Bob Campbell is one of only 264 Masters of Wine in the world. An international wine judge, Bob judges wine professionally in ten countries and contributes regularly to publications around the world. His specialty is New Zealand wine which he reviews from an international perspective.
NZ & Aust perform well in international Chardonnay tasting
James Halliday, wine wizard of Oz, venturing an opinion
Just received an email from the “wine wizard of OZ” James Halliday. He was incontinent with joy at the success of Australia and New Zealand and the dismal performance of California in an international Chardonnay competition. James wrote:
“I couldn’t resist sending you the outcome of an international chardonnay tasting held in conjunction with the Winewise annual Small Winemaker Competition. It will probably come as no surprise to you to see that the Californian chardonnays performed as dismally as ever, and, at the other end of the scale, that Australia and New Zealand shared the first nine places (there were five Australian and five kiwi wines). I didn’t know the Coldstream Hills was in the tasting, but was one of many who thought it was by far the best wine, with much conjecture as to what it might be. Of course, the tasting was blind, and all the points collated before there was any discussion between the 20 judges.”
Here are the results, with average score and cost in Australian dollars (apologies for the wonky formatting):
points
1. 2006 Coldstream Hills Reserve 18.7 $50
2. 2006 Craggy Range Gimblett Gravels Vineyard 18.3 $45 ($29 in NZ)
3. 2006 Voyager Estate Margaret River 18 $37
4. 2006 Giaconda 17.8 $105
5. 2006 Cloudy Bay 17.7 $38
6. 2006 Kumeu River Coddington VY 17.6 $50
7. 2006 Leeuwin Estate Art Series 17.4 $80
8. 2006 Ata Rangi Craighall 17.4 $60
9. 2006 Chablis Grenouilles (Louis Michel) 17.4 $75
10. 2005 Bindi Quartz 17 $75
11. 2006 Church Road Tom 17 Not released
12. 2006 Meursault Perrières (Pierre Morey) 16.9 $225
13. 2005 Corton Charlemagne (Marc Colin) 16.9 $180
14. 2005 Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles (Louis Jadot) 16.7 $490
15. 2006 Peter Michael Winery “Ma Belle Fille” Sonoma County 16.3 $140
16. 2006 Bâtard-Montrachet (Domaine Leflaive) 16.1 $520
17. 2005 Kenwood Family Vineyards Tor Sonoma County 16 $92
18. 2006 Kongsgaard Napa Valley 15.9 $180
19. 2005 Kistler Dutton Ranch Russian River Valley 15.8 $125
20. 2005 Mount Eden Estate 15.5 $100
July 29th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Hi bob,
I was intrigued by your comment “incontinent with joy” – do you mean that he shat himself with excitement?
Cheers…Mark Henderson
July 29th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
No, I mean he was ready to piss himself with excitment.
Cheers,
BOB
July 30th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Hi Bob,
I’ve tasted the Voyager Estate 2006 here in Belguim and haven’t really been convinced…I prefered by far the Moss Wood 2005 or the Leeuwin Estate Prelude 2005.
What do think about his two (great) chardonnay?
Robert
July 30th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Robert,
I agree about the Voyager and am a huge fan of both Leeuwin (I rate the Art Series higher although Prelude is excellent) and Moss Wood Chardonnays. I was surprised at the list of top Aussies (and Kiwis) but assume that they were selected on the basis of a previous tasting or selection was limited to wines available in Australia (although thye have an unreleased NZ wine, Tom, so they must have cast the nest fairly wide).
BOB
August 15th, 2010 at 8:00 am
you are professional.