The wife (no pics) and I are only occasional wine drinkers, and imbibe more red than white. But she does have a fondness for "old school" (at least from a California standpoint) Chardonnay, i.e., buttery, oaky, malolactic fermentation up the wazoo Chardonnay. That style is obviously no longer the trend, and it frustrates her whenever she tastes a new Chardonnay and gets nothing but bright, minerally, stone-fruit tasting notes ("If I wanted something that tastes like sauvignon blanc, I'd order sauvignon blanc!") My understanding is that the newer trend of lighter, more fruit-forward Chardonnay is actually more like the classic European Chardonnays and thus is actually more "old school" than the butter bombs that California produced back in the 1990's and early aughts, but that's not what she likes, so . . .
Surly wine gurus, please recommend me some buttery, oaky Chardonnay, preferably $50 or less. I keep seeing Rombauer popping up when I do some online investigation, along with labels like Far Niente, Frank Family, and Hamilton Russell. Any others I need to be looking at?