Beamsville Versus Burgundy Round 1

There is a new fad in the wine industry, a quirky little cousin of the organic movement known as "biodynamic" and every wine producing region in the world seems to be boasting a new biodynamic winery every year.  Ontario is no exception.  As you might have learned from reading my post about my visit to the Beamsville Bench a few weeks ago, I really enjoyed my visit to the Tawse Winery, a biodynamic producer.  I spoke of my admiration for their passion and dedication as well as the quality of the wines produced there. But, do I think the quality of the wines has anything to do with the idiosyncrasies of the biodynamic movement?

Jancis Robinson has written that she believes the biodynamic movement "just makes for better tasting wines".   If that is true, then certainly anyone would find a biodynamic wine better regardless of their experience with wine in general.  What I mean, of course, is that if two wines are served to a group of people, one biodynamic and one non, the biodynamic should be clearly favoured, should it not?

A couple of weeks ago I pitted two wines against each other in a tasting.  One of these wines was a biodynamic wine from Tawse Winery, a 2009 Sketches Chardonnay.  The second wine was a Burgundy sustainably produced Chablis,  2009 Domaine Louis Moreau Chablis 1er Cru Vaulignot.  The people tasting were the usual group of friends some with a greater wine appreciation than others, but none with any expertise claimed or imagined.  They certainly would not have a prejudice toward one form of farming over another.  No mention was made before the tasting of one of the wines being a biodynamic wine.

To my thinking, if a biodynamic wine is superior because of its method of farming it should be favoured by people who like wine regardless of experience or the wine simply does not live up to the marketing hype.  Furthermore, if the wine is not the clear winner and you maintain  that these methods result in the best examples of wines from any region, you must then concede that your region is not as suitable for wine making.  Or, you have to admit that there is far more involved in making wine than the position of the planets or the burying of a bovine head for a specified period of time during a specific phase of the moon.  And, let me nip in the bud this next argument, if only experts can tell the difference, you must concede that your methods hold no relevance to the average consumer and labelling is irrelevant.

So, who was the clear winner?  Eight people were asked to pick their favourite wine and what region they thought the wine came from.  Two people picked the Tawse as coming from Niagara and one person guessed the Chablis as coming from France.  As for preference, 3 people declared a preference for the biodynamic wine and 5 preferred the sustainably grown product.

Ok, this is not the most scientific test in the world, but I bet I could run the tasting a thousand times with different people and get the same statistically insignificant result.  There is no discernible difference in taste from biodynamic processes, in my opinion.  If the claims of superiority were true, I would have expected, even in this small sampling, to have seen some indication that people preferred the Tawse Chardonnay.  Almost everything about these two wines was the same: vintage, bottle size, price, amount of oak and soil type.  The only clear difference, aside from the influence of the wine maker, was the approach toward vineyard management.  This clearly was not enough to overcome the winemaker's expert touch.

Does this mean I no longer love Tawse?  No.  I think they make great wine and I think they will get better at it; I just don't think that their biodynamic approach will have anything to do with it.  While we were tasting wine at Tawse we were told that, during harvesting, workers were instructed to discard any bunches of grapes that had any unripened fruit.  Not just the unripened berries, but the whole bunch was to be discarded.  This kind of attention to quality is what will make or break Tawse and, regardless of whether or not the "moon is in the seventh house, or jupiter is aligned with mars".

I plan to write more about organic and sustainable farming in future posts, in the mean time you can read this blog to give you an idea of the criticisms of biodynamic farming.

Chardonnay Wine Tasting

I went to a 21st birthday party last night.  It was an elegant affair with the gentlemen in dinner jackets and black ties and the women in formal gowns.  A catered affair, with the finest of delicacies from around the culinary world.  Haute cuisine served on the most delicate china eaten with expensive silverware....pfft.  Yeah, right.  Suffice to say, it was a nice evening but far from formal (I'm looking at you Iain).  So to me, it seemed the perfect environment for a Chardonnay tasting.  Especially when one of the entrants has a label meant to resemble a tattoo.

Let's talk a little about Chardonnay.  If Pinot Noir can be said to reflect the talents of the wine maker, then Chardonnay can be said to reflect the talents of the grape growers as well as the terroir (the characteristics of the land the grapes are grown in, expressed in the taste).  But, this grape variety has a very checkered pedigree.  Many nations have taken credit for the origin of this grape and it was only due to recent DNA testing that the grape was found, probably, to be a mix of Pinot and Gouais Blanc.  The Chardonnay grape is - how should I put this - the slut of the grape world.  This grape takes to almost any soil and a wide variety of climates.  It has also been adaptable to cross breeding and is one of the most widely cloned and mutated varieties.  Chardonnay has a reputation of going with most foods, especially with the wide range of styles, there is probably a bottle that goes with everything.  As a result, and as any high school aged boy could predict, Chardonnay has become the most popular white wine grape in the world.  For a quick lesson in Chardonnay there is a pretty good Wikipedia article.

Once again, the rules were similar: all wines selected were under $20; the tasting was blind and there was an Ontario VQA entrant up against two nations known for their Chardonnay; and tasters were asked to rank the wines favourite to least 1-3 with a possible 33 first place points.  The one difference this time around was I asked the tasters to guess the origin of the wine.  We also had 11 tasters this time, so I think it gives a better representation of the tastes of my friends.  A note on the selections: a white Burgundy or Chablis grand cru would obviously be a stunning example along with the very best of California Chardonnays and Australians.  Les Clos Jordanne from Ontario could stand up- and, in fact has- to these higher examples.  But, the idea is to find good wines that fall in the < $20 category.  If you have never had, in your opinion, a good Chardonnay, may I suggest you bust the bank and try a Chablis, ask the clerk to help you out and you might find a decent one for under $30cad.

So now the line-up:

From France, Laurent Miquel "Pere et Fils" Chardonnay non vintage @$12.
From the USA Rutherford Wine Co. Gold Ring Organic 2009  @$16.95
From Canada Indelible Wines Vintage Ink Chardonnay 2010  @$16.95 (A note to last night's tasters. I kept saying this was from 13th St.  That is because I am an idiot.  A look at the label would have let you know that.)

The results:

Hide your eyes if you are a fan of California organic wines. The overwhelming favourite with 29 points and 8 of 11 first place votes was Indelible Wines Vintage Ink.  Second place with 24 points and 2 first place votes was the French Laurent Miquel Pere et Fils and in third with 13 points and no first place votes was the Gold Ring Organic from California.

None of the wines were considered undrinkable and, in fact, the Chardonnay drinkers in the crowd liked all three.  The winner was described as more full bodied and creamier.  Most people thought that the Canadian wine was from France while most thought the French wine was from the US.  Two people guessed all three correctly.  For those of you who were there A was Canadian, B was Californian and C was French.  The wines we tasted were emblematic of the Chardonnay style in that each had a different style and ranged from the mineral to the creamy to the fruity.  This time, more than last, the tasters were quite surprised by their choice.  I will be adding the winner to my list of wines in the column to the right and look forward to many pleasurable evenings with this versatile, popular and easy going wine, which could be just as at home at casual gatherings and formal affairs.