Wine of the Day, No. 473

I taste most chardonnays from California with reluctance, because I know they were fashioned using methods that turn them into stridently spicy, cloyingly tropical, butterscotch 'n' coconut oak bombs. Such chardonnays have no relationship with the grapes from which they were made or with the vineyards where the grapes were grown. They're unpleasant, eve…