The girls and I had our Chrismukkah gift exchange last night with delicious takeout from North Berkeley’s Gregoire: gorgeous seared white tuna, scallop kabobs and potato puffs with aioli dipping sauce.

A bevy of wines could stand up to this menu but Farnoosh is big on Chardonnay and had the hardest day at work, so I opened up a 2005 Gundlach Bundschu Chardonnay Rhinefarm Vineyards ($25).

I served it uber cold to mask any oak but found that even when it warmed up a bit, a bolt of acidity balanced the round and creamy mouthfeel. The wine had a lovely finish, and reminded me of pineapple creme brulee. Only 30 percent of this wine undergoes malolactic fermentation, so it’s not over the top.

My friend Michael loves elegant yet full flavored Chardonnay — not oaky, mind you. Michael, if you’re reading, pick up this wine.

Stop the presses. Er, make that the blogging tool. At the recent California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition, Charles Shaw’s 2005 Chardonnay was named the best in the state. Yes, it beat out about 350 other Chards from every price point.

That’s right C-heads, good old Two Buck ($1.99, actually) Chuck. I thought the whole Chuck model was to introduce people — young people who don’t have a lot of money — to wine, and once they realize it’s something they can have on their table every night and not just for special occasions, they would move up, to say, a $6 bottle of Bogle.

But no. It continues to sell. In fact, the exclusive Trader Joe’s line accounted for a whopping 8 percent of wines sold in California last year. That’s crazy! Chuck, released by vintner Fred Franzia, just celebrated its fifth anniversary and 300 millionth bottle. It’s like the Big Mac of wine!

I can see why people are calling it the Judgment of California. A penny for Grgich’s thoughts. And I have to agree with Laurie Daniel of the San Jose Mercury News. I bet the reason it won is because wine judges, like critics, taste, vote and probably pee in opinionated herds.

Oaky, butter bomb Chardonnays have been out for almost five years. Younger California winemakers keen on the millennial palate have been making crisp, fresh, fruity and food-friendly Chards for a while now. They’re certainly not complex, but they sell, because they’re cheap and have nifty marketing and bright funky animals on their labels.

Wine judges have to be oh-so-cool and up on these sorts of trends and industry fluctuations. Another reason Chuck could’ve won is their lack of consistency. While I’m not too familiar with their Chardonnay, I can say that, bottle to bottle, their reds are totally off.

I recall loving a bottle of the Cabernet in college, then getting a headache off it the second day. A Merlot was practically a different wine - lush, silky - the third night I drank it. And the first Thanksgiving that they released the Gamay Beaujolais, my friend Jenny and I split a case, we liked it so much. The second year it tasted like Robitussin.

Point made?

Alright people, I promise this is the last time I write about Chardonnay for a while. And to think, this time last year I was a snooty, practically red-only wine drinker.

Last night, my monthly wine club met at my place. I got off to a late start preparing for the crew of 12, as I hit the Persian New Year party at The Regency Center the night before. We Persians know how to party.

Anyway, I offered a selection of Chard-friendly cheeses, like gruyere and a medium brie, with a cherry and pecan topping; an olive, tomato and havarti lavash tart; endives filled with blue cheese pecan spread; and potato nachos. All in all a delicious and cheesalicious evening.

On to the wines. We bagged and tasted blind 8 unoaked chardonnays. I chose the theme to see if the butter would remain when the oak was taken out of the winemaking process. In addition to no oak, some of the wines also didn’t go through malolactic fermentation. Some did. All the wines were less than $20 and were a combination of Old and New World. I was surprised there was no representation from Chile.

These were our top three:

Omrah 2004 Unoaked Chardonnay: $18. Grapes hailing from two locations, the Adelaide Hills region of southern Australia famed for it’s cooler, high altitude climate that yield crisp, vibrant whites and the warmer Geographe region. Fermented in stainless steel. Nectarine on the nose, lime on the palate. Refreshing and delicious.

Nepenthe 2005 Unoaked Chardonnay: $16. Hailing from the same two regions of southern Australia. No malolactic fermentation. Pale yellow color and delicious pear aroma. Parker gave it 90 points.

Macon-Villages Louis Jadot Chardonnay. $13. Why can’t we learn from the French? Don’t fuss with the variety and watch it bloom. This white Burgundy came in third and had a medium finish that we all insisted was elongated by the cheeses. You can find the wine at Wine Thieves in Lafayette.

My wine club meets at my house this month. As such, I’ve picked the theme: Unoaked Chardonnay. It’s so hip right now, I decided to get a bunch of these bottles together and see if they really are the antithesis of a buttery Crescent Roll, and instead more like a Pinot Blanc, crisp and honeyed, with notes of roasted nuts. The big producers of this type of Chardonnay come from Chile, New Zealand and Australia, of course, but Napa’s hopping on the bandwagon.

A nice expression of the style is Nickel & Nickel’s Truchard Vineyard Chardonnay. It’s got the price of a snooty Chard ($38) but even though the label doesn’t say anything about no malolactic fermentation, the taste says it all. It’s still rich and creamy but with enough vanilla, earth and crispy citrus to balance it out. Give it a try, and I’ll report back on Monday about the 5 or so official unoaked Chards we’ll be trying.

Today, Inspired by Rob W., an Arkansas wine blogger at 365 Corks, I feel the need to discuss Chardonnay. Rob’s got a half dozen Chards in his March postings alone. And, when savoring a gorgeous crab Louie salad at a San Francisco luncheon honoring Dame Vivienne Westwood over the weekend, all I could think about was the bottle of 2005 Clos Du Val Chardonnay I had chilling at home, and how smashing the two would’ve been together. Much like the Dame and her Sex Pistols.

You can taste Clos Du Val’s new vintage in the winery now, but to buy a bottle ($22), you’ve got to wait until April 1. Here’s why you should, and do so in an excited, geeky fashion, where you email your friends and say things like, “11 days until CDV’s Chard comes out!’:

1. Because, like me, you enjoy California Chardonnay when it’s made by a Frenchman in a Burgundian style.

2. You like a green tinge, both in color and flavor, to your Chards.This one shines like melted citrine and peridot.

3. You believe that Chardonnay can taste like a crisp, fresh fruit tart rather than butter-saturated toast from Denny’s.

4. You plan to eat a lot of shellfish this season and need require quality, affordable quaffage that doesn’t have an animal on the label.

Was anyone besides me wondering what the wine was that spilled out of the truck on Hwy. 680 yesterday? Unfortunately, it was  pretty good stuff: The Big Paw Chardonnay and Howling Syrah of Santa Maria’s Ambuellneo Vineyards, a favorite of sommeliers at Gary Danko, Michael Mina, Fifth Floor, French Laundry and Martini House. That’s quite a list, eh? I talked to owner Greg Linn yesterday and confirmed. They lost 7 cases of chard and 5 cases of syrah headed for shipment to their mailing list. The latter is particularly painful, as they only made 100 cases of the syrah.

So the Judgment will not die, as several people have asked me for a full lists of the young wines. Here’s the list below, complete with prices. Cheers. Oh, and salut. Don’t forget to note the broad price differences, even within varietals.

Chardonnay:

Talley Rosemary’s Vineyard 2002, $45; Patz & Hall Hyde Vineyard 2004, $50; Ramey Hyde Vineyard 2002, $56; Mount Eden 2002, $35; Chateau Montelena 2003, $38; Peter Michael Point Rouge, $175.

Cabernet Sauvingnon:

Clos du Val Reserve 2000, $95; Shafer Hillside Select 2001, $175; Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23 2001, $160; Joseph Phelps Insignia 2002, $175; Ridge Monte Bello 2000, $120; Staglin Family Vineyard 2001, $170.

Red Bordeaux:

Chateau Montrose 2000, $150; Chateau Latour 2000, $600; Chateau Haut-Brion 2000, $600; Chateau Leoville-las-Cases 2001, $90; Chateau Margaux 2000, $600; Chateau Rauzan Segla 2000, $95.

White Burgundy:

Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Pucelles 2002 Domain Leflaive, $160; Mersault Premier Cru Charmes 2002 Domaine Roulot, $250; Beaune Premier Cru Clos des Mouches 2002 Domaine Drouhin, $70; Batard Montrachet Premier Cru Les Caillerets 2002 Louis Jadot, $65; Corotn-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2003 Donaime Bonneau du Martay, $95.

Another not-to-be-missed winemaker’s dinner on June 6. This time, with Karl Wente, the young, fifth-generation winemaker over at Wente who made that Nth Degree stuff that’s doing so well. Karl will be leading the dinner — we’ve heard he’s quite well-versed in vineyard management, so we’re pretty excited. The menu helps too: Starts with a reception at 7 p.m. of ratatouille and spicy rock shrimp. Dinner begins at 7:30 p.m. with chilled melon soup, pan-seared halibut with risotto and a buttermilk vanila bean panna cotta for dessert. Respective wines to be featured include reserve chardonnay, reisling, reserve pinot noir and reserve zinfandel. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased by calling Rachel at 925-952-2639. See you there!

I’ll no doubt be thinking and talking about the Judgment of Paris rematch for a long time to come. It was a surreal day, and I was in the company of the world’s great master sommeliers. It was a pretty tense atmosphere, and it made me sad that wine has become such big business that people couldn’t just sit back and enjoy the world’s best spirits. Ironic. Cool moment: I was asked to be an honorary taster in a blind tasting of the young vintage whites and reds from Bordeaux, Burgundy and California. I took my seat and to my surprise, there was Margrit Mondavi on my right and Tony Terlato, owner Sanford Winery, on my left. We swirled and sipped and compared notes, especially on the nose (beautiful jalapeno) of what turned out to be Clos Du Val’s Reserve 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon. At one point, Mrs. Mondavi pulled out a small, old diary that had a sticker on it: 1976. She opened it up to May 25, 1976 and read about her reaction to the original Judgment announcement that fateful day. She, her husband, and their Napa contingency were on a tour of Bordeaux chateaux with Jim Barrett when he got the call. "We were jumping up and down and hugging each other," she told me, looking far away. "But I don’t think it really hit us until much later."

Her story gave me goosebumps and made me think of the cultural signifance of wine and food, and it’s role in shaping the way we view ourselves.

This whole Judgement of Paris rematch on May 24 has got me thinking — why just France and Napa? Why not the Judgement of Australia, and the Judgement of Germany? If the historic 1976 blind tasting did anything, it opened up competition and notoriety of world class winemaking to regions outside of France, so why, each decade, do we keep rehashing the competition?

For those of you who haven’t heard, 30 years ago this month a monumental thing happened in the industry. In a blind tasting, nine French judges voted a Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars cabernet and a Chateau Montelena Chardonnay (both Napa wines) superior to a blessed Bordeaux and a French white Burgundy. Back then, saying a California wine was better than a French one was simply heresy. Things have clearly changed.

Folks at Copia, along with people across the Atlantic, are staging simultaneous reenactments. The event is so huge that some wineries have declined invitations to pour, fearing bad press, or worst, the fate of the French in 1976. I’ll be covering the American side of things and it’ll be interesting to see how our wines have aged (they’ll be tasting the 1973 wines) and also how the younger ones stand up to their French counterparts. I just hope no one faints. Stay tuned.