Veritas 2012 Saddleback Chardonnay

Winemaker's Description

The 2012 Saddleback Chardonnay is modeled after the “old world” style from Chablis, France. The wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks and matured in primarily neutral French oak barrels for 4 months. The nose is clean and showing aromas of apple, pear, honeydew melon and kiwi. The Saddleback Chardonnay is medium bodied and layered with ripe tree fruits continuing with soft impressions of toast and spice from oak aging. Saddleback Chardonnay is a perfect wine to compliment light fish and shellfish dishes, or even poultry with citrus sauces.

Price:  $22 at Winery

Veritas Winery is, and will remain, one our favorite wineries in the Commonwealth of Virginia, yet at $22 a bottle we cannot recommend their 2012 Saddleback Chardonnay.

This Chardonnay is crisp and fruity as described, but not full bodied, and somewhat unfulfilling.  On the bottle, they call the wine a virtual fresh fruit salad, which is not off base, but a very light fruit salad.  In some ways, this wine could be called a Chardonnay “Lite.”

This is an easy drinking white, but we would be very hesitant to serve it with an entrée.  While nice as a wine to be enjoyed on its own, there are far better options in Virginia at less than half the price. 

Its aftertaste is almost non-distinguishable, which left us wanting. 

So when in the mood for a great Virginia wine, look to this Winery’s excellent Viognier, but skip their Saddleback Chardonnay.

Our ratings:  

Flavor:   2.5 out of 5 stars – Fair to Good

At best, we would say the flavor is middle of the road, just far too light to satisfy.

Drinkability/Versatility:  3 out of 5 stars – Good

Easy to drink on its own or with very light food.  This wine, however, is very limited in what it can be served with.

Value:  0 out of 5 stars

Simply put, we can recommend other Virginia Chardonnays at less than half the price of this offering.  .

Overall:  2 out of 5 stars - Fair

After enjoying Virginia wines priced under $10, we expected more from a $22 bottle.