Held a wine tasting where the theme was Chardonnay from different parts of the world. We tried six different producers where my idea was to pit a Premier Cru from Burgundy against five other producers to blindly test and see what possible differences we could find. All six wines have gone through malolactic fermentation and all have been aged for a certain amount of time in oak barrels. All but one wine (By Farr) has been on its lees (Sur Lie). All wines were decanted 30 – 60 minutes before tasting.
Three of the wines come from several different vineyard locations:
House of Smith – Sixto Uncovered Chardonnay 2019 USA / Washington State / Columbia Valley. Alcohol 14.0% Calera Chardonnay Central Coast 2021 USA / California / Central Coast Alcohol 14.5% Failla Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2019 USA / California / Sonoma County Alcohol 13.5%
Three of the wines came from a specific vineyard location:
Les Héritiers Saint-Genys Mercurey 1er Cru Clos Marcilly Blanc 2019 France / Burgundy / Côte Chalonnaise / Mercurey Alcohol 14.0% Gala Vinnarstvi Chardonnay Hermes 2020 Czech Republic / Moravia / Perná Alcohol 13.0% By Farr Chardonnay 2021 Australia / Victoria / Geelong Alcohol 13.5%
I presented all the wines first, origin, terroir, what altitude and a little about the philosophy of the respective winemaker. Then we tested all the wines blindly where everyone had to decide their respective top three wines for the evening;
3rd wine 1 p 2nd wine 2 p 1st wine 3 p
No prices were revealed before the tasting, but everyone was looking for the wine from Burgundy, thinking it would be the most expensive. All six wines were very good, and very difficult to distinguish in many ways. No over oaked wines (phew) but good fruit and more or less well-balanced oak.
Blind tasting is incredibly interesting, and difficult, but usually gives a fairly fair picture of the wines. What we found most interesting was that all three wines that were specific vineyard locations ended up in the top 3.
What surprised many was that the Czech wine from Vinnartsi Gala shared first place, I was not surprised, one of my favorites for sublime well-balanced Chardonnay. That By Farr's Chardonnay also ends up at the top was not surprising, here it is the terroir that really ends up in the first place, limestone, limestone...limestone, the fruit is also extremely elegant. Those of you who have not tried By Farr's Pinot Noir should do so, very fine wines. In third place Premier Cru Héritiers Saint-Genys, a wine that really performed and would probably have been rated higher a few hours later with a little more time in the glass. Also have to give + points to the Caleras Chardonnay, near the podium, a clear fruit that appealed to many. But as said before, all six wines were very good, small margins. A very appreciated test, and instructive.
And the price level of these wines, cheapest Calera with its SEK 279, most expensive By Farr SEK 580. All wines purchased at SB except Gala which is bought in the Czech Republic.
Then the evening ended with three very good red wines:
Failla Pinor Noir Lola 2017 (my score 92 p) Two Handes Shiraz Ares 2014 (my score 91 p) Lunae Niccolo V 2016 (my score 91 p) - Great wine for €25
Wine is fun friends!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
My first encounter with this producer, and I was quite pleased. Good tension and energy, crisp and vibrant, with rich, concentrated stone fruit, citrus and a touch of nuttiness. Good upside from here.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Citrus, apple, white fruit, and oak. Well-balanced and wonderfully delicious. The oak is beautifully integrated, and the acidity is perfect. A few years in the cellar will likely bring out more butter and nutty flavors as it's currently very young and fruity, but still amazingly tasty.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Real Review - Top Wineries of Australia (Ovolo, Wooloomooloo): Rich, concentrated, good oak, stone fruit, toasted nuts, slight butter. Citrus notes are more to the fore on the palate, slightly coarse texture, very slight alcohol warmth helps carry this long. Nice
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Real Review Top Wineries tasting (Ovolo Hotel Woolloomooloo): {13.5%, diam, $100} Nuts, malo and sweet oak. Concerto for winemaker & orchestra. Sweetly-fruited on the palate too, buttery, generous, with yellow fruit characters. Medium acid, medium/full body. There’s quite a performance going on here; the worst you’d say is it’s a bit bombastic. May age, but seems like an early drinker – I find the price a bit silly though. If you want this style well executed you should be able to get it for half the cost of this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
26022023 - 5 ⭐️ luncheon hosted by SKT with 14 bottles of wines & 2 aged cognacs. Definitely my white wine of the day. Thank you bro Joe Yee Wong this blind bottle. Delighted that I guessed this right as an Aussie Chard but not from MR. Bracing and juicy acidity, lots of freshly squeezed lemon & citrus peel, flint, some stone fruit and very elegant “green” or herbaceous notes that I usually detect in Aussie Chards. It is a cross between a fresh asparagus & grapefruit with some minerality. Delicious!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Real Review - Top Wineries of Australia (Est. Restaurant, George Street, Sydney): A little of that chicken herb thing, wild ferment funkiness, sweet spice, biscuit, lemon over stone fruit. Juicy, palate very much a reflection of the nose, a little textured burr tugs at the tongue. Time will help - needs to come together.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
12/15/2023 - Annikaochanders Likes this wine: 92 Points
Fabolous chardonnay - balanced with an oaky touch.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/24/2023 - SirJ Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wine tasting 24/11
Held a wine tasting where the theme was Chardonnay from different parts of the world. We tried six different producers where my idea was to pit a Premier Cru from Burgundy against five other producers to blindly test and see what possible differences we could find.
All six wines have gone through malolactic fermentation and all have been aged for a certain amount of time in oak barrels. All but one wine (By Farr) has been on its lees (Sur Lie). All wines were decanted 30 – 60 minutes before tasting.
Three of the wines come from several different vineyard locations:
House of Smith – Sixto Uncovered Chardonnay 2019
USA / Washington State / Columbia Valley.
Alcohol 14.0%
Calera Chardonnay Central Coast 2021
USA / California / Central Coast
Alcohol 14.5%
Failla Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2019
USA / California / Sonoma County
Alcohol 13.5%
Three of the wines came from a specific vineyard location:
Les Héritiers Saint-Genys Mercurey 1er Cru Clos Marcilly Blanc 2019
France / Burgundy / Côte Chalonnaise / Mercurey
Alcohol 14.0%
Gala Vinnarstvi Chardonnay Hermes 2020
Czech Republic / Moravia / Perná
Alcohol 13.0%
By Farr Chardonnay 2021
Australia / Victoria / Geelong
Alcohol 13.5%
I presented all the wines first, origin, terroir, what altitude and a little about the philosophy of the respective winemaker. Then we tested all the wines blindly where everyone had to decide their respective top three wines for the evening;
3rd wine 1 p
2nd wine 2 p
1st wine 3 p
No prices were revealed before the tasting, but everyone was looking for the wine from Burgundy, thinking it would be the most expensive. All six wines were very good, and very difficult to distinguish in many ways. No over oaked wines (phew) but good fruit and more or less well-balanced oak.
After scoring, the outcome was as follows:
Failla Chardonnay Sonoma Coast 2019 - 0 points (my score 90 p)
House of Smith – Sixto Uncovered Chardonnay 2019 - 2 points (my score 89 p)
Calera Chardonnay Central Coast 2021 - 6 points (my score 90 p)
Les Héritiers Saint-Genys Mercurey 1er Cru Clos Marcilly Blanc 2019 - 8 points (my score 92 p)
Gala Vinnarstvi Chardonnay Hermes 2020 - 10 points (my score 91 p)
By Farr Chardonnay 2021 - 10 points (my score 93 p)
Compilation
Blind tasting is incredibly interesting, and difficult, but usually gives a fairly fair picture of the wines. What we found most interesting was that all three wines that were specific vineyard locations ended up in the top 3.
What surprised many was that the Czech wine from Vinnartsi Gala shared first place, I was not surprised, one of my favorites for sublime well-balanced Chardonnay. That By Farr's Chardonnay also ends up at the top was not surprising, here it is the terroir that really ends up in the first place, limestone, limestone...limestone, the fruit is also extremely elegant. Those of you who have not tried By Farr's Pinot Noir should do so, very fine wines.
In third place Premier Cru Héritiers Saint-Genys, a wine that really performed and would probably have been rated higher a few hours later with a little more time in the glass.
Also have to give + points to the Caleras Chardonnay, near the podium, a clear fruit that appealed to many. But as said before, all six wines were very good, small margins. A very appreciated test, and instructive.
And the price level of these wines, cheapest Calera with its SEK 279, most expensive By Farr SEK 580. All wines purchased at SB except Gala which is bought in the Czech Republic.
Then the evening ended with three very good red wines:
Failla Pinor Noir Lola 2017 (my score 92 p)
Two Handes Shiraz Ares 2014 (my score 91 p)
Lunae Niccolo V 2016 (my score 91 p) - Great wine for €25
Wine is fun friends!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/12/2023 - JonnyG Likes this wine: 92 Points
My first encounter with this producer, and I was quite pleased. Good tension and energy, crisp and vibrant, with rich, concentrated stone fruit, citrus and a touch of nuttiness. Good upside from here.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/17/2023 - Ennels Likes this wine: 93 Points
Citrus, apple, white fruit, and oak. Well-balanced and wonderfully delicious. The oak is beautifully integrated, and the acidity is perfect. A few years in the cellar will likely bring out more butter and nutty flavors as it's currently very young and fruity, but still amazingly tasty.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/28/2023 - chatters wrote:
Real Review - Top Wineries of Australia (Ovolo, Wooloomooloo): Rich, concentrated, good oak, stone fruit, toasted nuts, slight butter. Citrus notes are more to the fore on the palate, slightly coarse texture, very slight alcohol warmth helps carry this long. Nice
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/28/2023 - graemeg wrote:
Real Review Top Wineries tasting (Ovolo Hotel Woolloomooloo): {13.5%, diam, $100} Nuts, malo and sweet oak. Concerto for winemaker & orchestra. Sweetly-fruited on the palate too, buttery, generous, with yellow fruit characters. Medium acid, medium/full body. There’s quite a performance going on here; the worst you’d say is it’s a bit bombastic. May age, but seems like an early drinker – I find the price a bit silly though. If you want this style well executed you should be able to get it for half the cost of this.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/26/2023 - Romz Likes this wine: 94 Points
26022023 - 5 ⭐️ luncheon hosted by SKT with 14 bottles of wines & 2 aged cognacs. Definitely my white wine of the day. Thank you bro Joe Yee Wong this blind bottle. Delighted that I guessed this right as an Aussie Chard but not from MR. Bracing and juicy acidity, lots of freshly squeezed lemon & citrus peel, flint, some stone fruit and very elegant “green” or herbaceous notes that I usually detect in Aussie Chards. It is a cross between a fresh asparagus & grapefruit with some minerality. Delicious!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/12/2022 - LB88 wrote: 93 Points
This was opened and within about 30 mins this was super approachable with white flowers and a delicate white fruit palate. So fresh and delicious
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/17/2022 - chatters wrote:
Real Review - Top Wineries of Australia (Est. Restaurant, George Street, Sydney): A little of that chicken herb thing, wild ferment funkiness, sweet spice, biscuit, lemon over stone fruit. Juicy, palate very much a reflection of the nose, a little textured burr tugs at the tongue. Time will help - needs to come together.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment