The Club was delighted to welcome back its Honorary Vice-President, Jasper Morris MW, for another ‘Judgement of Oxford’ blind tasting. This was the second part of a tasting inspired by the historic ‘Judgement of Paris’ tasting of 1976 when Steven Spurrier decided to show how good Californian wines had become by pitting examples of top quality red and white wines from there against wines from the classic French regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy in a blind tasting in Paris. At that tasting, wines were judged and given scores by a panel of French wine critics and, to their horror, the Californian wines came out on top. It has to be said that the wines tasted were very young and had not reached their full potential. So it was decided to hold two simultaneous ‘Judgement’ tastings in California and London of the same vintages of the same red wines thirty years later in 2006, again organised by Stephen Spurrier. Jasper was one of the London judges and the others were also leading wine experts, like Jancis Robinson, Hugh Johnson and Michael Broadbent. Once more Californian wines came out on top – by an even wider margin – thereby proving that American wines can age just as well as their Old World counterparts. There was, however, no re-creation of the white wine tasting as the original wines would have been well past their best by 2006.
Last February, Jasper led the first part of the ‘Judgement of Oxford’ tasting for the Club, pitting examples of the classic red wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux against premium examples of Californian wines made from the same grapes. This year it was the turn of the whites, with wines from the classic vineyards of Burgundy being judged against Chardonnays of comparable quality from California.
Jasper started his talk by looking at the many portraits hung on the walls of the Talbot Hall and noting that he had once played cricket with one of the illustrious people featured there, without, enigmatically, saying which one.
Moving onto the wine, he noted that Pinot Noir was a ballerina of a wine known for its elegance and finesse, but Chardonnay, by comparison, was a rugby player of a wine, robust and up-front. He pointed out that the wine world should be grateful to the monasteries of Burgundy as it was monks who did so much to advance the development of wine production. The wines were tasted blind and in pairs, with members asked to judge which was French and which Californian, and which they preferred.
These were the wines:
1. Au Bon Climat Chardonnay, Sanford & Benedict Vineyard 2011,Santa Ynez Valley £29.00
The winemaker here is Jim Clendenen, once described by Robert Parker as the best winemaker in the world, though he has since changed his mind! The owners of the vineyard, Richard Sanford and Michael Benedict, are a couple of hippies who planted the vineyard in crooked rows (possibly when stoned!) in 1972-74. 2011 was a cool year in Central Coast. Floral and vanilla nose, medium+ acidity, lemon on palate, restrained use of new oak and lees stirring. 13% alcohol.
2. Pouilly-Fuisse, En Carementrant 2011 Brett Brothers £28.50
This wine is from a single vineyard in Vergisson. Flowering occurred at the earliest date on record and the grapes were picked very early in August. The wine spent 15 months in barrel, no new oak or lees stirring. Medium dry, medium+ body, soft and round on palate, good citrus flavour and that unmistakable note of bacon fat.
55% of Club members got these wines the right way round and a similar proportion preferred the French wine.
3. Meursault Les Tillets Antoine Jobard 2010 £52.50
This is a village Meursault - but grown on limestone and potentially long-lasting. Lemon and new oak on nose, marked acidity, but balanced with a long finish, 13.5% alcohol. Made with 20% new barrels. 2010 was a year when the wines ripened well.
This was Jasper’s favourite of the first four wines.
4. Ridge Monte Bello, Santa Cruz Mountains 2011 £55.00
This wine is from the vineyard that produced the red wine that was voted the best in the 2006 re-run of the 1976 competition.
Barrel fermentation and ageing in 90% Californian oak, lees stirring, soft, rounded, subtle and elegant wine with honeyed palate.
The vast majority of Club members got these two the right way round. Opinion was evenly divided, however, on which was the better wine.
5. Ramey Chardonnay, Hyde Vineyard, Napa Valley Carneros 2010 £59.00
The wine label describes this wine as “Light gold. Intense, mineral-infected aromas of pear, nectarine and white flowers. Bright, penetrating and emphatically dry, offering vibrant citrus and orchard fruit flavours and showing pronounced minerality….” The vines are on clay loam soil. The wine spent 21 months in 50% new French oak and Jasper reckoned this to be a ‘bold statement’ epitomising Californian wine. Some battonage was carried out. Pronounced nose, sweeter style with high alcohol of 14.5%
6. Chassagne-Montrachet Les Caillerets 1er Cru, Domaine Jean-Noel Gagnard 2009 £79.50
This vintage was a cooler one (though the last with a reasonably large harvest) and Jasper considers that this makes for better wine. The wine spent 15 months in barrel, one third of which were new. More subtle and elegant than wine 5 with mineral flavours on the palate and a long concentrated finish.
90% of members got these wines the right way round and 70% preferred the French wine
7. Kistler Les Noisetiers Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast 2012 £95.00
Golden colour, marked aromas of oak and honey, powerful, full-bodied, stone fruit and nutty palate. From a vineyard close to the coast and thus benefits from cool, maritime breezes.
8. Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, Domaine de Montille 2011 £110.00
Vineyard situated around the mountain of Corton. 5-10% new barrels are used. Fresh lemony nose, subtle, elegant, medium-bodied wine with good acidity and low alcohol. This wine is still very young - plenty of scope to improve yet.
Two thirds of members got these wines the right way round and a similar proportion preferred the French wine.
In summary members’ verdict in the Judgement of Oxford was that French wines were better than their Californian equivalents.
Jasper finished by discussing the issue of oxidation in white Burgundy. It was his view that it was due to a number of factors such as not enough use of sulphur, failure to sort out the issue of bad corks and bottling machines letting in too much oxygen. He pointed out that oxidation is a stage that most wines go through anyway! He suggested that many of these apparently at-risk wines may yet come back - so don’t despair if you are lucky enough to have good white burgundy in your cellar. The main issue at the moment is a series of small, even ‘miserable’ vintages from 2010-2013. Oh, and the person that Jasper played cricket with was the late Benazir Bhutto.
PC February 2015