The best Chardonnay in the world
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About The Author
Davy Strange
I am a very charming loony, supremely well-endowed with epidemiology and wine qualifications, who has finally found that severe PTSD, Generalised Anxiety Disorder and chronic psychosis are, on one of my all too rare good days, only a moderate impediment to having crazy fun with wine and food. Fifth top red trouser wearer in the international wine trade.
The moment I finished this note I scraped together all my pennies and got myself a bottles of 2017 Hunting Hill Chardonnay. I feel really inadequate that it is only ~£35 and there’s not a remainer’s chance in the Conservative party of me being able to afford a six pack. It’s crap being disabled and having piss all cash… So thank you for this bottle, Keith!!
Great note Davy. NZ Cellar is now a part of Specialist Cellars which also includes the best of Aussie wines and shortly it is planned that SA and USA wines will he added. The focus will be on the best value for money wines at competitive prices
Cheers Keith
Good! The sooner they unify their website the better. I’ve often wanted some of their Australian wines and some from New Zealand but have not wanted to have to place two separate orders and get charged twice for postage.
Great write-up, Davy!
The direct link to the event is here https://www.wine-pages.com/community/threads/nw-chardonnay-v-burgundy-shoot-out.6436/
Thanks Alex!
When I see results of tastings that confirm what I already knew i.e. that new world Chardonnay can compete and beat Burgundy at more than 10 times the price what does it tell me? Well, it tells me to go out and buy Kumeu, Nocturne etc etc and stop wasting my f…… hard earned cash on overpriced and overhyped Burgundy. I’ve had way more disappointing white burgundy than red. I find really good, authentic red burgundy at an affordable price easier to find than white. I wonder why that is? Btw I love white burgundy and will continue to waste money on it 😆
I love white Burgundy, James, but as Paul pointed out to me in a recent email my favourite type of white Burgundy, aged white Burgundy, has simply ceased to exist! It’s terrible isn’t it? Not many new world Chardonnays have the track record of ageing like the old white Burgundies I tried when I first tried decent wine at university (I am a lucky bugger, am I not?), but some are gaining a track record. Kumeu River have only been bottling single vineyards since the early 90s, and the well-stored ones are in great condition now. So maybe if we keep our flash new world Chardonnays we will be creating a new category of wine to replace the now lost ‘aged white Burgundy’: aged quality Chardonnay!
One could argue that aged Chenin will be another possible replacement!
If one is obsessed with middle-Loire and South African wines, Alex. Chardonnay is grown EVERYWHERE! I only really drank Chablis (and fizz) until recently, as far as Chardonnay goes. I’ve had so many good ones, this being one of the best.
Kumeu River… one of the great and delightful mysteries of the wine world. How come it is so good? Production volume is not low, and I don’t think they are doing anything very unusual in the vineyard or winery. Pure snobbery keeps the price down, but I wonder if this will be true in a decade.
I’m quite happy to drink Kumeu River single vineyards without knowing how they work. I have a magnum of Matés that’s I’m going to drink some time around 2023-ish ;). Ok usually buy the Hunting Hill, the quality is up there with the Matés but it just has a little bit more restraint. I like restraint.
Nocturne make single vineyard wines in Western Australia and I think their Chardonnay is up there week the quality of this whilst only costing ~£27 (I seem to recall). I don’t have enough of that wine…