2006 Kendall-Jackson Vineyards and Winery Grand Reserve Chardonnay

• Two thumbs way up

• Rich — but not over the top — aromas of banana, pineapple and cream soda, with sophisticated spice notes. A big wine with significant flavors of oak and vanilla that are balanced by a cavalcade of tropical fruit.

I’m not on the payroll at Kendall-Jackson Vineyards and Winery.

I cannot, do not and will not accept this-for-that compensation from wineries (or their representatives) for free publicity. But when I mention the likes of KJ, Gallo or other winemaking heavyweights in this column, you’d think I did, judging by the mail I get from colleagues and other folk in the winemaking industry.

Invariably, the discourse goes something like this: “How can you recommend someone who makes 50 billion cases of wine every year?” Or: “You really should try this [fill in the blank] wine made by this 90-year-old winemaker and his one-legged mule. He makes a single barrel every year and it blows away that mass-market junk you always write about.”

I’m not sure why this is, but I’ll fashion a guess. When wine is your hobby or profession, it’s fun to recommend delicious wines that nobody has ever heard of. Even better, it does an ego good to flesh out those recommendations with facts about the winemaker, the vineyard or how the wine was made. You can’t do that with Kendall-Jackson, one of the most well-known wineries in the United States.

Furthermore, Jess Jackson and his wife, Barbara Banke, proprietors of Kendall-Jackson, do not need me to promote their wines any more than the 1927 New York Yankees needed a batting instructor. But whether you’re a writer, a wine snob or a hurried parent rushing down the wine aisle, one should be honest with oneself. If you like a wine, regardless of what is on the label, don’t be afraid to admit it.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I do receive wine samples — some I request and many that come unsolicited. Today’s wine pick came to me by a request I made to 340 wineries or their representatives for Monterey chardonnays. I wish I could buy all my wines for this column, but I’m afraid that is impossible at this time.

Note: Wines are rated on a scale ranging from thumbs down, one thumb mostly up, one thumb up, two thumbs up, two thumbs way up and golden thumb award. These are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents or a local distributor.