By Steve Hicks

The past years I have written several articles on inexpensive wines and the good values that can be found with a modicum of research. This may have happened because I was too cheap to spring for the good stuff or I believed that was what everyone really wanted to drink. Whatever the reason, it is time to review expensive California chardonnays in the $30-$50 range.

Fifteen years ago, when we were fledging partners in Sarah’s Vineyard, we procured a new, expensive, embossed bottle, adorned it with a fancy gold label, wrapped it in fleur-de-lis tissue and raised the price to $35. It was a handsome package. This price was matched in those days only by Woltner, and it almost put us in a rather unique, lofty position. We might have gotten away with it except the first year of this new package we produced the worst wine we ever made!

I remember a review, “don’t drink it, just look at it.” Well, $30 and up chardonnays are a dime a dozen these days! The difference now is almost all are very good.

Researching an entire vintage and trying to buy the highest-rated wines is often frustrating. The wines are often sold out before they are reviewed. Rather than do that, I bought six wines from respected producers who consistently have good results.

When tasting several bottles at a time, one usually finds a favorite and a least favorite. When one tastes them individually at home or in a restaurant, one might love them all.

This time it was easy to pick the wine least preferred as it was suffering from an overdose of chemicals on the nose and the palate.

The 2000 Neyers, Napa Valley, selling for $31, was not desirable. This had to be a bad bottle as every other Neyers chardonnay I have tasted has been marvelous.

It was hard to choose between first and second best. Paul Hobbs Russian River 1999 at $40 was close but no cigar. It had a perceived sweetness that was probably the oak and a great lingering fruity finish. Hobbs stated the reason he puts his first name as well as his last on the label is that he comes from a family of 13.

The wine of choice was the 2000 Lewis Napa Reserve. This $50 beauty had layers of fruit that were totally balanced on the palate, with a lingering creamy finish. Randy Lewis was an Indy car driver, and his wines are equally racy. However, his label - a black L in an iridescent yellow circle - needs work!

Patz & Hall 2000 Dutton Ranch from Russian River has a good balance of fruit and oak and will only get better with some bottle age. It sells for $36.

Forman 2000 Napa is a pretty hardy mouthful at this stage and would be better next year. It sells for $33.

Another good bottle that could use a year or more was the 1999 Newton Napa Unfiltered. It hasn’t gotten together yet, but all the parts and pieces are there. At the price of $50, drinking it too soon would be a waste.

All these wines were purchased at Draeger’s.

There are many other wines in this price range that are just as reliable. A few of my favorites are Martinelli (yes, they also make apple juice), Testarossa (no, they don’t make Ferraris), Shafer, Talley, Kistler and Beringer.

Steve Hicks, a wine advisor and consultant, is a partner in a winery and has owned a wine shop. He is active local, national and international food and wine sociaties.You can reach him at shicksvine@aol.com. His Vineline column appears in the Town Crier the second Wednesday of each month.