Well-made Chardonnay will improve in the cellar

Wednesday’s tasting organized by Vintage Imports in Philly was terrific. In addition to a wonderful tasting and a well-received presentation by Trefethen Family Vineyards, many of the Philly, Wilmington and Delaware coastal restaurant glitterati were in attendance. Some of these stalwarts, including me, brought family members. Few things please me more than observing the wine education mantle being passed.

I believe the best sequence to learn about wine is: learn terminology; do a component tasting, snort from an essence kit; then taste till your tongue goes numb. Comments by others are not critical but often help me stay focused during a six-hour tasting. Since there is so much ground to cover, from this exposition there will be two sequels.

Janet Trefethen, one of the principals and the mom, was the proud presenter for a retrospective on the winery’s history and the recent tragic earthquake damage done there. It is a tribute to her character and determination that she managed to present a well-tuned tasting while the winery and storage facilities were in the throes of undergoing harvest, damage control and repairs.

She showed a film and slide history to which she had attached clips and pix of the recent quake damage and repair efforts. These were very extensive, requiring cranes, bulldozers and a panoply of architectural, construction and winery people. This misfortune occurred during production of this year’s wine.

The wine presentation was bifurcated into two varietal, five-vintage-each samplings, with an opening palate cleanser of Dry Riesling 2013. Orange blossom and lime aromas opened to tropical and floral flavors supported by a mineral acid frame. It finished with clean grapefruit flavor; $22, 90 points McD.

Five 100 percent Chardonnays were presented: 1977 in 750ml; 1987 in magnum; 1997 in 3L; 2000, magnum; and 2012, 750ml. All were from 100 percent Main Ranch Vineyard, but they were distinct primarily for their increasing use of oak, bottle sizes and vintage, since the terroir (soil and exposures) were the same. Rather than discuss each wine, most of which you would not be able to buy, I will stick with the 2012, 91 points under $26. Pale-green tinged, the bouquet is Chardonnay, oak-driven spice, apple, lemons and some floral notes. On the palate, fruit provides a perceived sweetness that is obviated by the dearth of residual sugar. I also found citrus, minerality and bright acidity in a wonderful, balanced finish that says this wine will age well. You can find the 2000 1.5L at the winery for $140.

The 2000 750ml came on at $20, was only rated 87, but its price rapidly rose to $70 and has maintained. I think WS and WE prefer the trendy to the exclusion of the producers who maximize terroir. Trefethen Chardonnay 2000 did well at the big Cali tastings and with the public; 90 points McD. This flight showed all attendees that well-made chardonnay improves in your cellar. It also instructed on the efficacy of the proper use of oak. Best of all, it displayed the use of winemakers’ art to extract the best possible wine from a variety of weather conditions.

Wine aficionados may remember that Montelena was the first Cali chardonnay to break the French rating curtain in 1976. Trefethen 1976 Chardonnay was named Best Chardonnay in the World at the very same Gault Millau World Wine Olympics in France (aka the Judgement of Paris) in 1979. Many wine reviewers blew a gasket when 330 wines from 33 countries were evaluated by 62 experts from 10 nationalities and Trefethen won Best Chardonnay. Some went so far as to claim the “brown bags” were mislabeled.

It was also reported that a side-by-side chart of 18 wines by a roster of experienced tasters showed about as much consistency as a table of random numbers. The French broke out and sharpened the national razor when the ‘73 Stags’ Leap Wine Cellar Cab took the No. 1 spot over Chateaux Montrose, Mouton, Haut Brion and Leoville Las Cases.

Regarding the ‘76 tasting, the exact same red wines were rated at the San Francisco tasting in 1978. In order, ‘73 Stags’ Leap, ‘70 Heitz Marthas, ‘71 Ridge Monte Bello and 4th, ‘70 Chateau Mouton. And the crowd went wild.