"Charles E" > wrote in message
...
> I've never tried the Virginia Chardonnay or Arkansas Chardonel. I have
> tried some Virginia reds and found them to taste somewhat sulfuric. Do
> you know if that's true with the Chardonnays as well?

I'm sure it's all a matter of how good the fruit was to begin with and how
it was handled.

I first tasted Virginia Chardonnay at Dulles (airport) while I was waiting
for my (delayed) flight. They were pouring several at one of the airport
bars. A couple of them were indifferent, but the Naked Mountain barrel
fermented Chardonnay was really nice! I bought a few bottles to take back
to California with me (like we _need_ more Chardonnay in California!). :^/

My friend, Clyde Gill (who I first met online through this newsgroup), makes
a really nice barrel fermented Chardonel from fruit he buys in Arkansas. To
my taste, the fruit is very similar to Chardonnay. The heavy toast American
oak he uses bears a passing resemblance to good French oak. All in all, it
isn't either white Burgundy or California Chardonnay, but it's really nice
white wine with enough oak to please me!

I didn't mean for that to sound like an advertisement for either of these
wines. I'm merely pointing out a couple of good possibilities relating to
the topic of this thread.

Tom S
www.chateauburbank.com