HURLEY'S RESTAURANT HOUSE CHARDONNAY

From Eileen:
I don't usually go around rating a restaurant's house wine. But the chardonnay at Hurley's Restaurant is arguably the best house chard I've ever tasted. Hints of pear, green apple, citrust, lemon....a light to medium body, slightly malo, and slightly green (acidity). Well-balanced despite a touch of biterness at the end of the finish. Excellent house chard at $5-$6 a glass (the former priced when having the "Vintner's Lunch" special). It was also served at the perfect temperature (the first time I ever recall saying that about any one's "house" wine).

This was my first visit to Hurley's Restaurant & Bar, 6518 Washington, in Yountville. They apparently have daily "Vintner's Lunch" specials which, at $15 a meal, is arguably the best fine bargain in Napa Valley. Today, that lunch was two-courses. You could choose between a first course of either a soup of Asian pear and curry or goat cheese-stuffed squash blossoms, and between a second course of a Mediterranean fish stew or steak with truffle-infused mashed potatoes and yellow and green beans. A BARGAIN.