Foxen Steel Cut - Bien Nacido Vineyard Chardonnay (Santa Maria Valley) 2012

We're watching the second day of the NFL draft. For dinner tonight I made grilled chicken breasts with an arugula/fennel salad out of the new Paleo Perfected cookbook. Primo. I've been cooking out of this book for a couple of weeks and every recipe has been outstanding, but this one is especially good. (Hint: Add the fennel fronds to the dressing and spoon a little dressing over the chicken before serving.) I poured this Foxen Chardonnay, which made a great match for the dinner, probably because isn't swimming in oak.

On the nose, there's an interesting--but very hard to pin down--herbal note, as well as honeydew melon, orange, Meyer lemon. The palate follows. Long finish. The absence of over-powering oak and bright acidity made it much more food friendly than most California Chardonnays.

Grade: 91