ONLINE TASTING: Chardonnay of the World Comparison Tasting

PLEASE NOTE: If you book after 12pm on Friday 18th March, tasting kits are not guaranteed to arrive in time for the live event. They will be posted out as soon as possible. As a reminder, anyone registered for this tasting will also have access to the tasting recording (from the next working day), so if you are worried about not receiving your kit in time, rest assured you will be able to watch the recording at any time that is convenient for you.

This is the third in our exciting series of grape variety tastings showcasing some of the best examples across the world of wine of a given variety. On this evening, we will be tasting eight fantastic expressions of Chardonnay.

Chardonnay

This is the most famous vine variety of all. So powerful is the C-word on a wine label that, like Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay has virtually no synonyms – although in Styria in southern Austria some winemakers persist with the tradition of calling it Morillon. In the 1980s something extremely important to the history of wine happened: 'Chardonnay' became a name more familiar to the world's wine buyers than any of the geographically-named wines this vine variety had for centuries produced, such as Chablis, Corton-Charlemagne, or Montrachet. When the emerging New World wine industries introduced varietal labelling – calling wines by the name of their principal grape variety – it was Chardonnay that made the most friends.

The Chardonnay vine is nothing if not adaptable. Commercially acceptable Chardonnay can be produced in really quite hot wine regions such as the hot interiors of California, South Africa and Australia where clever winemaking can give it tropical fruit flavours and even some suggestion of oakiness, often using oak chips. In cooler wine regions such as Chablis, Carneros and Tasmania, on the other hand, it can produce apple-crisp juice which, in less ripe years, can have rapier-like acidity. The best examples can benefit from five or even more years in bottle to soften that acidity and develop rounder flavours to balance it – although less concentrated examples produced in cool years may simply taste even leaner as the bloom of youth fades.

Tasting Date: Thursday 24 March 2022 at 7:30pm (the tasting will last approximately 1.5 - 2 hours)

TASTING FEE STRUCTURE:

For this special two-hour tasting, a wine tasting kit is included in the listed price which includes a 50ml tasting sample of each wine. Note: Tasting kits will be despatched to attendees within the week leading up to the tasting. 

Tasting kit delivery can be made to anywhere within the UK. Currently deliveries to outside the UK are not available. 

DON'T WANT TO RECEIVE A TASTING KIT? We understand that not everyone will want to receive the wine samples, and would rather just register to participate in the online evening without the wines. That is absolutely fine! The fee to just register for this evening without receiving a tasting kit is £10. Just enter the promotional code: 50REGONLY when checking out to ensure you just pay the registration cost. 

TASTING FORMAT:

Jimmy Smith will host this exclusive tasting live at 7:30pm on Thursday 24 March 2022. This single-evening tasting will be approximately 1.5 - 2 hours in length. 

Unable to commit on the evening? No problem! Anyone registered for this tasting will gain access to the video recording of the live event, so you can always revisit any of these at anytime in the future - whether its because you missed participating in the live evening or if you want to revisit the presentation at a later date.

Wines Included in Tasting Kit (8 wines):

• Florent Rouve, AOC Arbois Chardonnay, Jura, 2018
• Villa Maria, Taylor’s Pass Chardonnay, Marlborough, New Zealand, 2018
• Ten Minutes by Tractor, Estate Chardonnay, Mornington Peninsula, Australia, 2020
• Oregon/California TBC
• Burgundy (Chablis) TBC
• Domaine Larue, Le Trezin, AOC Puligny-Montrachet, 2018
• South Africa TBC
• South America TBC

RATHER ATTEND THIS TASTING IN-PERSON? We are hosting this same tasting again at our flagship venue in West London on Wednesday 11th May 2022 at 7:00pm.