If every $20 Chardonnay were this good, you would not need us to taste through bunches of inexpensive wines looking for a winner. But, since this wholly likeable, rich and impeccably balanced bottling stands apart from the crowd, we are quite happy to have found it. From the first, it smells of ripe apples and green with whiffs of citrus and roasted lemons and nice touch of oak spicing, and it continues in form and fashion across the palate and follows on without letup into its firm and nicely fruited aftertaste.

There are over 2 million cases of the 2008 Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay, all 100% barrel fermented Chardonnay from Jess Jackson's own estate vineyards. This wine displays plenty of tropical fruit, lemon butter, and citrus in a fresh, lively style, with the wood clearly pushed to the background. Hats off to winemaker Randy Ullom, who has been behind this massive winemaking task for many years. This is another hugely successful wine that can be found discounted in the $10-12 range, and should be drunk over the next year. The lowest level of the Kendall-Jackson empire, the Vintner's Reserve series, goes from strength to strength. For consumers hoping to maximize their dollar value, these serious wines are consistent choices. Their Chardonnay has always been good, but dramatic increases in quality have taken place in the Pinot Noir, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon programs.

Vivid yellow. Pungent pear and pit fruit aromas are complicated by hints of spices and herbs. Juicy and penetrating, offering bitter fruit skin and melon flavors and a late jolt of lemon zest. Finishes with good clarity and spicy persistence. This wine's mix of richness and energy will make it flexible at the table.

Amazingly, this 2.3-million case brand is 100 percent estate grown. The '07 is 92 percent barrel-fermented and the integration of the oak and the creamy textures are the best yet for winemaker Randy Ullom, who likes the vintage and feels the minerality is coming to the forefront thanks to going 100 percent estate and effectively eliminating any dodgy lots. Lots of tropical fruit and green apple, with honey, cream and minerality flecked with orange. Love the creamy textures from the vanillin in the French and American oak. Elegant, modern California chardonnay sourced from 100 percent coastal fruit from Santa Barbara (46), Monterey (39) and Mendocino (9) counties.

The '06 has the slightest whiff of lees on the nose that serves to lift the VR out of the realm of the ordinary. Clearly cool fruit, with a tropical bent, 90 percent of the blend is barrel-fermented for 5 months and 61 percent of that ferment occurs in French oak. A treat to sip and packed with honey, melon, pineapple and mineral fruit, and just a hint of butterscotch in the finish - it doesn't get much better than this for $20. Elegant, stylish, modern California chardonnay sourced from 100 percent coastal fruit from Santa Barbara (42), Monterey (38) and Mendocino (8) counties.

There are some terrific values in this portfolio, none better than the 2006 Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay. It is certainly one of the best Chardonnays for the money. This wine, which comes from coastal vineyards owned by Jackson, is 90% barrel-fermented and put through 100% malolactic, which is remarkable given the quantity of wine made. The wine is also consistent unless it is beaten up in the distribution chain or by retailers with questionable storage. Crisp orange marmalade and lemon oil notes as well as some tropical fruits always characterize this wine, which seems to show very little evidence of oak, with gorgeously lush fruit, and zesty acidity in a fresh, lively style. It's a remarkable value...

Nicely concentrated, rich in fruit and filled out with a full measure of creamy oak, this ripe and showy wine admittedly abandons any claim of finesse in its pursuit of richness, but its richness is real and stays the course even as a touch of heat comes on at the finish. To be sure, it is not one to pour as an accompaniment to delicate foods, but it will turn the trick nicely with appropriately flavorful dishes such as baby quail stuffed with wild rice.

Eighty-nine percent of the 2005 Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay Jackson Estates is aged 6 months in barrel with malolactic fermentation, which is pretty amazing considering the quantity and the sources. It is all coastal vineyards owned by Jess Jackson, with Monterey and Santa Barbara fruit composing three-fourths of the blend, and the rest from Mendocino. 2005 continues their streak of top-notch wines. Loads of tropical fruit, surprisingly deep texture, medium body, and wonderful purity results in crisp, elegant, dry Chardonnay. It is ideal for drinking over the next 1-2 years. This is unquestionably one of the world's finest Chardonnay bargains. It is almost too serious for its price point.

Bright yellow. Sexy, full-blown aromas of buttery lees, peach, cantaloupe, flowers and sweet oak. Fat, velvety and sweet, with very ripe tropical fruit and melon flavors and impressive palate presence. Not the last word in refinement but stuffed with flavor. Finishes with very good persistence.

Unbelievably, the VR Chardonnay is made entirely from estate-grown grapes. Look for a ripe, round, fresh and crisp chardonnay with green apple, citrus, peach skin, pear, buttery lees flavours with a floral, orange, buttery finish. Nice elegance and balance with some cool fruit characters. Very attractive style for food or sipping. A triumph of grape growing and winemaking repeated for 24 million bottles.

In what must be the New World's finest value in Chardonnay, there are slightly more than two million cases…for the first time made completely from Jackson Estate vineyards. This is undeniably the finest Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay K-J has yet made. A beautiful nose of orange skins, honeysuckle, and tropical fruit is followed by a medium-bodied effort with terrific fruit, good acidity, a subtle influence of wood, and a crisp finish. It should drink well for another 12-16 months.

Honey, citrus, spicy lees, vanilla, baked apple and pineapple aromas. Round, rich, slightly sweet entry with good acidity and freshness. Good smoky, leesy, vanilla, buttery, baked apple, peach and pineapple flavours. Good intensity with a butterscotch and citrus finish, slightly older style.

Perhaps the finest example of this cuvee yet produced. There are 1.9 million cases, and it is the same wine no matter when it is bottled. Approximately 80% comes from the estate vineyards, and amazingly, the entire cuvee is aged 6.9 months in both French and American oak. Lees stirring is done for about one month. Undeniably the best Chardonnay for the price in the marketplace, it offers notes of crushed minerals, intermixed with lemon custard, orange skins, and tropical fruits. This crisp, medium-bodied, elegant, dry Chardonnay is an astonishing achievement considering the quantity produced as well as its price.

Less weighty with more elegance as well as nuance. It possesses the same aromatic and flavor profiles as the 2002, but is not as generous. It, too, should drink well over the next 1-2 years.

Very tart in acidity, this wine from the cooler parts of Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Sonoma has a green minerally edge to its apple pie flavors. It's well oaked, and long on the spicy finish.

This is tighter and more elegant than the Vintner's Reserve bottling, with citrus leading the way, joined by notes of green apples and pears. It's oily and rich in the mouth, finishing with a toasty flourish of French oak. A solid value.

Tropical fruit flavors (particularly papaya) make the wine bright and crisp on the palate. Those same acids prevail over efforts to soften, including barrel and malolactic fermentation and lees aging, so that the wine maintains a steely, hard backbone. It is not lush, but it is intense.

Another excellent offering is the 2001 Chardonnay Camelot Bench. There are 23,000 cases of this rich, ripe white. It offers abundant amounts of tropical fruits, a hint of honeysuckle, and well-integrated spicy oak.

A wonderful wine showing lemon and green apple flavors framed by high acidity and some dusty tannins. Highlights the cool climate of the appellation. Steely and minerally on the finish.

A delicious mouthful of Chardonnay, from its ripe, floral and fruity aromas to its rich layers of spicy pear, tangerine and nectarine, finishing with a sweet fruit aftertaste.

Fragrant fruit and floral aromas lead to an elegant band of spicy pear, apple, tangerine and apricot flavors that are focused, complex and concentrated. Finishes with a clean, zesty aftertaste. Drink now through 2008.

Medium red, with amber at the rim. Cherry, raspberry, minerals, earth and baking spices on the nose. Supple and suave in the mouth with nicely delineated, rather dry fruit flavors. Finishes with fine tannins and very good persistence. Very well made pinot.

The high acid 2000 Pinot Noir Arrendel Vineyard (from the cool climate Green Valley area) exhibits a dark ruby/purple color along with a huge, intense bouquet of sweet black cherries intermixed with liquid minerals and herbs. Made from frightfully small yields of less than one ton of fruit per acre, this 800-case offering possesses a low pH (high acidity compresses the texture, giving the wine a lean, austere personality), but there is trememdous complexity aromatically. If it fleshes out, it will merit an outstanding rating.

Aromas of pineapple, yellow plum and coconut. Intense flavors of pineapple and stone fruits, given structure by well-integrated acidity. Supple and fairly full, but also quite shapely.