Wine Club – Chardonnay

This past Thursday was the November meeting of Wine Club. Over a year ago, Wine Club first looked at Chardonnay -

http://zippysauce.blogspot.com/2007/11/wine-club-recap.html,

Back then we looked at two Canadian Chardonnays and a South African Chardonnay. I wanted to re-visited Chardonnay and this time take a look at a couple of them from the traditional home of Chardonnay – Burgundy, France.

"Good but not quite good enough"

Here is the LCBO Information on both of the wines we tasted -

Louis Jadot Bourgogne Chardonnay 2006

Stock Number – 933077
Volume - 750mL
Price: $ 19.95
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : D
Made in: Burgundy, France
By: Maison Louis Jadot
Release Date: Oct 11, 2008

Description - Long-time Jadot winemaker Jacques Lardière is not one to rest on his laurels. From the geographical headquarters of the Chardonnay grape, he creates this wonderfully versatile wine. Aromas of french vanilla, toffee apple, lemon and toasty oak are prominently on display. It is a textbook example of how well oak and fruit mingle. A fine partner for grilled freshwater fish or a vegetable stir-fry.


Vincent Sauvestre Savigny-les-Beaune Premier Cru Les Talmettes 2006

Stock Number – 84517
Volume - 750mL
Price: $ 34.95
13.0% Alcohol/Vol.Sugar Content : XD
Made in: Burgundy, France
By: Roger Sauvestre
Release Date: Sep 27, 2008

Description - Savigny-Les-Beaune is a reliable source of solid value wines. Located on the favourable, gently ascending, southwest-facing slope, Les Talmettes vineyard produces wines that feature floral, ripe apple and pear aromas and flavours. This rich and harmonious white would make a very pleasing match for oven-baked salmon or roasted poultry.

The Louis Jadot is a Chardonnay that is a personal favourite of mine and I wanted to share this wine with Wine Club. The Vincent Sauvestre was a new Chardonnay that I found at my local LCBO. As it was a Premier Cru and therefore above the Louis Jadot in the AOC pecking order I thought it would be an interesting comparison.

I did up a Caesar salad to try with the wines and Erik brought in a smoked salmon and cream cheese roll, a home made garlic cheese loaf, olives and pineapple chunks so we had lots of different foods to try with the two wines.

The Louis Jadot I have reviewed a number of times on this Blog so I will just focus on the Vincent Sauvestre. It had a classic golden yellow colour that is common to Chardonnays. The LCBO write mentions floral, ripe apple, pear aromas and flavours. On the aroma side I noticed the floral, pear but not the apple and got a slightly toasty aroma. On tasting the wine, the apple was definitely there with pear undertones, the wine was nicely balance and had a good finish.

With the foods the Louis Jadot was clearly the better match with the Caesar as the Vincent Sauvestre became a little funky with the salad. With the salmon, garlic loaf, olives and pineapple, the Vincent Sauvestre was the winner but not by a huge margin. The fruit forwardness of the Vincent Sauvestre had over the Louis Jadot was enough to give it the edge with all of the foods except for the Caesar.

Once you bring price into consideration I would have to give the edge to the Louis Jadot as the winner of the day. The Vincent Sauvestre was the better wine but not by enough to justify the extra price it is selling for.

Thanks to Erik for bringing in a wide selection of foods as it really made this meeting a very good time.

Cheers!

Mark