Sonoma-Cutrer The Cutrer Chardonnay

Price first, then, since that is the number a shopper actually weighs at the shelf. In our September 2026 checks it sat between $32.99 and $40.99. The wine behind those tags is a Chardonnay, and Chardonnay is worth a second look, because it can be made into two rather different wines.

Official category guides say that, fermented and aged in oak, it can gain weight and a rounder feel, while made without oak it can stay lighter; they link the flavors to ripeness, citrus where the fruit is cooler, stone fruit or tropical notes where it is riper. By now, 4 shoppers have scored it at 5 stars on average. That puts it above the 4.71 midpoint of the 483 rated wines.

Sonoma-Cutrer's own page for this label, and a technical sheet from its distributor, The Duckhorn Portfolio, answer the question the record raised: this Chardonnay, from the Cutrer Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, is made entirely from Chardonnay grapes, fully put through malolactic fermentation, and aged for 14 months in French oak, the choice that layers on the oak character the category guides describe. The distributor's sheet lists 13.8 percent alcohol and a total acidity of 6.3 grams per litre, both dry-white numbers in the normal range for the style. That same sheet credits the wine with 92 points from JamesSuckling.com, though the sheet's own notation for the score is ambiguous about which vintage it reviewed. The producer's site lists this wine at $36 and the distributor's sheet lists a suggested retail price of $34, a two-dollar gap between the two accounts that neither source explains.

Our call: the bottle for a shopper paying up for the classic oaked Russian River style with the paperwork to match; the producer's and distributor's sheets confirm full malolactic fermentation and fourteen months in French oak, exactly the richer shape the guides describe. Pass if you want the crowd's confirmation before spending at this level; four perfect scores are a start, not a settled record.

The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.