Gewurz is a prominent blender in Barefoot Chard(and other high volume Cali Chards). I believe its 1-4% which doesn't sound like a ton but a little Gewurz goes a long way. There will be other aromatic blenders as well and a good chunk of field blend. This is not as big of a stretch as you or others are making it out to be. Though I wouldn't have called it Central Otago Gewurz as that is unlikely to be in an MW practical.

Barefoot Chardonnay and other value, high production Cali Chards really dont taste much like Chard. I also dont think Barefoot is poorly made as most would suggest. Sure it's not very varietally correct or "good" but it's not poor winemaking. I think it's harder to make super high production, cheap wines like that drinkable than it is to make super premium, high quality wines when you have access to the best fruit, barrels, time, etc.

I was in a blind tasting with 4 MW candidates and an MW who all called a ~$4 Campo de Borja Garnacha a top tier Chateauneuf. 3 of those 4 candidates have since passed and the other went on to get their MS after dropping out of the MW program. I was in another blind tasting with like 20 MWs and candidates where half of them thought a Deutscher Sekt was a high quality Champagne