Bota Box Nighthawk Gold Buttery Chardonnay White Wine California
- Winner of more than 50 Best Buy awards from Wine Enthusiast
- Each 3 Liter Nighthawk Gold by Bota Box contains 4 bottles of Buttery Chardonnay wine
- Rich aromas of toasted oak, butterscotch, and honey finish with a creamy texture and rich, buttery flavor
- Distinctive white wine pairs with chilled shrimp cocktail and grilled tarragon chicken
Nighthawk Gold Buttery Chardonnay White Wine, California
Flavor soars with Nighthawk Gold wines by Bota Box. Packaged using sustainable materials and a resealable spout that keeps light and air out, you can enjoy quality wines anywhere, anytime for up to 30 days after opening. Be ready for whatever adventure comes your way with the bolder, richer expressions of your favorite white wines, backed by the renowned quality, taste, value, and eco-friendly packaging of Bota Box.
Opening Instructions: 1. Open panel: Lay box flat with perforated opening facing upwards. Press down firmly on round tab. Next, press in the perforated sides and pull open the large panel without tearing it off. 2. Pull tab: Reach in like you own this wine and pull the tap out of the box by its base, sliding the first groove of the tap over the edge of the box. 3. Lock tab: Tuck large panel into first groove, locking the tap into place, with spout pointing down for pouring. 4. Peel foil: Almost there. Now peel off the protective foil. 5. Voila! Press tap to begin pouring and enjoy responsibly.Once open stays fresh for up to 30 days.
Chardonnay Styles For Everyone
I am not a buttery Chardonnay type of person. I love the crisp, citrus, concentration without viscosity, subtle floral and tropical fruit Chardonnays that the grape itself can provide without adding oak or over-oaking, says Odila Galer-Noel, founder of PRonCall. The butteriness makes it too heavy and opulent for me to enjoy more than one glass.
Its that opulence that makes richer styles of Chardonnay so enjoyable to others, like Ostrander, who appreciates the fact that buttery Chardonnay can be both refreshing on a hot day, and hearty enough to keep you interested.
While Quider likes to drink unoaked Chardonnays in warmer weather, she cant deny creamy, buttery, richer styles of the wine are still appealing to many.
I truly believe that Chardonnay is the queen of all wines, she says. And no matter your preference, I feel like there are more options to satisfy all types of customers. Theres truly something for everyone.
Bottles to try:
Big Buttery Chardonnays Youll Want To Keep Drinking
The rich, creamy wine is loved and hated heres why
Illustration by Irina Perju.
The beauty of Chardonnay is that it can be crafted in a number of styles, each with its own flavors. But for some drinkers, its Chardonnay with the creamy, rich flavors of butter and vanilla that they crave a style that others wouldnt drink if you paid them.
Back in the 80s, Chardonnay was a favorite among wine drinkers. Top winemakers were creating well-balanced wines that offered hints of buttery barrel fermentation characters. However, as the wine style grew in popularity, some wineries began to churn out coarser wines, where butter and oak dominated the flavor profile. Buttery Chardonnay became a cash cow.
A backlash was inevitable. By the mid-1990s, an entire movement dubbed ABC, aka Anything but Chardonnay, was launched. According to some, ABC was an effort to push back against the style and challenge people to try other types of white wine.
Today, American wine drinkers are enjoying a cornucopia of grapes, styles, and flavors, and balance and elegance in wine are highly sought after.
Yet buttery Chardonnay is still flying off the shelves. To understand why, it helps to take a closer look at Chardonnay itself.
The world of Chardonnay
- Where does Chardonnay come from
- Why Chardonnay is a popular category
- How Chardonnay gets its diverse flavors
- Chardonnay styles for everyone
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Where Does Chardonnay Come From
Chardonnay hails from the French region Burgundy, where some of the worlds most sought out and costly bottles of the wine can be found. A green-skinned grape, Chardonnay is the darling white wine of the most prestigious regions of Burgundy, including areas in Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune. Its also found in Champagne, where it is used to make sparkling wines.
It made its American debut in 1882, when Charles Wetmore, Californias first agriculture commissioner, brought cuttings to California from Frances Meursault. Nearly 100 years later, California Chardonnay proved itself when it beat its Burgundy cousins in the seminal 1976 blind tasting now known as the Judgment of Paris.
To no ones surprise, Californias victory resulted in increased consumer demand for Chardonnay throughout the 1980s. That ultimately led to an uptick in plantings across the state, including at some wineries that werent so focused on quality.
What Is The Famous Wine Region Featured In The Movie Sideways
Thats Santa Barbara.
The greatest attribute of Sideways is that it promoted Pinot Noir, which became very popular because of the movie.
The region of Santa Barbara offers a great variety of unique tasting options with over 120 different wineries to choose from. This region is off-the-beaten-track, but should not be underestimated. Sideways drew much-needed attention to this region and all that it has to offer.
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Bota Box Mini Nighthawk Gold Buttery California Chardonnay
Heres a Chardonnay thats as easy to drink as it is to open. One of Bota Boxs most popular boxed wine varieties, this single-serving boxed Chardonnay hits the mark for simplicity all while maintaining a rich and complex profile. Intense aromas of toast slathered in warm butter lead, while the palate is saturated with green orchard fruit nuances. Cleansing acidity balances out all of the flavor intensity through the quick but enjoyable finish.
Chalk Hill Estate Chalk Hill Ava Chardonnay
This wine, made in Sonomas Chalk Hill appellation, has both fruity aromas of crisp apple and orange blossoms as well as fragrances of vanilla and toasted marshmallow. Its creamy and rich on the palate, a product of the malolactic fermentation and the 11 months spent in French and new oak barrels.
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Why Chardonnay Is A Popular Category
Chardonnay is the most planted variety in the U.S. When it comes to sales figures, Cabernet Sauvignon was the number one wine in volume and value in 2020, with $3.2 billion in sales compared to Chardonnays $2.8 billion, according to Nielsen data.
Its a versatile grape with many expressions, from peach and apricot flavors, to wines with tropical flavors. It can be oaked or unoaked, and can be made in styles from simple to rich and complex. Today, many of the bottles on store shelves are much leaner than the rich and oaky Chardonnays of the past. And yet, there are still plenty of wines to be found that offer more than a hint of movie theater popcorn.
I love buttery Chards these days, says Jason Ostrander, a fitness trainer living in New York City. Its nostalgic to the taste that got me into wine in the first place. I had it at a country club in Michigan where I worked and could actually taste fruits and vanilla.
How Chardonnay Gets Its Diversity Of Flavors
One of the beauties of Chardonnay is that its not hard to grow, and it will mirror its terroir, the environment the wine is produced in.
The grape can thrive in cool climate regions from France to Oregon, where it displays more pronounced acidity. Chardonnay also grows in warmer areas like California, South Africa, or South Australia, where it ripens faster and shows more of the fruits natural sweetness. Volcanic, chalky, limestone soils? Higher chance that the grapes will exude mineral characteristics.
There are also dozens of Chardonnay clones, each yielding different flavor profiles. Thats one reason its possible to find lush tropical examples alongside crisp, minerally Chardonnays.
Chardonnay clones are like apples. There are tart green apples. Theres Fuji. Theres Red Delicious. Theyre all apples, but they dont necessarily taste the same, says Sarah Quider, head winemaker for Foley Family Wines, which produces labels like Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery, Chalk Hill Estates, and Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery. Chardonnay is the same in that there are clones of Chardonnay grapes that when you taste them, if the fruit tastes floral, the wine tends to be floral. Same with notes like lemon, citrus, stone fruit.
With so many winemaking options to consider, theres likely a style of Chardonnay that can accommodate any type of palate.
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Elyse Sonoma County Chardonnay
Take one whiff of this Sonoma County Chardonnay made by Elyse Winery and youll be greeted with ample aromas of sweet and toasty apple pie. The mouth is rich and full of orchard and stone fruit nuances supported by crisp acidity. The finish is long and inviting with notes of warm vanilla and a hint of oak.
Buena Vista Carneros Chardonnay
This Chardonnay hails from the Carneros wine region of California. It displays aromas and flavors of lemon and apple while hints of butter and vanilla spice linger in the background. Fresh acidity gives the wine a polished edge that only seems to enhance the rich, voluptuous texture through the finish.
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Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Chardonnay
Produced by Duckhorn Vineyards, this Napa Valley Chardonnay sings with melodies of creamy lemon meringue and stone fruit nuances. On the nose, the wine smells of sweet baked breads, while citrus and peach flavors emerge on the silky palate. Fresh acidity brings it all together for a buttery smooth and long finish.
La Crema Winery Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
If you like your Chardonnay well layered, with fragrances of florals and butterscotch, citrus flavors, and a light touch of oak, then La Cremas Chardonnay is the one for you. Produced from grapes grown in the Sonoma Coast AVA, the wine spends seven months barreled in French, American, and new oak before its bottled and ready to go.
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Which Wine Regions Are In California
From North to South, the main regions are Mendocino, Lake, Napa Valley, Sonoma, Livermore Valley, Lodi, Sierra Foothills, Santa Cruz Mountains, Monterey, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara.
California is a vast region that consists of several smaller wine-producing areas. Although Napa Valley and Sonoma are what California is most known for, the states other regions produce equally outstanding wines.
Napa Valley and Paso Robles are renowned for the bold reds of Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, as well as the scenic wine route which offers unique experiences to wine lovers. On the contrary, Santa Barbara and The Russian River Valley, with conditions more suited to delicate grapes, produce outstanding expressions of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Each of these regions offers a unique take on the wines of California allowing for a greater expression and experience of what the Golden State can truly offer.
Daou Vineyards Paso Robles Chardonnay
DAOU Vineyards makes this wine from Chardonnay grapes grown on its estate in Paso Robles. The wine is vibrant with pronounced aromas of pineapple and green apple that spill out of the bottle. On the palate, the wine is dense and rich with floral and spicy essences of jasmine, nutmeg, and vanilla bean balanced with peach and mango. The finish is long, lush, and mouth-filling with hints of zesty lemon and hazelnut.
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Where In California Is The Wine Country
The Californian wine country is in the North San Francisco Bay area, with over 800 wineries located all along this scenic route. The Bay area encompasses some of the world’s most famous wine regions, including Napa Valley and Sonoma.
The success of these famous regions within the Bay area is largely to do with the sound soil composition and ideal climatic conditions. Each region is fortunate to have a wide range of temperatures and soil types, allowing the brilliant variety of grapes to thrive here.
