I prefer Long Island to Finger Lakes, which is one reason this one was such a surprise to me. Doing a bit of research, I attribute the overall enjoyable drinking to the 50/50 blend of chardonnay and seyval. Seyval is a North American indigenious white grape, which has done well growing in traditionally cold climates such as upstate New York. It did a good job balancing out some of the butteryness of Chardonnay to present a wine with more sweet fruit flavors. Thus, I don’t believe there was sugar added.

To you point about the price. I admit upfront this wine won’t wine any awards. But, for $8 it is a great find. It falls under the category of “daily drinker,” because it is not necessarily price prohibitive and it will go with a wide variety of food dishes.

If price were no option, I’d go with a blanc sec from Bordeaux or a montrachet from Burgundy as my white of choice. I’m just trying to help folks find an affordable white that doesn’t take like butter-oak kool aid.