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My palate immediately picks up two things in wine:

1) Oak in red wine, which I like very much

2) Malolactic fermentation in white wine, which I dislike

Putting wine in new oak costs money, so it tends to be more expensive wines that have the flavor profile I like. One thing I love about Spanish wine is that if it has 'crianza' or 'reserva' on the label, there's a legal minimum amount of time spent in oak. And they're relatively cheap (especially in Spain!)

Of white wines, it's generally only expensive chardonnays that get malolactic fermentation (which gives it the "buttery" taste, yuck), so it's a win-win for me. There's no reason to spend a lot for white wine.

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This tannic “oak” taste is very often made from small pieces of wood added to the wine. This has been allowed in France for more than 15 years for several wines, is common across EU, and is the norm outside Europe.

It's not mixed in to be clear. The small pieces are still significant in size and filtered out. You can have more surface area of oak and impart flavors faster. It's a way to effectively age wine faster with less resources since stainless steel barrels with finger sized chunks of oak have more oak to win contact.

This probably ties in with the topic above. If your wine ends up with the exact same composition as more expensive wines but is made with fewer resources and the only way you can differentiate it is with knowledge of the label then perhaps the wine industry has missed the point.

I'm the complete opposite, oak doesn't suit me except with whisky. I can happily drink any cheap (or expensive) red, but the average white, especially chardonnay, is unpleasant. A dry sauvignon blanc or gewürztraminer or reisling please!

Although I am not a wine-drinker, in the opinions of my wine-loving friends, one of the consistently best sauvignon blancs for the money is the Costco Kirkland Marlborough Ti Point at $7/bottle.

Kirkland Signature is good value for the money in pretty much any category it's available in, whether it's wine, whiskey, olive oil, nacho chips, toilet paper, batteries, or whatever. If you have a Costco membership it's the obvious default choice unless you have a strong preference for some other brand.

New Zealand sauvignon is certainly best in class on price point.

> Of white wines, it's generally only expensive chardonnays that get malolactic fermentation (which gives it the "buttery" taste, yuck),

I also hate the buttery taste, but I've definitely bought cheap(ish, <$20 a bottle) wine and tasted it. I don't remember if it was chardonnay, though, just that it was some kind of white wine.

There are plenty of chards under $20 that get the malolactic treatment. Probably most - it's not expensive, like oak. But "naked" or steel tank chardonnay almost always skips the malolactic fermentation step, and they tend to be less expensive (and tastier, IMO).

The butter flavor is Diacetyl which can/will form during all fermentation but normally is cleaned up during post fermentation rest. It is also quite cheap just to add to a wine.

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