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Let us assume that chardonnay is
at a nadir, a bottom from which it is
attempting to ascend. I see signs of
this, including chardonnay in the
lounge at the airports.
Those of us who follow
the grape have gently
stuck our toes into the
glass and decided all is
not lost.
Wine makers have
certainly not forsaken
the grape, though it is
now hugely outnumbered on the
shelves by pinot grigio and sauvignon
blanc. Chile is down to three listings.
Australia still has about 20 but most of
them are in the ‘nameless cheap white’
category. There are another zillion
chards bottled in Canada in this
category as well.
I was curious how uniform the
palate is these days, and therefore
picked up several competent labels
from a variety of countries, to ran a
world-beat chardonnay tasting. In
particular I was curious how price and
country played out.
I was expecting a much greater
variation than I actually found. In
general there was little difference
between a chardonnay from Burgundy
and Canada and Australia. Even more
interesting was how tight the quality
differences were. Once you’re at the
$15 mark you’re typically getting a
very well made traditional chardonnay
and the improvement found in the $30
is not particularly marked. (I can hear
every reader from here to Estevan
cheering this
last bit of
news. “Ma!
Let’s go buy
some $15
wine! It’s as
good as the
stuff that
snob in the
paper drinks!”)
For me the most disappointing
wine was the Burgogne Reserve. It
was a nice enough wine with a just a
sniff of mineral in the bouquet, but the
palate became a little cloying after a
while, which I put down to the lactones
from oak. On the other hand if you’re
‘90s guy at heart who never quite got
over Leeann Rimes growing up this is
probably the best wine of the lot.
Torreon de Paredes is a wine that
I drink and then forget about for a few
months, and in this case this was a
mistake on my part. In many ways this
was the best wine of the tasting
regardless of price. A slightly zingier
palate than the rest of them with an
interesting finish on the back of the
palate, just a hair of astringency.
They’ve managed to strike a balance
between what can be done to the grape
and what is a more old world, restrained
quality of vinification. I really liked
this wine and at this price it’s a deal.
Mt. Difficulty is a cool climate
chard from the south of the south island
of New Zealand. It is an excellent wine
that shows off all of the ability of Kiwi
wine makers. A floral slightly mineral
bouquet leads you into a lovely smooth
palate that lingers with a solid midpalate finish. I drink this wine fairly
regularly, because it hits all the right
notes of what is currently a good
chardonnay. However it is also twice
the price of the Torreon de Paredes,
which will keep it off the shopping list
for a number of readers.
Mission Hill Five Vineyards will
strike many people a bit of a step down
the quality ladder. I wrote about the
Mission Hill vineyard last fall, and I
found myself quite enjoying their
Chardonnay. I don’t often compare
Canadian wines to foreign because
there is a marked price difference that
favours better climates, so this was the
secret goal of the tasting. Does this
wine compare favourably?
It does, but the first thing that
strikes you when comparing is that the
wine is slightly less intense than the
others. This is not always a bad thing:
If you are laying wines down to age,
you need it because they will fine down
and fade over time. But wines meant
for aging that are drunk young can be
exhausting to drink, and I am inclined
these days to prefer less intense wines.
For my money Mission Hill
chardonnay stands up to this test but
many readers may find it a bit bland. I
found it beautifully balanced and a great
food wine, which was part of why it
struck me in the Okanagan - I was
having it with my meal. (If you’re ever
out that way and want a treat, check out
the Mission Hill restaurant. It may well
be the best food in Canada.)
Rosemount Diamond Chardonnay
was once the Wine Sweepstakes winner,
gushing money like a geyser. These days
it is still a solid wine, with decent sales,
but I doubt it is peoples’ go-to any more.
Their Chard these days was the least
intense of the lot, and the most
temperature sensitive. I enjoyed it more
at almost room temperature.
However it was kind of insipid with
the various foods I tried it against. It’s
not a bad wine, and if you like it carry
on, but I think you may enjoy checking
out the competition.
Mt. Difficulty Chardonnay, New
Zealand, 2009. $29.99 *****
Torreon de Paredes Chardonnay
Reserva, Chile, 2009. $15.99 *****
(Deal alert!)
Mission Hill Five Vineyards
Chardonnay, BC, 2009. $15.99 ****
Rosemount Diamond Chardonnay,
Australia, 2010. $16.49 ****
Bourgogne Chardonnay Reserve,
Pierre Andre, France, 2010. $21.95
****
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