.  Even at this price range, there are better Chardonnay options out there.

Price: $14
Purchased at: Arrowine
Overall: 2 Corks