Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Tasting

Champagne
Blanc de Blanc vs Blanc de Noir (both tasted blind)

1. Waitrose Blanc de Blanc NV
Medium intensity bready, yeasty aromas. Also plenty of lemon and apple. High acid and a fine mousse. Very appley for want of a better word.

I preferred this wine. The consensus preference was for number 2

2. Mailly Grand Cru Blanc de Noirs NV
Slightly darker in colour than number 1 (which may have been due to extra bottle age). Green fruit on the nose, but riper smelling than #1 and with noticeably more bready, yeasty character. On the palate the mousse was less fine but there was more body and some red fruit notes (strawberry and raspberry).

Pretty much everybody managed to successfully work out which was which, in sharp contrast to the inaugural BV blind champagne tasting. Perhaps the Blanc de Noir was a more typical example this time, or perhaps we simply confused the flavours coming from the extra age as being flavours coming from the black grapes.

The next pairing was supposed to be a non-blind comparison of a typical unoaked chardonnay (Montana, NZ) vs a typical oaked chardonnay (Catena, Argentina). However, the Catena was corked which meant that I had to steal one of the white burgundies (which was to have been tasted blind) to use as the oaked chardonnay example.

Oaked vs Unoaked Chardonnay (not tasted blind)
3. Montana Unoaked Chardonnay, Wairau Valley, NZ

4. Domaine Jean-Jacques Girard "Les Belles Filles", Pernand-Vergelesses, (Cote de Beaune) 2007

Neither wine 3 nor wine 4 were particularly impressive, but they were solid examples of the type of wine we were trying to highlight.

Next we blind-tasted 3 white burgundies:

White burgundy (tasted blind)
5. Waitrose Chablis, Caves des Vignerons de Chablis 2007

6. William Fevre, Vaudesir Grand Cru Chablis, 2005

7. Joseph Drouhin, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Folatieres, (Cote de Beaune) 2006

Of these the Drouhin was showing best by some significant margin with plenty of fruit, acid and oak, but all in balance and great length. This will clearly age well for years. Many people didn't appreciate the Fevre since it was quite restrained. However, I thought it was excellent. The Waitrose chablis showed more on the palate than on the nose (quite surprising). However, it paled in comparison to the other two. This was quite a good introductory blind tasting exercise since the number of variables was massively curtailed and the differences in style (oaked vs unoaked) and quality (normal vs grand/premier cru) were quite stark.

Pinot Noir (tasted blind)
9. Escarpment Pinot Noir, Martinborough, NZ 2007

10. Hamilton Russell Pinot Noir, Walker Bay, SA 2006

11. Domaine Hudelot-Baillet, Chambolle-Musigny, Cote de Nuits, Burgundy

It was quite clear which wine was the Chambolle-Musigny. However, I was caught out by the South African pinot which was significantly more elegant and cool-climate tasting than the NZ. In retrospect, this is not the first time I've been surprised by the elegance of a South African pinot noir. I seem to have it stuck in my head that SA reds are big, bruising monsters yet they can clearly make excellent pinot noirs. I must remember this in the future.

Old Burgundy (not tasted blind)
12 Pierre Ponnelle Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits, Burgundy 1970
This one was not included in the blind tasted above because there was simply no way anyone could get this one confused for anything else tasted on this evening. If nothing else, the colour would have given it away - the wine was garnet with a tawny rim. Relatively intense aromas of cherries, nuts, leather, mushrooms. A very complex wine with pronounced intensity of flavour on the palate and phenomenal length (we're talking several minutes here).Tannin and acid were both quite low so this would not carry on much further, but it's superb now.