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.