Great Chardonnay tasting: Le Grand from Basel is indeed the best

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A B C. Chardonnay was dismissed in the ’90s with these striking three letters. They had nothing to do with the alphabet, but meant “Everything Except Chardonnay”. This was the motto of the Chardonnay indifferent, fed up with wines predominantly from the USA: heavy use of wood. Dominant notes of vanilla, butter and caramel. A feeling of heaviness. A lot of alcohol.

This style was in demand at the time, as it met the parameters of many points made by Robert M. Parker junior, the most important wine critic of the time. High Parker ratings automatically resulted in higher prices in the market. The stylistic also meant that Chardonnay was a thing of the past for us and a bullshit demon.

balance, sense of proportion, abracadabra

But like many wine sins from the end of the last millennium, this one was corrected. Today’s Chardonnays are glorified in a very different way. Less wood. Less extraction And the focus is always on getting a wine full of finesse. But not always. Jury member and blogger Adrian van Velsen said: “Some of the wines showed excellent characteristics in terms of base material, but were then so strongly influenced by the barricade that I wonder why something like this is still being made today…”

Because today’s magic words: balance and sense of proportion! According to wine judge and producer Caroline Dessort, many vineyard growers imitated this: “The freshness, away from the woody ABC style, was striking. Chardonnay became drinkable. Degu stood out with wines that could be used as an aperitif as well as with meals.»

Burgundy is still the measure of all things

Finesse Chardonnays are a part of everyday life where the grape variety comes from. But Burgundy was pushed into the background during the Parkerization and ABC controversy. Of course it’s completely wrong. It is still the measure of all things. Wood is standard there, even mandatory in many places. However, wines from the famous region are very rarely characterized by excessive use of barricades and, as a result, derivative notes. Filigree has always been the slogan. Along with the high prices for the best crescents…

The grape actually gets its name from a village called Chardonnay. A natural hybrid of Gouais Blanc and Pinot, this grape is now the fourth most grown variety in the world, just behind the Spanish brandy grape variety Airén, which lost ground so quickly that in a few years Chardonnay will be the number one white variety. Planted all over the world, it tolerates heat well but does not need excessive sun for good results.

Helvetien is the perfect Chardy playground

And Switzerland is the perfect playground for Chardonnay, as it can handle almost any microclimate and soil type. In the two small Helvetic regions of Burgundy, Bündnerdominion and Neuchâtel, it gives superb results, befitting its status. But also in Ticino, in Valais, in German-speaking Switzerland, in Geneva, in the Three Lakes Region. Comprehensive!

It is therefore not surprising that the selection by SonntagsBlick includes the best Swiss Chardys wines from six cantons. Of the really great ones, only Gantenbeins and Castello Luigi are not there as they traditionally avoid such tastings. Otherwise, it’s crème de la crème that takes on the Herculean task of defying a world choice. We used 100 Parker points as a guide for foreigners to put together 45 wines. Taste of Switzerland. Other facilities were the usual ones at the big Sunday Blick tastings:

• blind tasting
• As soon as possible, but that was changing from 2017 to 2022
• Two Masters of Wine and a nine-member top jury

Four Swiss made the top ten

The result of the tasting that took place at Sablier, the rooftop restaurant in the Circle at Zurich Airport? Riehen winery wins with best Chardonnay Le Grand. A sensation! A winner from the city of Basel. Rounding out the podium are Chardy from Kongsgaard, the second most expensive wine tasting, one of Napa Valley’s top boutique wineries, and Art Series from Leeuwin, Australia. Among the top ten were also two Burgundians – Pernand-Vergelesses representing a lesser-known region at the top – and two South Africans. Our four best performing players are represented. Two of the Jenins, Hermann, Christian and Roman, are sixth with the Chardonnays ex aequo. Strong! The model winery La Maison Carrée from Auvernier carries the flag of Neuchatel in tenth place.

Master of Wine Barbic saw two Swiss take the lead

In general, Wine Master Ivan Barbic has this to say about the level of tasting: “Too high! Some of the samples were outstanding.” Barbic had two Swiss wines in front of him! Alongside the winner was the wine from Christian Hermann of Bündner Herrschaft.

And fellow Wine Master Paul Livesedge was also impressed. The magic formula that separates a great Chardonnay from a very good Chardonnay is: “The extra weight and coating makes the difference. But when you get taller and gain, it turns into something else. At least three wines gave me that feeling.”

About the Basel winner Barbic: “I must admit I blindly thought La Grand was a Burgundy because it has flint notes typical of the region. It’s already complex on the nose and shows a wide variety of fruit flavors on the palate, it’s intense, well-balanced and incredibly long. In other words, Everything that makes a perfect Chardonnay.” And when Barbic praises a plant like Le Grand in this way, it automatically means Swiss Chardonnays could be world-class. “I knew that before,” says the Wine Master with a smile. “Frankly, this is further proof of that.”

Source : Blick