Chardonnay: How Much Does Price Matter?

Rude Tasters 6/21/17

 June is always Chardonnay at the Grand Rapids Yacht Club presented by Dr. Ed Cox and his wife Linda.  Ed actively scours local and Florida wine shops to come up with a challenging tasting.

 He has often told us about the bargains he finds at his favorite Publix grocery store in Bonita Springs, Florida.  So, this tasting is a mix of wines found in Grand Rapids along with those from their winter haven.  Ed also included a wine that we enjoyed at an Austrian wine dinner we attended back in May at Marco’s.   It is interesting that with the wonderful food prepared by Chef Marc, that wine showed beautifully while in the company of other wines at Rude’s served with a delicious selection of cheeses, it came in last place and actually had some flaws by my reckoning. 

As is our tradition, Ed started us off with a couple of warm-up wines as the group filtered in.  The Canyon Road 2015 is an on-premise package specifically for sale in restaurants produced by the behemoth Gallo.   I am often leery of recommending Gallo products even though Gallo owns much of the best vineyard land in California and employs the best and brightest winemaking team.   One needs to understand that most of their brands are just that: brands.   With enormous reserves of wine ranging from decent to phenomenal, one never quite knows what to expect.   So, as I’ve said before, if you purchase a bottle of wine with Modesto CA as the produced and bottled address, give it a taste out in the parking lot and if you really like it, go back in and buy all you can because next week or next month the wine could be from an entirely different lot even though it may show the same vintage and appellation on the label.  The other warm up, Domaine Boyar 2015 from Bulgaria was a wine that Ed and Linda encountered at a restaurant during a medical convention.  They thought it worthy of sharing with the rest of us Rude Tasters.

All of the wines are blind (we knew that we were tasting Chardonnay, but not which brands or from what origins).   We take a casual approach to scoring the warm ups and then get serious about the two flights.  The wines are listed in the order that they were tasted.  I round all of the scores to full points which is why KJ Vintners and Fetzer Sundial both with 90 points are in 3rd and 4th place respectively.  The KJ Vintners was less than one half point ahead in group score.  Meanwhile, the KJ Avant and Black Box came in with the exact same group score.

WARM-UP WINES

2015 Canyon Road Chardonnay, CA (13% ABV) $7.99 retail/$4-5 per glass on premise My top wine of the evening!  Sweet, creamy lush lemon-scented aroma  which is not unlike the way lemon chiffon pie tastes greets the nose, while decidely citurs flavors stay remarkably fresh for a wine that has clearly seen the inside of a toasted oak barrel.   This is luxury Chardonnay worth three times the asking price.  My score 94 points.

 2015 Domaine Boyar Chardonnay, ThracianValley, BULGARIA (13% ABV) $8.49 retail This wine is very atypical of most Chardonnay’s I’ve tasted.   Extremely clean and lean throughout with distinct “grape” flavors and smells not unlike some of the American hybrids that are grown in New York such as Diamond.  There is a fine but subtle sense of nutmeg and exotic woody, incense-like spiciness.  All of the tasters preferred the Canyon Road.  My score 80 points.

FIRST FLIGHT (all screw cap closures)

2015 Paul Achs Chardonnay, Burgenland, Austria (12.5% ABV) $20 Just a hint of H2S lingers in the nose spoiling an otherwise fresh clean citrus bouquet.  As it airs, that component grows and becomes a bit annoying.  Mouth feel, balance, and weight are nicely done.  I remember this wine fondly from the dinner at Marco’s but that slight “swamp gas” smell really took it down a notch. My score 70 points; group score 76 points; 8th (last) place.

 2015 Black Box Chardonnay, CA (13% ABV) $19 per 3 liter box equals $4.75 per 750 ml By far the least expensive wine really delivers and ranked in the middle of the pack.  Here, big citrus bouquet, almost like lemon oil, carries through like an oil based perfume.  The intensity is almost brandy-like.  This is pretty substantial stuff for less than $5 per 750 ml.  It finishes much lighter and easier than it starts.  My score 83 points; group score 87 points; 5th place tie.

2015 Moutard-Diligent Chardonnay, Bourgogne, France (12.5% ABV) $19 Some would say that this wine has a big mineral-like nose, I would say it still smells of sulphur.   This is not uncommon for brand new wines just out of the tank, but, by the time it gets to market, the SO2 should not be discernible.  It has nice light hints of oak finishing quite round with plenty of fruit in the finish.  My score 78 points; group score 84 points; 7th place.

2015 Kendall-Jackson Avant Chardonnay, CA (13.5% ABV) $17 Like the previous wine, the nose has a detectable dose of minerals and/or SO2.   By no means does it ruin the wine, but, it gets in your brain and makes it more difficult to enjoy the sweet/sour zesty, lemon fresh clean fruit that carries throughout.  My score 78 points; group score 87 points; 5th place tie.

SECOND FLIGHT (all cork finished)

2015 Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve Chardonnay, CA (13.5% AVB) $13.99 An amazingly lush sweet apricot-like musky aroma brings many of the fine aromatic nuances of Moscato into this Chardonnay.  That exotic nectar-like aroma stays through the first taste to the lush finish.  Though I suspect that this wine is nearly dry, the big fruit aroma makes one’s brain think sweet.  My score 85 points; group score 90 points; 3rd place.

2015 Fetzer Sundial Chardonnay, CA (13.5% ABV) $6.99 It has obviously been too long since I have had the pleasure of this wine.  Ed and Linda say they drink it all the time in Florida.  I believe only the 1.5L size is available in Michigan.   Hopefully, it is the same wine inside the bottle regardless of size.  This wine is huge with loads of lemon peel in the nose, a big round palate sensation and plenty of texture at the end of the long finish.  My score 92 points; group score 90 points; 4th place.

2015 Chalk Hill Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast, CA (14.5% ABV) $19.99 Sweet pure clean citrus fruit abound.  The palate is rich, almost viscous, with a distinct fresh fruit juiciness in the finish.  My score 89 points; group score 92 points; 2nd place.

2015 Failla Haynes Vineyard Chardonnay, Coombsville, Sonoma, CA (14.1% ABV) $58 Once again everyone but me sniffed out the most expensive wine.  I preferred the two cheapest wines (Fetzer and Canyon Road)!  A fine pure mineral (not SO2 ) nose reminiscent of fine White Burgundy is followed by a fruit bowl of flavor with a long well structured, somewhat earthy finish.  My score 89 points; group score 93 points; 1st place.

Being a blind tasting, there is no way anyone could possibly have known that we would be tasting a $58 wine in one flight and a $4.75 wine in another and rating them just a few points apart.  In past years wines such as Columbia Crest have done extremely well against far more expensive wines.

Enjoy in Good Health,                                                               A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner