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To our surprise, here is a question we have been asked with increasing frequency over the past six months: Where can I get a buttery American chardonnay? Or, as Jacqueline Jenkins of Riverside, Calif., put it: "The long-lost buttery chardonnay of yesteryear — oh, how we miss them."

The reason we're surprised is that "buttery" is a word that was just about banned from public wine discourse several years ago. The fact that readers feel comfortable enough to ask about these wines again is, we think, a trend in the making.

In the 1970s, when the modern California wine industry was still young, vintners made big, ripe and very American chardonnays that were notable for their massive tastes. Back then, "buttery" was a complimentary word in our notes. As we said about a Bacigalupi 1979: "Buttery, woody nose. Big, citrusy taste upfront, very peppery, but a big, buttery, smooth finish. Thick and incredibly long-lasting. Amazing combination of lemony acid, pepper and thick, creamy butter."

Those tastes are a factor of the ripeness and quality of the grapes, use of oak for aging and/or fermentation and malolactic fermentation, which turns malic acid into creamier lactic acid. When used carefully, all of that can create a terrific wine that's both big and balanced.

But then, in our minds, vintners got lazy, or maybe greedy. The big, ripe fruit flavors that could support a great deal of oaky, creamy, vanilla tastes were replaced by shortcuts and technology. Many chardonnays got fat and blowsy, with overly woody tastes and low acids that made them taste sweet and made them hard to pair with any food. Worse, most inexpensive chardonnays began to taste like they were made in a lab from oak, sugar and water, instead of in a vineyard from actual grapes. Critics began demanding leaner, more balanced chardonnay that could be served with dinner.

To be sure, Americans never stopped drinking chardonnay. It's still far and away America's most popular varietal wine. But actually asking for a buttery chardonnay was like ordering whitewall tires for your new car — cute, but where have you been?

Well, judging by our mail, the backlash to the backlash has begun. In Seattle, Jeff Fisher, manager at McCarthy & Schiering Wine Merchants, has seen it. "We have definitely seen an increase in the number of people asking for big butterballs," he told us.

At the Wine Warehouse in Greensboro, N.C., owner Mark Lile-King has seen it, too. "In the last six months, that taste profile has become more and more popular with our customers," he said. "Within a three-year span, people were almost afraid to utter those words." Lile-King, who is also a minister, thinks consumers are turning back to big, buttery chardonnay as "America's comfort drink" at a time of world-wide stress.

So, back to the question: What good buttery chardonnays are out there these days? We called wine shops around the country and posed this question: "If we walked into your shop this minute and asked you for a buttery American chardonnay, what would you sell us?" We said they could choose one over $20 and one under $20, but they had to answer right away from wines that were on the shelf.

We bought all of those we could find — we got almost all of them — and tasted them blind. Our favorites are listed in the accompanying index.

Our guess is that most people who are looking for a "buttery" chardonnay are actually looking for the kind of big, rich whites they recall fondly for their pleasing tastes, wines that could be appreciated on many levels. Call these wines creamy, toasty or just plain powerful, but there is something special about them — as long as they have great fruit, good balance and abundant acids. To us, that is a very special American chardonnay — and we think you will be seeing more of those as consumers and winemakers realize that, in many cases, they are seeking the same thing.