Despite ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) groups and the woody/buttery/sweet renditions many CA producers punish our palates with, chardonnay remains the king of white wine in terms of sales and acreage here on Long Island.

I think name recognition at least partially drives this. The average wine drinker just doesn’t know what gewurtztraminer tastes like and probably thinks of riesling as super-sweet and "not classy."

The charddonnay shift is on, however, so even chardonnay haters can find bottles with nice acid, crisp fruit and none (or little) if the 2×4 flavors of old.

All I know is that I have a ton of local chardonnay in my tasting queue…so to work my way through them, I’m announcing this week as LENNDEVOURS Chardonnay Week 2006. Every day I’ll post reviews of at least one or two local bottlings.

It might be one of my least favorite varieties, but there are some local versions I enjoy. I bet you can guess what style they’re made in.