Chardonnay on Sommo — AI Wine Scanner, WSET Prep & Wine Journal App

Best Chardonnays Under $30 (2026): Oaked, Unoaked & Every Style

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Chardonnay is the most planted white wine grape on earth, grown in virtually every wine-producing country. It’s also one of the most misunderstood. Say “Chardonnay” and half the room pictures razor-sharp, mineral-driven Chablis. The other half pictures a golden, buttery, oak-drenched California wine. Both are correct – and that’s exactly what makes Chardonnay so polarising. The grape itself is relatively neutral; it’s the winemaker’s decisions about oak, malolactic fermentation, and lees contact that determine whether you get something steely or something rich and creamy. The range is enormous.

Burgundy Wine Guide for Beginners

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Burgundy is wine’s most hallowed ground. It’s where Pinot Noir and Chardonnay reach their highest expression, where a single vineyard can produce wine worth thousands of pounds, and where the classification system is both brilliantly logical and maddeningly complex.

It’s also deeply intimidating for newcomers. The labels are in French, the hierarchy has four levels, there are hundreds of named vineyards, and the prices can be eye-watering. But once you understand the basic framework, Burgundy makes more sense than almost any other wine region. Here’s how to crack it.

White Wine Guide for Beginners

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Let’s get one thing out of the way: if you think white wine is “less serious” than red, you’ve been drinking the wrong whites. A great Burgundy Chardonnay or an aged Riesling can absolutely go toe-to-toe with the most celebrated reds on the planet. The problem isn’t white wine. The problem is that most people’s introduction to it was a glass of warm, flabby Pinot Grigio at a house party.

Let’s fix that.