Rude Tasters does "Bring Your Own Chardonnay"

Dr. Ed Cox passed away a few months ago. He had conducted a Chardonnay tasting at the Grand Rapids Yacht Club on the third Wednesday in June for as many years as I can remember. His widow, Linda, decided to keep the tradition alive and invite all of their wine buds from the Rude Tasters to join in celebration of the many fond memories of Ed and Chardonnay that they had all shared together.

Being a BYO, we weren’t exactly sure how many bottles we’d have to taste and judge ahead of time so we simply tasted them in the order in which people arrived, divided them into two flights of four and served the remaining wines as a warm up. All of the wines, including the warm ups were scored, tabulated and ranked. The descriptions are mine. The scores are mine, the group average and the group rank. We use a ten point scale which I’ve converted to a 100 point scale for ease in ranking these wines compared to wines scored and ranked in most media events. I have listed them here top to bottom with the highest score wine first and the lowest score last. This is not the same order in which the wines were tasted. The prices listed are the approximate retail price for the current vintage listed on-line.

THE WINES ALMOST EVERYONE REALLY LIKED

2022 Sonoma Cutrer Russian River Ranches Sonoma Coast-Sonoma County CA about $25 This is very Burgundian. There is plenty of depth, loads of clean fresh citrus and a fine balance of between the abundance of Chardonnay varietal fruit and subtle terroir. My score 92 points, group score 94 points, 1st place.

NV JaM Cellars Butter California Chardonnay (second bottle of Butter served)* about $13 Exotic melon-like phenols in the nose and rich glycerol mouth feel on the palate showing complexity and terroir on the finish. Multiple fruit essences offer a really complex fruity character. My score 90 points, group score 93 points, 2nd place.

2024 La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay CA about $15 Wow, this is interesting stuff! First sniff is bright, complex, fine but subtle. On the palate, it explodes with a huge middle palate and finishes with creamy fruit with just a trace of oak. My score 95 points, group score 92 points, 3rd place.

2018 Montelle Augusta Chardonnel MO about $23 Though fat and ripe, gravel-like minerality gives the fruit a bit of an edge while oak embellishes the fruit and the creaminess. It did not stand out at all as a hybrid. I don’t believe anyone noticed that it is not a true vitis vinifera Chardonnay. My score 90 points, group score 91 points, 4th place.

2021 Daou Paso Robles Chardonnay CA about $18 The nose is pretty reserved but it builds on the palate starting with rich minerality, terroir, and a very substantial fresh, tart finish. My score 90 points, group score 90 points, 5th place.

WINES THAT MOST TASTERS FOUND LIKABLE AND TYPICAL BUT NOT DISTINGUISHED

2023 Verterra Leelanau Peninsula Unoaked Chardonnay MI about $25 The color is water white yet with such a generous mouth feel, I completely failed to notice that it is unoaked. I did pick up on the lasting Riesling-like acidity and elegance that suggested it was from a northern cool climate. This is one of the most balanced unoaked Michigan wines I’ve had. My score 86 points, group score 86 points, 6th place.

NV JaM Cellars Butter California Chardonnay (first bottle of Butter served) *about $13 This is classic California Chardonnay in every way with lots of fine fresh citrus in the nose and just enough oak and ML to entice curiosity with every sip. My score 95 points, group score 85 points, 7th place.

2021 Provenance Deadeye Monterey Chardonnay CA about $23 I was surprised that this wasn’t an older bottling. It didn’t have the zest shown in most of the other Chards and seemed to have a burnt quality in the nose. It is very soft and seemed to lack focus. My score 76 points, group score 84 points, 8th place.

WINES THAT MOST TASTERS ENJOYED LESS THAN THE AFOREMENTIONED WINES

2024 Sonoma Cutrer Sonoma Coast Chardonnay CA about $15 To me this one represented another classic California Chard and quite similar to the second bottle of Butter. Fine fresh acidity, spice and loads of ripe fruit defined it. My score 88 points, group score 81 points, 9th place.

2015 Chanin Los Alamos Vineyard Santa Barbara County Chardonnay CA about $50 Big rich, oaked, ML Chardonnay. This is a style that is probably best drunk young when the fruit and vitality can compete with the oak. My score 83 points, group score 80 points, 10th place.

2016 Bonobo Old Mission Peninsula Chardonnay MI about $34 A very odd Kool-Aid nose started this wine in the wrong direction. Finishing with a weird walnut/almond sweet flavor seemed to put off many of the tasters. My score 70 points, group score 75 points, 11th (last) place

MY THOUGHTS

The scores were very close. So, I wouldn’t put too much emphasis on the specific rating. But, I do think we had enough scores to suggest a pattern of five excellent wines that stood at the top, three likeable wines in the middle and three that just didn’t show as well for whatever reason. I’m not surprised that the Chanin and Bonobo did not score well. Older wines in the midst of younger wines almost always garner low scores. The only way to drink older wines is by themselves or with other older wines. Had I known the identity and age of all the wines, I would have served the older wines first and I believe they would have scored much better had they not followed big fresh energetic young wines. Comparisons are impossible to avoid when judging wine so the wines that surround each wine have a big influence on scores.

*The fact that of the two bottles of Butter, one scored near the top and the other near the bottom was puzzling. However, this is a generic California non-vintage wine so there is no way to know if either of these wines were old, new, somewhere in between or from the same batch or a batch years apart. They were in the same flight and not one single taster scored them the same. Though I really liked both, I didn’t find any resemblance.

Enjoy in Good Health,

Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner