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Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist - Michael Vaughan  

  Beating the High Price of California Chardonnay

(Publishing Date: Monday, April 3, 2000  - Toronto Section)  

It’s the battle of the palates. Come this Tuesday night, Toronto’s tasters will be lining up to wet their whistles on the best of whites from worlds apart: Germany vs California. By some strange twist of fate, these two annual wine fairs have ended up in Toronto on the same day, same time.  Given the huge popularity of Chardonnay, one would think that the masters of Riesling might have difficulty attracting the crowds to their event. 

And yet, much to my surprise, Germany is already well sold out with 400 attendees. One of the reasons might be that the California event was only able to accommodate 650 guests (as opposed to its norm of 800). Perhaps California rejects have jumped ship? Another reason lies with the growing numbers of ABC drinkers (Anything But Chardonnay) who have a hankering for Riesling. So little of this stuff gets through the LCBO, that its fans will go to almost any length to get more. 

But the real reason for the interest in other grapes and new horizons lies elsewhere. When I recently attended a blind preview tasting organized by the California Wine Institute and looked at the prices, I thought it must be April Fools Day! But I was wrong, that’s today. 

In essence, current California prices have become a wine lovers’ misery. Sure the lowly Canadian buck doesn’t help, but for-the-love-of-Pete, how do some of these producers get away with charging the such enormous prices for their wines? The answer - labels sell and prices, unfortunately, do not change to reflect the quality of what’s in the bottle. Judge for yourself. Is Arrowood’s lightly structured Sonoma Coast 1998 Chard worth $40? Not for me,
at least not now! 

It seems that many of the California price-quality ratios are simply out-of-sight. Wine prices have taken on stock market proportions, except that the gyrations have been ever upwards. The current April 30th issue of the Wine Spectator feeds this mania by focusing on the rise of California’s cult wines - "Nine Superstars to Dream About PLUS: 17 Gems to Buy Before It’s Too Late" screams the front cover. Sounds more like sex than wine. 

Coming back down to earth, especially for those of us with limited discretionary income, let me recommend the reasonably-priced Gold Medal winning R.H. Phillips 1998 Toasted Head Chardonnay available in Vintages at $19.95. Of the 35 white wine awards presented at last week’s Toronto Wine & Cheese show, it was the sole US winner! It’s still available in stores cross Ontario - call the LCBO Info line at (416) 365-5900 to find the store closest to you. 

Of course, lots of good California Chardonnay exist that are not obscenely expensive. In next Saturday’s Vintages release, for instance, the rich, toasty, tropical-fruit-directed Forest Glen 1997 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay is a good buy at $22.95. 

The problem is that there are now more and more Chards that offer just-as-good-if-not-better flavours at cheaper prices. Two new comparably priced show stoppers come from France and Australia respectively. The first is the zesty lime-pie-in-you-face Denis Philibert 1997 Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits at $22.70. Extracty and stunningly delicious, only 875 cases were produced and the LCBO managed to snag 168! At twice the price it would still be a buy. Be prepared to do battle at Vintages next Saturday morning for this beauty. 

And talking about "twice the price" my lips just about fell off when I tasted the Seaview Edwards & Chaffey 1996 Chardonnay from South Australia. Given its delectable, creamy, butterscotch, ripe pear flavours, I almost danced in the lab upon seeing it’s the too-good-to-be-true LCBO Catalogue price of $12.95. The thought of loading up on some of the 400 arriving cases made me feel like a wine baron. But then came the bad news: last Wednesday the LCBO declared the original price null and void. It’s now $23.95 and even though considerably higher - still a must buy! 

Closer to home, don’t ignore the enormous, smoky, rich, caramel-directed Southbrook 1997 Chardonnay Lailey Vineyards another steal, this time only $17.95. This Gold medal winner was the highest scoring Chardonnay at the 1999 Toronto Wine & Cheese Show! 

Finally, for ABC fans (unfortunately not at this week’s wine fair) there is the classic, crisp, gooseberry-directed De Loach 1998 Fumé Blanc from Sonoma’s Russian River Valley. It may not be bargain at $26.00 but it is the best I have tasted to date from this house. And for those who love pear purée, look no further than Caymus 1998 Conundrum. The 600 bottles will sell-out immediately at $39.75. 

Next week I will tackle the best red buys of the Vintages release!