There are certain phrases used in the wine world that grate me, and “Anything but chardonnay” is one of the top contenders. Given chardonnay is one of the most planted varieties in the world – and 2nd most planted in Virginia – if you hate chardonnay, it can only be because you haven’t tried enough of them.
I say this because chardonnay is the chameleon of white wine. You can find austere, higher-acid chards from cool weather vintages, or full, ripe wines from warm-weather climates. It can be heavily manipulated with oak or made in steel. From Australia’s Adelaide Hills to Washington State’s Walla Walla, chardonnay is (literally) everywhere.
Burgundy is often thought of as the world’s premiere chardonnay producing region, but I’ve had a number of Virginia wines that could give good Burgundies a run for their money. The biggest problem I had for this event is narrowing down the list of contenders.
Ultimately my guests were able to bring a variety of chardonnays from around the state. The only rules I gave them is I couldn’t have any wines that were in my last chardonnay challenge, and I needed at least one Shenandoah Valley wine.
The goal was to do 2 flights of Virginia wines and a flight of Burgundy, all blind. We had a last-minute issue with getting our last French wine, so we substituted a Russian River Valley (California) chardonnay for it.
The top wines of every flight went to a finalist round. Since we loved the wines in the 2nd flight so much, I gave the runner up in that flight a wildcard advance to the final round.
As always, this event was the product of this day with this group. Many of these wines had the potential of being a winner.
The contenders:
- 2019 Brix and Columns (winery in the Shenandoah Valley, not sure where the fruit is from)
- 2019 Linden Boisseau (Front Royal)
- 2021 Vint Hill (Story Vineyard, Fauquier County)
- 2021 DuCard TANA (TANA Vineyard)
- 2022 12 Pearls of Wisdom (Effingham/Pearmund)
- 2021 Stone Tower (Leesburg)
- 2020 Famille Vincent (Burgundy)
- 2019 Patrick Javiller (Burgundy)
- 2016 Hertelendy (Russian River Valley, CA)
Flight #1
- Wine 1: 2019 Brix and Columns
- Wine 2: 2019 Linden Boisseau
- Wine 3: 2021 Vint Hill (round winner)
Bottle #1: 2019 Brix and Columns: Light gold. Muted nose. Clean, crisp. Notes of hazelnut and lemon. Some people mentioned it was a little musty. The biggest problem some had was the finish just fell off at the end.
This wine was a bit divisive because it was very easy drinking, almost at the expense of complexity. I liked it a lot, but others found it wanting.
Bottle #2: 2021 Linden Boisseau: High acidity, floral nose. Notes of tart apple and lemon/lime. Someone noted it had an almost riesling quality to it. It was a wine that seemed to cry out for food, and the lack of a pairing dish probably brought it down a notch.
Bottle #3: 2021 Vint Hill: I found notes of slate; someone else said honeysuckle and lemon. Others noted notes of lemon and peach; almost a creamsicle quality to it. Several people noted it had lots of honey. Almost all of us mentioned its long finish and good complexity.
We were all over the place in terms of favorites. Everyone liked #2 but nobody put it as a favorite. I was torn between “easy drinking” vs “complexity” but went with the former. Most of the guests chose the latter category, so the Vint Hill wine won out.
- Alex: 3/2/1
- Frank: 3/1/2
- Jen: 3/2/1
- Kathy: 3/2/1
- Matt: 1/3/2
- Ryan: 1/3/2
- Stephanie: 3/2/1
Flight #2
- Bottle #4: 2021 DuCard TANA (wildcard advance)
- Bottle #5: 2022 Effingham 12 Pearls of Wisdom
- Bottle #6: 2021 Stone Tower (round winner)
Wine 4: 2021 DuCard TANA: Noticeably floral, with notes of marzipan, sweet almond, flowers. Solid acidity, with a bit of minerality. We guessed made in stainless. We were partially correct; I later learned it started in steel but also had 4 months in neutral oak and aged on lees.
Grown in the TANA vineyard around 6 miles from DuCard on a SW-facing slope. Made in “Mȃcon” style, as benefiting from having a French winemaker.
Wine 5: 2022 12 Pearls of Wisdom: Very perfume-y. Long, very grapy finish. Racy acidity. Notes of lemon, apricot, or peach. Overall delicious.
There was a LOT going on in this wine. We enjoyed it thoroughly but felt it was almost ‘too much’. We probably would have enjoyed it more on its own as opposed to a lineup of other chardonnays, as it wasn’t a very chardonnay-like wine.
Wine 6: 2021 Stone Tower: Notes of apricot, peach on the nose. Personally, I thought it was lighter than the other two, but others note it was on the fuller side.
More elegant and mineral driven than anything we’d had so far. We thought it had a little bit of oak. Smooth. Someone mentioned a ‘smoky minerality’ to it, with notes of grapefruit.
This was a tough round to choose a favorite! For the seven of us, it was easy the favorite round of the day.
The biggest problem I found was wine #5 was so different from the others it seemed out of place, to the point it was an almost unfair comparison.
Wines #4 and #6 were more evenly matched, to the point it was a near toss-up. But since we liked #4 so much, I gave it a wild card advance to the final round. Many felt #4 (DuCard) was more likely to please multiple people, while #6 (Stone Tower) was a ‘serious’ wine.
- Alex: 6/5/4. Felt #6 was what he would open on his own.
- Frank: 4/6/5
- Jen: 6/4/5
- Kathy: 6/4/5
- Matt: 4/5/6
- Ryan: 4/6/5
- Stephanie: 6/4/5. Liked the complexity of #6. #4 was more likely to please a crowd.
Flight #3
- Wine 7: 2020 Famille Vincent
- Wine 8: 2019 Patrick Javiller (round winner)
- Wine 9: 2016 Hertelendy
Wine 7: 2020 Famille Vincent: Muted nose. Some oak. Crisp, notes of mandarin orange or clementine.
Wine 8: 2019 Patrick Javiller: I found notes of crisp green apple, some butter. Others mentioned lemon blossom on the nose and palate.
Wine 9: 2016 Hertelendy: “Funky and smoky” were the key adjectives. This wine was CLOUDY. Not sure what was going on here. On the nose, notes of drawn butter or maybe butterscotch. Nutty on the palate; maybe hazelnut, maybe a bit of lees or oak.
The cloudiness of the last wine was divisive for many of us, so it was really a contest between #7 and #8.
- Alex: 9/8/7
- Frank: 7/8/9
- Jen: 8/7/9
- Kathy: 8/7/9
- Matt: 8/7/9
- Ryan: 7/8/9
- Stephanie: 7/8/9
Finalist Round:
- Wine 3: 2021 Vint Hill (3rd favorite)
- Wine 4: 2021 DuCard TANA (favorite of the day)
- Wine 6: 2021 Stone Tower (runner up)
- Wine 8: 2019 Patrick Javiller (4th favorite)
No major wine notes this time. We went almost straight to the judging.
I thought wine #3 (Vint Hill) improved a lot, although #6 had my favorite nose of the lineup. #8 was a bit spicy.
In a surprise twist, wild card wine #4 (DuCard) beat wine #6 (Stone Tower) even though in an earlier round Stone Tower was favored (by a narrow margin). Both were easily the top wines of the day, but 2021 DuCard Vineyard “TANA” was the overall favorite in the end.
- Alex: 6/4/3/8
- Frank: 4/6/3/8
- Jen: 6/4/3/8
- Kathy: 6/3/4/8
- Matt: 4/3/6/8
- Ryan: 4/3/8/6
- Stephanie: 4/6/3/8
If there’s a lesson learned here, it was that chardonnay comes in all flavor profiles. Not one of these were butter-bombs (despite having a California chardonnay). The best Virginia ones definitely showcased elegance and would have done any Burgundy winemaker proud.
I also think food and time caused us to shift votes. Wine #3 had a noticeable improvement, becoming the runner up to several guests. The addition of food (we had an amazing cheese board and dessert) also may have accentuated #4.
This was the first time a ‘wild card’ wine won one of my events, which I also attribute to how it was the kind of wine that everyone can enjoy. Put in a large group, the DuCard TANA came out as the favorite. But huge kudos to the Stone Tower wine, which many of my guests would drink by themselves.
Wine Trails and Wanderlust 