Some would say that Kendall-Jackson (or “KJ” as it is sometimes called) created or at least stimulated America’s love-affair with Chardonnay with their “Vintner’s Reserve” decades ago. It has since become this country’s best-selling Chardonnay for 25 years, according to their website. The 2017 continues that streak with a silky and round fruitiness and hints of spice. Though devoid of riveting acidity, it has enough to add brightness to the wine. This well-priced Chardonnay would be a good choice as an aperitif, as in, “I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay,” or at the table with simply done fish.

This is a good, reliable unoaked style of wine that will please a lot of different drinkers. It has mild pear and apple aromas, fresh-tasting fruit flavors and a good lively texture that refreshes the mouth.

Baked apple and dried apricot flavors dominate this easygoing style. The spicy finish shows hints of caramel.

87 points.

Ripe tropical fruit and melon aromas from the eco-friendly, recyclable plastic cork. Expect ripe fruited aromas of tropical fruit and melon, with whiffs of pineapple, banana and butter of modest intensity. It's a little sweet on the medium-bodied palate, some creaminess, and appealing notes of vanilla, pineapple and tropical fruit flavours with some sweet oak in the background. It has fresh, clean acids and a lingering, juicy finish. Serve with only a light chill. Score: 87 pts

Polished aromas of roasted nuts, sea salt, Meyer lemon peel and onion skin show on the nose of this widely available bottling from the Chardonnay kings. The sip is a little bit flat in terms of texture and acidity, but there are compelling and satisfying flavors of roasted walnuts and pecans, with a citrusy acidity that rises toward the finish.

Richly spiced, with ripe apple, pear tart and dried apricot flavors. Buttery notes carry through to the creamy finish, with dried savory herb accents.

They’ve added a new twist to the inexpensive Chardonnay category, with 85,000 cases of the 2015 Chardonnay Avant, which comes from Monterey, Santa Barbara, Mendocino and Sonoma, but all from coastal estate vineyards owned by the Jacksons. Fifty percent is fermented in neutral wood and 50% in tank. It is meant to provide consumers with a naked expression of Chardonnay fruit in an elegant, clean, fresh, delicious style. They clearly satisfy that need in a brilliant way, as this wine offers up loads of pineapple and peach notes, good acidity, and a clean, zesty, energized finish. Drink it over its first year.

The 2014 Chardonnay Avant, their naked version of Chardonnay fermented in neutral wood and stainless-steel tanks. There are 151,000 cases of this beauty that comes from Sonoma, Monterey, Mendocino and Santa Barbara. The wine shows crisp, elegant, pure pear and tropical fruit notes (including pineapple), medium body and good purity, acidity and liveliness. It’s a rather amazing wine for the price and the quantity.

The 2013 Chardonnay Avant presents attractive lemon, citrus, floral and buttery notes, all in a soft, supple style intended for near-term drinking. Originally introduced as an alternative to the flagship Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay, the Avant is less differentiated today than it used to be, part of that also a reflection to tone down some of the more overt notes in the Vintner's Reserve. Still, readers will find a tasty, highly affordable wine that showcases the livelier side of Chardonnay.

The slightly more expensive 2013 Chardonnay Avant comes from their vineyards in Santa Barbara, Mendocino and Monterey. Half of it’s fermented in neutral oak and the balance in stainless steel. But again, the emphasis is on fresh, melony, apple-skin and vague tropical fruits in an uncomplicated and naked, zesty style. This is medium-bodied and there are 160,000 cases of it. These wines are meant to be drunk in their first 12-16 months of life after release.

The 2013 Chardonnay Vintner’s Reserve, which is 90% barrel-fermented with 100% malolactic fermentation, represents a whopping 3 million cases. The consistency and quality of this wine from year to year is remarkable. Forty percent is sourced from their vineyards in Monterey, 35% from Santa Barbara and the rest from Mendocino and Sonoma. It all comes from estate sources, and is creamier and more fruit-driven, showing some vanilla and toast, but still emphasizing notes of peach, honeysuckle and pineapple in a fruity, exuberant, fresh, surprisingly complex and intriguing style.

Features flavors centered on white flower, white peach, spice, honeysuckle and spice. Easy to enjoy.

Smoke, butter, pastry and tropical fruit meld together in the 2012 Chardonnay Vintner's Reserve, a tasty, budget-friendly wine to drink over the next few years. Every time I look at the production numbers of the Vintner's Reserve I am stunned. Kendall-Jackson makes 2.23 million cases of this wine. In case you are wondering, when the lees are stirred here, it means 4,400 barrels are touched every day.

Graced with a light touch of sweet oak and mildly suggestive of fresh butter with a constant complement of fairly juicy, ever-so-slightly-candied apples as its major motif, this one may not vie with its more serious cousins in terms of depth or complexity, yet it tastes and feels like real Chardonnay. It is both bright and balanced with welcome acidity diminishing the effects of its very slight residual sugar, and it is tasty and affable right to the end. GOOD VALUE

Smooth, fresh and juicy with ripe flavors and clean, lively fruit; balanced and simple with charm and style.

The 2011 Chardonnay Avant is another tasty, accessible, entry-level white. Lemon, pastry and white flowers all take shape in the glass. The Avant is aged 60% in steel, which is meant to differentiate it from the flagship Vintner's Reserve in this part of the price range, but I don't see quite the distinctiveness this wine showed last year. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2016.

The 2010 Chardonnay Vintner's Reserve wraps around the palate with layers of expressive fruit. Butterscotch, spices, flowers and hazelnuts add complexity. This is another fabulous value. The entire 2,000,000 case production is made from estate-owned vineyards, which is simply mind-boggling to contemplate. Frequent lees-stirring and aging in French oak barrels impart a level of textural richness that is uncommon for a wine in this price range. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2014.

This marriage of Central Coast fruit adds up to a rounded, amicable and impeccably clean wine that goes right to the varietal point with its ripe-apple aromas and like-minded flavors. It is never an especially complex wine, and it reveals little in the way of real layering, but it is an open and easy-to-taste one that hangs on to its fruit to the end.

Vintner's Reserve is the K-J signature Chardonnay, loaded with ripe tropical flavors and hints of sweet fruit and vanilla. Barrel fermented and aged on the lees, the wine has ample toasted oak, simple ripe pineapple flavors, modest 13.5% alcohol and a rounded fruity finish. Vintner's Reserve is the more overt style of the duo of K-J value Chardonnays.

Made in the familiar style that is K-J Vintner's Reserve, this Chardonnay shows pineapple, lemondrop, mineral and spice flavors balanced with crisp coastal acidity.

While we very much like the sweet mix of apples, honey and oak found in this very ripe and outgoing effort, we are also cognizant of the heat and edgy acidity that conspire to coarsen its finish. All the same, the wine gets full commendation for its fundamental richness, and it will live up to its promise if allowed a chance to more fully knit with a year or two in the bottle.

This likeable wine wins recommendation by virtue of balance and clearly defined fruit, and, while it may not be the biggest or most complex Chardonnay to be had, its very clean lines and juicy nature make it a versatile choice for broiled fish or simply grilled chicken.

The 2002 Grand Reserve Chardonnay exhibits a better balance between its fruit and oak. It offers notes of tropical fruits and orange marmalade along with medium body as well as good purity and ripeness.

Scents of sweet apples and toasted oak barrels feature in this bottling's medium-intensity aromas, and its rounded, slightly viscous feel on the palate provides a comfortable platform for the somewhat beamy flavors that follow. It is ready now.