Arizona Stronghold Dala Chardonnay 6-Pack
$59.99 $132.00 55% off List Price
2012 Arizona Stronghold Dala Chardonnay
CT link above
I had this a couple of nights back with some lighter Cajun food and then finished it tonight while making dinner with a friend.
I was curious about the wine as I have never had a wine from Arizona and to sum it up I will just say I found it rather unremarkable. Neither interesting nor offensive. It went just fine with the Cajun food, a little more acid would have cut the heat of the food some but it didn’t hurt the meal in any way.
The wine is pale and somewhat of a muted straw color. It’s clear and free of sediment. The nose was not extremely expressive I got a bit of green apple and that’s about it. i didn’t get even a hint of oak on this although I noticed the specs shows some neutral oak was used.
On the tongue the wine is dry and surprisingly lighter bodied for a Chardonnay. No noticeable tannins and the overall balance seems good. The wine might have been better with a little more acid bite (crispness) however as the wine warmed the tartness seemed to rise with the temperature. I preferred the wine colder. For the finish I would put it at medium length. I did not detect any signs of MF but the winery can answer that question. I also did not detect any heat, the wine holds its alcohol well.
I really drink very little Chardonnay but I have had great examples of both good and bad glasses of it. This is neither.
Its a little bland and tough to describe but pleasant enough. At this woot price I would be happy with the wine. I don’t think I would seek it out but at this price but I do see the value.
From yesterday’s offer…
Hmm, last time Arizona Stronghold was offered there were 16 states on the ship-to list, including NY. This time there are 15 states and NY isn’t one of them. Three days in a row with no NY.
Oversight, or…?
I pinged the guys to check it out. It may be that it’s not available for NY this time around or we might just have missed it. Updates to come.
UPDATE: Sounds like NY was not included in the ‘eligible list’. Sorry. 
This is not looking good…
According to the winery website:
“We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are currently unable to ship wine to the state you have selected.”
…so it’s probably not a Woot! shipping issue. Looks more like a winery license (or lack thereof) issue.
Chardonnay, it’s not just for breakfast anymore! Well, today it was…
Never had an Arizona wine before but I’m the adventurous type when it comes to food and drink so I was eager to taste this. For reference, I drink more reds than whites. As far as Chardonnay, I prefer those with “restrained” oak (vs un-oaked), Wellington is one of my favorites.
Straight out of the fridge at 7:30 a.m. The wine is rather pale for a Chardonnay. Not much nose at all. First sip is very crisp, more like a Pinot Grigio. I got some tart apple, DH gets citrus. Let it warm for just a few minutes. Ah, that’s better. Swirled a bit and stuck my nose down into the glass and got a hint of apple (DH says maybe pear, but I think that’s a stretch), but we agree there is not much aroma at all. Second sip (up just a few degrees), taste is more like a Chard, but a light one, with just the tiniest hint of oak, but still more tart apple than anything else. There was a bit of the “roundness” (I think that is the correct word for the mouth-feel I sense) that I’m used to in Chardonnay, but not a lot.
Overall we agree that it was an OK Chardonnay, and would be as happy with this many of the Chardonnays available locally for $12. It is probably better than most of the grocery store $10 bottles.
Glad our notes look like we drank the same wine. (That doesn’t always happen)
Also glad to see the breakfast duties. What would be a ideal breakfast pairing with this particular chard? I would go for maybe a Denver omelet or a savory quiche.
Well, it is Sunday. Seems like a good enough reason to me.
Have any food with it, or just a liquid breakfast?
Well, I haven’t had this Chardonnay, but the Stronghold Mandala (red blend) is quite tastey. The Tool singer seems to know how to make a good red.
The plus offers are all available to NY, so I’m thinking this is an issue just for the last couple wines.
No food, just enough of the Chardonnay to post notes. Will have more this afternoon with some noshes and circle back.
Agree that a savory quiche may have paired well, but alas, there was no quiche.
I approve of the use of one of my Chargers for the pictorial portion of your post. 
Had the rest of the bottle this afternoon with some cheeses, Vella Mezzo Secco and some gruyere. Did nothing for the Vella but did play nice with the gruyere. I was thinking that it would do well with a Brie or a chèvre. Tasting notes on the wine itself were the same as this morning.
Info post:
All tasting notes for this wine have been cross posted into CT under user name wine.woot_taster. User names have been removed to protect the guilty. PM me if you want your tasting note removed or user name added back.
Thanks and back to the wineing.