Can anyone give me the names of a couple of high-quality (preferably expensive and/or well-known) Chardonnays, including vintage if available?
mmmm. Well, what kind of Chards do you want? Oaky, dry, fruity, smokey? I’ll make some good suggestions if what you are doing is looking to impress others.
Chateu st. Jean, any vintage.
Beuna Vista’s hacienda (made by peter hacienda I believe). Has the advantage of being quite rare, not very well marketed, and hard to find. Has the disadvatage of being quite rare, not very well marketed, and hard to find.
Kenwood’s organic chardonnay.
98 Landmark Chardonay is big oaky and buttery.
Uuummmm.
Stag’s leap makes a good one too.
You should skip straight past wine in favor of port. Trust me, it’s worth it.
but still very good: Camus, or the much more pricy: Montrachet
I’ve got a Château Gruard-Larose, which is a second growth, and it goes for a little over $300.
You might want to check these wine auction sites:
http://www.wine-auction-world.com/topten.html
or, of course, http://wines.com/
A few standard choices:
*Chalk Hill 1997 Chardonnay Chalk Hill
*Beringer 1997 Chardonnay Napa Valley Private Reserve
*Beaulieu Vinyards 1997 Chardonnay Carneros Reserve
*Au Bon Climat 1997 Chardonnay Arroyo Grande Valley Talley Reserve
If you’re not stuck on “expensive” wines exclusively, I would highly recommend Rosemount Estates, out of Australia. I’ve found their wines extremely fine and the price really can’t be beat.
Personally, I don’t understand all these fancy wines. I recommend Mad Dog 20/20. It comes in a variety of colors and flavors, it’ll get you drunk off your ass, and it’s only $2.79. You can’t beat that price!
Plus, every time I go to a party and unscrew a bottle, someone invariably asks “Is that Mad Dog?!” So it’s a real conversation starter, too.
Be careful with California Chardonnays if you’re not a fan of tannins. I believe thinksnow is on the right track, recommending Australian Chards. Some Cali winemakers really overload on the tannins, particularly those who are trying to get away with growing Chard in a region that’s too warm for it…they think if they pitch in the tannins, you won’t taste the oversweet. Yuck!!
Don’t drink Kendall-Jackson. To do so flaunts a lack of imagination.
Just to give you the “official” word on new, exciting wines, from Wine Spectator’s 1999 Top 100:
- Kistler Chadonnay Sonoma Valley Durell Vineyard 1996: $45
- Pahlmeyer Chardonnay Napa Valley 1997: $50
That’s it for the top 10. These wines are, mind you, not the “best,” just the “most exciting.” In my experience, they put out a good list.
BTW, some Champagnes are made from exclusively Chardonnay grapes, and most use Chardonnay in their blend. But I assume you are looking for still wines.
On the other hand, if you like California Chardonnays, you can get very good ones from Chateau Montelena and Grgich Hills.
Small bit of wine connoisseur trivia: In the “New World” (U.S., Australia, Chile, etc.) wines are generally referred to by source grape (Gamay, Gewurtztraminer, etc.), while in the “Old World” (mostly Europe), wines are referred to by the region (Burgundy, Vin d’Alsace, etc.).
So here’s a tip: “White Burgundy” (or bourgogne blanc on the label) is pretty much the same as a Western Chardonnay. That is, at least in its source: It’s made from the same grape, and it’s generally harvested and pressed the same. The big difference comes down the road in production; American winemakers will over-oak, or otherwise hit certain flavors pretty hard, so as not to confuse the ostensibly untrained and unsophisticated American palate with the layers and subtleties of a quality French wine. In general, though, for most people’s purposes, they’re the same. (If we have any wine snobs here, they’ll jump all over me for that.)
Sometimes, when choosing a European wine, you just have to know what you’re doing – the French winery Le Domaine de Chassorney, for example, makes a very nice wine called “Saint-Romain Blanc Combe Bazin” that is basically what we think of as a Chardonnay – but in general, it’s easy to get confused if you’re looking at foreign labels that seem to describe a whole different set of wine. All you have to know is that Old World and New World name their wines differently. Beaujolais = Gamay, Red Burgundy = Pinot Noir, Chianti = Sangiovese (with, IIRC, up to 10% blended from other grapes), etc. Some European winemakers have begun naming the source grape on the label, to cater to American buyers, but generally you just have to learn the other terminology to compare wines from the U.S. with those from Europe.
So if you want to try a nice European Chardonnay, look for “bourgogne blanc” and “grand cru” on the label.
Hope this helps.
Kendall Jackson Reserve is always a good Chardonnay. One advantage is that it is fairly “mainstream”, meaning that it is easier to find in stores. At least, it’s pretty easy to find here in Seattle.