I have been working for a while on developing classes in exploring various varietals and styles of wine. I’ve been using my co-workers as guinea pigs to work out the kinks in these classes. The first one I offered to them back in May and it was simply an introductory class on how to taste wine. I felt that this was a good place to start simply because too many people don’t know how to go about approaching a glass of wine to break it down. It also gave all of those attending future classes a common place from which to begin our explorations.
The second class was one that I offered this past Saturday and I entitled it the World of Chardonnay. This may have been a a bit of overstating things as covering all of the different styles of Chardonnay out there in just six wines is quite ambitious. However, this was an introductory class so I felt that giving them exposure to six distinctly different styles of Chardonnay (eight if you count the oaked and unoaked versions that we make) would be enough to give them a good feel for the grape and give them a basis from which to slot our wines into the hierarchy of Chardonnay wines.
What follows below is a listing of the wines we tasted plus some of our impressions and thoughts about them.
Deakin Estates Chardonnay 2007
We started the evening with the Deakin Estates Chardonnay. This is an Australian wine from the 2007 vintage with the fruit coming from the Murray River Valley in New South Wales. Here is the way the web site describes this wine. "…this is a fresh and lively little wine with lemon and lime, pineapple and crisp green apple flavours on the palate. The fruit is quite sweet but the finish is refreshingly dry.” This is clearly disingenuous marketing speak. This is an off dry wine that is big and fat with nothing refreshing or crisp about it. It was universally disliked amongst our group with everyone dumping the sample immediately after the initial taste. (starts at $9 retail)
Far Niente Chardonnay 2009
I was a bit apprehensive about pouring this wine after our first wine but there was nothing to fear here. In fact, most of the group was very pleasantly surprised by this wine. The reputation of California Chardonnays is one of heavy oak and butter overwhelming the fruit in the glass and while that may have been the case in the past, there are many wineries moving away from that style towards a more traditional style of wine. This particular wine was very well balanced with flavors lime, Meyer lemon, hazelnut and nutmeg and a very nice acidity to keep things fresh. It is a bit pricey at $40 retail but still a very good wine.
Terrazas Chardonnay Reserve 2007
Next came an Argentinean Chardonnay, the 2007 Terrazas Chardonnay Reserve. This wine was also disappointing as there were heavy notes of sulfur coming from the wine when it was first poured. After several minutes of swirling and agitation the sulfur calmed down quite a bit but it was very overwhelming in the beginning. The wine itself had soft acidity with warm weather fruit tones of apple, peach and pineapple with some oak and butter. It would have been a nice $17 bottle of Chardonnay without the sulfur fault.
Denis Pommier Chablis Croix Aux Moines 2009
There are many French Chardonnays that aren’t Premier Cru or Grand Cru that are quite good and are very representative of the wines made in that country. This is very much one of those wines. This is a Chablis AOC wine that is very light, delicate, almost ethereal wine with luscious bits of citrus, bright acidity and a creamy mouth feel. This wine was the star of the evening for several of the people there including Ms Cocktail. At approximately $30 per bottle this is an amazing value wine.
Domaine Marc Morey et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets 2008
Ok, so this is when we get into the serious stuff. This is a Premier Cru (1er Cru on the label) from the Les Caillerets vineyard in the Chassagne-Montrachet AOC in Burgundy. This is a medium bodied Chardonnay with a lot of wonderful depth of flavor with peach and honey on the palate. A nice bright acidity coupled with a touch of minerality on the finish just hints at the potential of the wine several years down the road. A great wine coming in at right around $100 per bottle it was the clear winner for those not absolutely blown away by the Chablis.
Bouchard Pere et Fils Corton Charlemagne 2008
This wine didn’t fare as well as the Chassagne-Montrachet in our tasting but I believe that it was because it is still very young and many of the people tasting haven’t learned how to look into the future to see what a wine is going to be like 10 or 12 years from now and that is clearly when this particular wine is going to be at its best. This may be the most complex of all the wines we tasted this evening as you expect from a Grand Cru. Scents of violet, lavender, lemon, mineral, cinnamon and ginger all made appearances at various times as I kept returning to the glass to find something new. Citrus, spice and mineral played on my tongue along with an intense acidity that needs time to mellow, yet the wine itself seemed very light on the palate. At around $125 per bottle, it will very definitely reward those patient enough to let it reach full maturity.
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