Our take
Smoking Loon Unoaked Steelbird Chardonnay California White Wine
- Style
- White wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Grape
- Chardonnay
- Region
- California
- Shelf barcode
- 0017444000893
Our take
What we make of this bottle
Smoking Loon's Steelbird, which had a single regular price on record in our August 2026 checks, $10.99, is a California Chardonnay named for what was left out. With this grape, that absence is a real decision. Our grape research describes Chardonnay as a grape made along two paths: kept from oak, the wine stays lighter; fermented or aged with oak, it can take on more weight. Unoaked in the name stakes this bottle to the first path.
Don Sebastiani & Sons lists Steelbird as part of its Smoking Loon range. For the fruit, official category guides sort Chardonnay by ripeness, citrus and apple at the cooler end, stone fruit or tropical fruit in riper examples, and they count oak's toast and spice, along with the rounder feel that time on spent yeast can give, as winemaking choices rather than anything the grape guarantees. We do not have a shopper rating for this wine. Where in California the grapes were grown is not confirmed.
If the toast and added weight that oak can bring are what you would rather skip in a Chardonnay, this bottle's name is a plain claim to have left them out. As of August 2026, Don Sebastiani & Sons named Alec McTaggart as the winemaker.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Aug 14, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The price we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Store listing$10.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
Winemaker
Don Sebastiani & Sons lists Steelbird Chardonnay in the Smoking Loon range and names Alec McTaggart as winemaker.
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.
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier. 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.