Don and Michael Bartier make good wines (word on the street they may help Saturna make good wines!). In general, bottle after bottle, vintage after vintage, they have a sincerity and forwardness that is usually very likeable and almost always easy on the pocketbook. Their Semillon is a smash (if you can get your friends to drink Semillon). True, we’ve been indifferent to some of the reds, but each year we give some a go and each year we usually find a varietal or blend worth blogging about. And all hail the screw tops for a picnic.
The Chardonnay is good. It’s gentle, lightly fruity, sips well, makes a very nice lunch accompaniment; top heavy in tropical notes with perhaps a little too much guava/pineapple. No oak. Product specialists raved. It’s probably an ideal if not addictive white for many people, at an exceptional price point. But it drinks sweet. It drinks a little too syrupy and without the crisp, lean, sharpness you (or many people) want in a Chardonnay.
Price: You can find it in private stores for around $25.
Market Liquidity: It’s a subjective A but an objective B.
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