TN: Chardonnays from just About Everywhere

1997 Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults Savennières Cuvée Spéciale – a starter wine, not in theme. I am a long time fan of these wines although they need (it is said by the producers) around seven years development before their drinking window opens. This one was a quarter century old but showed very well. Fair bit of colour, and a notable waxy nose, lemony on palate and in great shape with clean medium length finish. Too bad these wines aren’t better known and more popular.

2010 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon Cuvée Guy Moreau – clean citrus nose with an impression of wet stone. Clean, tasty and long. Lovely Chablis.

2006 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos – more colour here and an interesting complex nose with a notable cheese component. Clean, crisp, with some butterscotch notes at the end.

2018 Stoller Chardonnay Reserve – it was off to the Dundee Hills for an Oregon entry next. Pale colour, tons of French oak. Clean on palate but fairly rich, with a very lengthy finish. Really excellent wine!

2012 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Désirée – medium colour, a somewhat restrained vanilla nose, and fruit that I couldn’t decode between green apple one minute and pear the next. Enough oak at the end to add some complexity. Drank well.

2017 Aubert Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard – a visit to Carneros, the source of many pleasurable chards for me. Darker colour, more obvious oaking, nose of vanilla and deep sweet fruit that seemed to change every five minutes from tropical to clean apple the next. Very impressive showing – loved it.

2012 Littorai Chardonnay Mays Canyon – medium colour, a nose of toasted nuts and tropical fruit, plus a bit of lime juice, and a leaner profile that I liked a lot. Very good.

2016 Montalto Vineyards Chardonnay Single Vineyard Tuerong Block – my wine, and intentionally held back as it was a different style and pouring it among Chablis would have made it hard, I thought, to go back and forth between disparate styles. As expected, ton of oak on show but not over the top, and it became less prominent over a half hour in the glass, allowing the fruity notes to surface. Fresh toast with pear jam, but not as sweet as that sounds. Interesting contrast to both French and American styles. Good acidity, a fair bit of grapefruit with some apple hints. The use of French oak takes this out of the category of traditional Aussie ‘woodies’.

2018 Bachelder Chardonnay Vineyard Wismer-Wingfield “Ouest” Vineyard – this Ontario wine made the survey complete. Light colour and also light stone fruit notes in the nose along with lime and a floral (honeysuckle?) note or two. 16 months in French oak (without batonnage) before bottling. Impressive.

On the whole, the quality of these wines was well above the average one usually gets in a mixed tasting, eve of carefully selected wines from the cellars – quite impressive. I was responsible for coming up with a finishing wine with cheese so I chose something I had cellared for many years:

1983 Graf von Plettenberg Kreuznacher Brückes Riesling Auslese (Nahe) – a dark amber colour, and a delicious nose of toasted marmalade and honey. Great length on palate and well balanced. Glad that I cellared it since release!

I think the popularity of the Closel wines plummeted after the 2002s premoxed badly. But ones from late 90s were great.

Nice lineup.I like the Christain Moreau Chablis in general, Littorai is one of fave CA Chard producers,too.

1997 Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults Savennières Cuvée Spéciale. One taste of this and I knew exactly what it was - that doesn't happen often! I am a big fan of old savennieres, and had drank a few bottles of this myself, but it had been 5-7 years since my last bottle. Still in a great place, but drink soon (A-/A).

2010 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon Cuvée Guy Moreau – I also noted the lemon fruit on the nose and palate; not much minerality, but nicely balanced and drinking well now. This is always a great cuvee from this producer (A-).

2006 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos – My wine, I thought it should go after the previous wine. Deeper in clour, reflecting the great age, and developing that butterscotch character of older chablis. There was a hint of oxidation. This was a little deeper and richer than the previous wine, reflecting the vineyard. Some thought this was a little over the hill, but I wasn't convinced of that. But I will be drinking my last bottle of this soon (A-).

2018 Stoller Chardonnay Reserve – I was thinking young burgundy here, due to the oak, tropical notes and richness in both the nose and palate. As Bill said, "fairly rich, with a very lengthy finish. Really excellent wine!" (A-/A).

2012 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Désirée – Less oak on nose, and the fruit was more in the citrus and stonefruit spectrum. Very elegant wine, medium colour and body (B+/A-).

2017 Aubert Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard – A mix of stonefruit and tropical fruit with a touch of oak on the nose; powerful on the medium to full bodied palate, restrained oak, nice finish. Very nice wine (A-/A).

2012 Littorai Chardonnay Mays Canyon – Again, a mix of stonefruit and tropical fruit, with lime on the medium bodied palate; rich texture and nice finish (A-)

2016 Montalto Vineyards Chardonnay Single Vineyard Tuerong Block – Didn't take many notes on this. There was oak on the nose, with a charred toast note. A little simple compared to the previous wines, and the oak stuck out a bit (B+).

2018 Bachelder Chardonnay Vineyard Wismer-Wingfield “Ouest” Vineyard – I thought I'd throw in this Ontario wine, as very few people in BC have access to or know about this producer. We just don;t get any top examples of Ontario wines in BC. Light in colour and also light stone fruit notes, as Bill noted. Oak and nutty notes on the medium bodied palate. Again, I didn't think was quite up to the standard of the first several wines, but it could have been the last chardonnay of the day syndrome. Nice but not striking in any way (B+/A-).

1983 Graf von Plettenberg Kreuznacher Brückes Riesling Auslese (Nahe) – The very dark golden colour showed it age. I guessed Auslese immediately, as it had clear botrytis notes and the texture of a nice auslese. A great palate cleanser from all those chardonnays, and very nice with the cheese (A-).

Great report..but no white from the Okanagan

Great report..but no white from the Okanagan

I knew that the level of wines would be high and I only have one Chard that fights at that level from BC - a Marcus Ansems (made by Daydreamer) and I didn't want to open it yet. I was hoping that my small block Aussie chard done with French oak would show more European but it was easy to pick out.

I guess if you want a varietal from Australia that can pass as being from somewhere else, it would be Riesling (ironic as in the past they had always been odd and atypical).

I think the popularity of the Closel wines plummeted after the 2002s premoxed badly. But ones from late 90s were great.

Probably true among wine geeks who followed that, but not sure the broader public tracked the change. Maybe an issue of Dressner pushing the wines less, or tastes evolving. I hear the Closel style has shifted again, pulling back from the ripeness of the early 00s family transition. But I don't buy them that often. I think they were also victim to increased competition from the new wave of Loire chenin producers that started emerging in the 00s.

[Jenise]

Great report..but no white from the Okanagan

It's actually fairly rare that the Canadian guys bring local wines. Note that I didn't bring a Washington chardonnay, either. Perhaps a bit of Thomas Paine going on here where "that which we achieve too easily we esteem too lightly".

[Jenise]

Great tasting.

1997 Domaine du Closel-Château des Vaults Savennières Cuvée Spéciale John nailed this immediately, which was impressive. Dark for a white with waxy texture and a flavor not unlike Lemon Pledge furniture polish. Great acidity, excellent overall.

2010 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Vaillon Cuvée Guy Moreau – I've never had the Guy Moreau before. Vivid lemon and pineapple, not flinty or, for me, Chablis-like because the fruit is so much out in front. Not a complaint--I loved it and wish I owned some--but for me it was closer to Meursault than Chablis.

2006 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos – Darker with a washed-rind cheese nose and cooked pineapple (like the filling in a Mexican tart, a beloved flavor of the barrios of East L.A. near where I grew up) which I suspect my Canadian friends would not relate to), and more oxidized than I care for.

2018 Stoller Chardonnay Reserve – My husband's wine. We chose this because it's the most Chablis-like American chardonnay we've ever had, and our favorite Oregon chardonnay too. Pale, with rich steely fruit but not extracted in any way. Terrific, elongated finish. Glad everyone liked it so much.

2012 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Désirée – what Bill said.

2017 Aubert Chardonnay Hudson Vineyard My wine and my first experience with Aubert's deep yellow version of a vineyard I only know from Failla. So I wasn't surprised by the body/weight, just by the multi-prismed flavors that were exotic but not, to me, tropical. I tasted things in this wine I've never tasted in a chardonnay before, and it was thrilling.

2012 Littorai Chardonnay Mays Canyon Same deep yellow color as the Aubert above. In fact similar in several ways but not as exotic. The finish has some hot spots you wouldn't expect from a 13.6 wine (its owner thought so too). Very good, especially for its age.

2016 Montalto Vineyards Chardonnay Single Vineyard Tuerong Block, Mornington Peninsula, Australia First impression was breakfast, like things you'd find in a bowl of oatmeal: oak in general, cinnamon (cassia) bark, applesauce and cream--it was the only overtly malolactic wine of this tasting.

2018 Bachelder Chardonnay Vineyard Wismer-Wingfield “Ouest” Vineyard – John, I don't think you gave this enough credit. My first note on it was "white", referring to the initial impression of quiet white fruits, flowers and skinless almonds (which I add to salads a lot). Maybe more pear than apple or lemon, and exceptionally elegant. It stood out as being not like the others, and I loved it.

1983 Graf von Plettenberg Kreuznacher Brückes Riesling Auslese (Nahe) – What Bill said. A gorgeous ending.