The notes on the chardonnay wine tasting (4 participants) from bottom to best:
8.20
Cuvaison Napa Valley US-Calif. Chardonnay 2000
14% alc $35
small, heavy oak astringent bouquet, toasted oak, pineapple and lemon flavours, sharp off the tongue, acidic, not smooth
8.35
Meursault
Chartron et Trebuchet (Burgundy) France Chardonnay 1999
13% alc $75
oak and dill bouquet with off nose smell, slightly acicidc, semidry, dill flavours, slightly bitter toasted nut finish (great with apricot infused cheese)
8.80
Toasted Head US-Calif. Chardonnay 2003
14.5% alc $28
apricot, vanilla bouquet, touch of spiceyness, tropical fruit, sweet buttery oak notes,med body, soft finish
9.30
Beringer Founders Estate US-Cal. Chardonnay 2002
13.9% alc $22
tropical fruit, floral mango notes, smooth, robust, semi-buttery with oak tones, soft finish
9.50
Peller Estates Andrew Peller Signature Series Canada-Ont. Chardonnay 2001
13.5% alc $28
small butter, vanilla bouquet, light toasty oak, fruit and honey tones with
amazingly smooth texture and finish, brilliant wine!!
Of course the invidividual participants did corroborate while tasting but we did not all agree and the tasting was done blind. No one knew which wine we had except for the person who did the pouring in another room.
Although the Peller Estates came out on top by a HUGE margin, the Beringer and Toasted Head were consistently ranked #2 and #3 but in mixed order, and evenly (2 ppl vs 2 ppl on the order).
The most expensive bottle, the Meursault came in a dismal 4th while the second most expensive bottle came in last. Personal preference will determine the rankings but of the 4 ppl we had on hand, the quality and character of the chardonnays were ranked quite consistently the same.
Overall the evening was just fantastic.The blind tasting was a real challenge to see if one could figure out which wine was the one they brought. NONE of us got any of the wines matched right.
All of these wines except for the Peller Estates can be found in most liquor stores. The Peller Signature series MIGHT be carried in the fine wine sections across Canada, otherwise it needs to be ordered or bought directly from their
website store.
All prices listed were in Cdn $.
