23 Jun Bang for the buck warm weather wine! 2015 Coppola Chardonnay
You’re not asking for much. You just want to leave the supermarket with a decent, inexpensive bottle of chardonnay. But as Ringo sang years ago, it don’t come easy. Less-than-$15 chardonnay is a messy, bloated subcategory. So many bottles, so little quality. Amidst the clutter, Coppola’s 2015 Monterey County Chardonnay cuts through.
At Pat The Wine Guy, we apply the “QPR” test to every wine we evaluate. A popular acronym in the wine world, QPR stands for quality/price ratio or, put simply, does the wine deliver a good bang for the buck?
We think this particular Coppola chardonnay does.
The Academy Award winning director, Francis Coppola, got into the wine business in the 80’s. Now there are multiple versions of Coppola chardonnay, coming in at various price points. This one, which is easy to find around town, is less than $15 everywhere, less than $10 at Trader Joe’s.
It’s not too sweet. It isn’t overly-oaked.
Instead, it’s nicely balanced…”pleasant” is a good one-word description.
I didn’t trust my own palate so we poured samples for the guys in the office. They’re beer drinkers first, wine drinkers second. Everyone enjoyed it.
Apply the QPR filter. I think you’ll find that the Coppola separates itself from the sea of sameness on the under-$15 chardonnay shelf.
(Note: we visited the Coppola winery earlier this year. On the assembly line right next to the Coppola chardonnay, we saw bottles of the Kirkland (Costco) Sonoma County chardonnay. We’re not 100% sure, and the winery employees dodged the question, but it appears that this Coppola chard and the Kirkland Sonoma chard are one and the same…just different labels. In any event, the Kirkland version goes for $6.99. And it’s not too bad. You’d be hard pressed to find a better $7 chardonnay.)
As of June 23, we found 2015 Coppola Monterey County Chardonnay at:
EASTSIDE
QFC NE 56th & Burnside $13.99 Safeway Rose City $12.59
Trader Joe’s Hollywood $9.99 QFC NE 33rd Irvington $13.99
Fred Meyer Hollywood $12.99 New Seasons Hollywood $12.99
Fred Meyer Hawthorne $12.99 Safeway Hawthorne $12.59
WESTSIDE
Safeway NW Lovejoy $12.59 Fred Meyer Stadium $12.99
Trader Joe’s NW Everett $9.99 QFC Barnes & Miller $13.99
Safeway Cornell Rd. $12.59 Fred Meyer Walker Rd. $12.99
Fred Meyer Beaverton $12.99 Trader Joe’s Beaverton $9.99
Fred Meyer Raleigh Hills $12.99
SOUTH
Fred Meyer SW Barbur $12.99 Safeway SW Barbur $12.59
Trader Joe’s Lake Oswego $9.99 Safeway Lake Oswego $9.99
Fred Meyer Tualatin $12.99