Our take
Rodney Strong California Chardonnay
- Style
- White wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Grape
- Chardonnay
- Region
- California
- Shelf barcode
- 0087512913257
Our take
What we make of this bottle
Chardonnay is a white grape, behind both still wines and sparkling ones. Official category guides say it can be made without oak for a lighter shape, or given time in oak barrels for more weight.
On flavor, official category guides tie the cooler end to citrus and apple, and riper fruit to stone or tropical fruit. They add that oak and time on the wine's spent yeast can add toast, spice and a rounder texture, though those features are winemaking choices rather than arriving on their own.
Rodney Strong Vineyards says Rod Strong established the winery in Sonoma County in 1959. That year belongs to the company's founding, not to this bottling. On the store record, just 1 rating has come in so far. It averages 5 out of five.
Across eight stores in our September 2026 checks, the price ran as low as $12.99 and as high as $19.99.
Rodney Strong's own site describes its Chardonnay program in Sonoma County terms: the winery says it planted some of the first Chardonnay vines in what became the Chalk Hill AVA in 1962, and it still farms named estate vineyards for the grape there and in Alexander Valley. None of the producer's pages we found describe a Chardonnay bottled under a general 'California' appellation, so we cannot tie this bottle's fruit to Chalk Hill, Sonoma County, or any of the winery's named vineyards; the broader appellation on this label may point to a different, more widely sourced bottling than the winery's Sonoma-focused marketing describes. The Klein Family has owned and run the winery since 1989, thirty years after Rod Strong's original 1959 founding.
Our call: this suits a shopper who trusts Rodney Strong's sixty-plus years in Sonoma County wine more than a crowd of other buyers; the Klein family has run the winery since 1989 and built its Chardonnay reputation on named Sonoma estate vineyards. Pass if you want that reputation to describe the actual bottle in your hand: our record cannot confirm this broader 'California' Chardonnay draws from any of the winery's named vineyards, and just 1 rating has come in so far.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The prices we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$16.99
- Kroger, Cincinnati, OH$12.99
- Ralphs, Long Beach, CA$18.99
- Fred Meyer, Portland, OR$19.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$12.99
- Kroger, Richmond, VA$13.99
- Fry's, Tucson, AZ$14.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$13.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
Sonoma history
Rodney Strong Vineyards says Rod Strong established the winery in Sonoma County in 1959.
Research status
What we are still checking
Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.
Getting to know California.
California on the label is useful provenance but weak detail about place. For these wines, sourcing disclosure, blend construction and house-style consistency carry more decision value than a generic climate paragraph.
What the name means
A state-level appellation, broader than an individual American Viticultural Area. It permits a multi-region blend and does not by itself identify one climate or soil.
How grapes grow here
The state spans cool maritime zones and hot inland valleys. A California designation alone does not reveal which conditions shaped the fruit.
What lies under the vines
At state scale, sourcing and house-style construction matter more than any single soil story.
How large the region is
- Reusable question
- Which counties or AVAs supplied the blend, and did that mix change by release?
Places within the region
- Resolution limit
- County, AVA and vineyard claims begin only when the release names them.
Getting to know Chardonnay.
Chardonnay is a white grape used for still and sparkling wine. It can be made without oak for a lighter shape or fermented and aged in oak for more weight.
Category guide
What to expect in the glass
Official category guides place citrus and apple at the cooler end and stone fruit or tropical fruit in riper examples. Oak and time on the spent yeast can add toast, spice and a rounder texture, but those features are winemaking choices rather than a guarantee.
Sources: New Zealand Winegrowers; Napa Valley Vintners. Checked Aug 10, 2026. See all 116 Chardonnay wines we cover →
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier, and shopper rating. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
- Barcode
- The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
- Method
- Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.