Wine Review – 2007 Kendall-Jackson “Vintner’s Reserve” Chardonnay
From: California
Price: $11.99
I knew that this day would come – the day that I would have to sit down with King KJ and drink his wine. Kendall-Jackson is the undisputed King of California Chardonnay. The folks at Kendall-Jackson have a legion of loyal followers that buy this wine by the gallons and keep them coming back for more year after year. The highbrowed wine writers also seem to think that King KJ’s Chardonnay is pretty great too…
90 Points – “The 2007…is entirely made from estate fruit. This cuvee seems to get better with each vintage as winemaker Randy Ullom is a virtuoso at producing such high quantity/high quality wine…”
Robert M. Parker Jr., Wine Advocate, December 2008
87 Points – “Made in the familiar style that is K-J Vintner’s Reserve, this Chardonnay shows pineapple, lemondrop, mineral and spice flavors balanced with crisp coastal acidity.”
Steve Heimoff, Wine Enthusiast, February 2009
Wow these guys sound like they really liked the King’s juice. With great press like this from such highly regarded wine writers and the millions of loyal subjects that line up to buy this wine, it has to taste good, right?
Unfortunately, King KJ is not a good and noble King in my opinion. He’s very deceitful. He drowns his loyal followers in high amounts of sugar and oak and then pretends that his wine is bursting with tropical flavors. Take a sip. There’s virtually no fruit to be found inside the bottle. But the integration of oak and sugar are pretty good. Honestly, it’s truly remarkable what the lab rats at KJ can do with this stuff. The poor winemakers at KJ are not given a whole lot of fruit to work with. But what they lack in fruit, they can sure make up for in the lab. Kudos to them! I now understand the KJ phenomenon. It’s sort of like the success of Mountain Dew: Just one dose of its sugary content and you’re hooked, and then you tell a friend about it. In the end, I was only able to get down one glass of this concocted Chardonnay. I give Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay 2 Stars.
FYI – I do have a half-full leftover bottle for anyone that’s interested.
WineLife365 Rating: 2-Star
Posted in 2-Star, Reviews-Wine, Whites | 
Tags: 2-Star, 2007, California, Chardonnay, Kendall Jackson, White Wine, Wine Reviews, Wines under $10, Wines under $20
One Response to “Wine Review – 2007 Kendall-Jackson “Vintner’s Reserve” Chardonnay”
Thanks for sharing the Wine Review – 2007 Kendall-Jackson “Vintner’s Reserve” Chardonnay. It was great. Looking forward to some more wine review in your upcoming blog. Keep it up the good work. Cheers to wine lovers.