A holiday shoo-in: Chardonnay.(Wine - Test)

Chances are good that the wine you bring to a friend's holiday party or put on the table for your own family gathering this month will be a chardonnay. The right bottle can be a pleasing partner for the richer foods often served at holiday get-togethers. And chardonnay obviously has wide appeal: It's the best-selling wine in the U.S., accounting for nearly 20 percent of all bottles sold. Indeed, "The Oxford Companion to Wine" calls chardonnay "North American for 'white wine.'"

To help guide your purchases, we tested 10 chardonnays priced from $8 to $16.We found one that was notably higher in quality than the rest. We also found that a good track record doesn't ...