A Case of Mistaken Identity: California Chardonnay – Chablis

I thought this would be a good opportunity to compare a wine type (California Chardonnay) that I’d written off as being terminally boring until quite recently, with a wine type (Chablis) that I’ve admired for a long time, but never purchased or tasted with any regularity.

The Chablis in question is a 2011 Domaine Christian Moreau Père et Fils Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. This wine was purchased at K&L for $65. 13% abv.

The California Chardonnay a 2011 Ceritas “Porter-Bass Vineyard”, made from biodynamically farmed grapes from vines up to 30-years old. Purchased from the winery for $55, 12.9% abv.

Served with grilled salmon.

Visually, the wines were a virtually identical very pale straw.

The Chablis was the more aromatically expressive of the two, showing tropical fruit highlights. The more reticent Ceritas showed faint citrus aromas.

On the palate, the Chablis was surprisingly rich and round, showing some tropical fruit and a little floral. This wine did not have the vibrant acidity that I associate with Chablis, was just a touch flat and lacked the flinty bite that I associate with good Chablis. A richer mouth feel than I anticipated, medium depth and length.

The Ceritas, on the other hand immediately hits the palate with a blast of acidity. All citrus and stone here, with noticeable energy and grip. While showing less fruit than the Chablis, it is longer on the palate. While the Ceritas has a lot going on, it is currently at a somewhat awkward stage. A little time might smooth this out a bit.

While both wines were enjoyable and very well made, this was a surprising tasting for me. The Chablis was easily the most readily accessible; the California contender was clearly the more edgy, savory and lively of the two.

I’m guessing that if tasted blind, many, if not most tasters would incorrectly identify the region of origin of these two wines.

Christian Moreau tends to produce somewhat fatter Chablis than Fevre, Raveneau, Dauvissat etc.
The Ceritas is still a fetus. Give it some time in bottle.

John and Phoebe really have their act together!

TTT

That would make Mike an abortionist?

If he is, we all are!

I had the Ceritas recently and agree it was a baby that should not have been opened. Give it a few years.

I had to try one of these shortly after delivery last fall. I thought it seemed quite restrained with very little fruit showing. I am letting another bottle get some age on it, but I wonder if there will be much of a transformation?

I have only had a couple Moreau Chablis and they weren’t my style. I like lean, edgy and minerally Chablis. I’ve not had Ceritas but will search for them if they make wine in this style.

Chablis in the last 6 years or so has really been different than I remember Chablis. The wines are much riper and more generous, and they drink well earlier, than the super-acidic wines I remember from 1990s vintages, which needed years in the bottle to soften up. A year or two ago, I had a couple of the 2010 Fevre Grand Crus, and they were delicious wines, but they were good to go right after the cork was pulled, and they didn’t seem as though they needed or would probably benefit from aging. I’m sure I wouldn’t have guessed they were Chablis had I tried them blind.

I don’t drink that much Chablis, and I’m sure there are producers who would not fit that description, but it really seems from my modest experience that Chablis, as well as Cote de Beaune whites, are a different animal in the last decade or so than what I remember from when I first got into wine in the late 1990s. Not worse, but really more crowd-pleasing and earlier drinking.

At the same time, there is a new wave of high quality California chardonnay producers pushing hard in the other direction. Ceritas, Arcadian, Rhys, Copain, Poe, Wind Gap and others. Plus some traditionalists who have always made California chardonnay in a lean and ageworthy style, like Mount Eden, Stony Hill, Mayacamas, Montelena and Au Bon Climat.

Even as they start getting into more overlap on the stylistic spectrum, there are probably still differences just reflecting different climate and terroir, but I can see Mike’s point about it getting far less clear which is which. That is, if you’re talking about these certain kinds of California chardonnay I was describing, not if you’re talking about Newton, Lewis and Rombaeur.

Thoughtful and interesting post, Mike. Thanks for sharing it, and thanks for always sharing your open mind and sense of exploration with the board.

Interesting to hear your viewpoints on Moreau, to Chris’ point, maybe things have changed with later vintages, but he’s been a benchmark for me for Chablis for a long time–and I’m the guy who likes Raveneau and Dauvissat a very great deal. My note from a couple weeks ago in London with Nicos for the 2007 Les Clos, which we both loved:

"2007 Christian Moreau Chablis Les Clos

This is absolutely a point. Alluring scents of lemon, apple, stone, sea and gingerbread. Becomes even more focused later with some wet limestone. It’s so Chablis. Palate drinks like a dream—crystal clear with slate, lemon, light ginger spice, chalk feel and all sublimely smooth yet strong and elegant. Frankly a subversive wine and alarmingly brilliant."

I think this checked in as #8 on my Top 20 list of the wines for the trip.

I need to find ways to try more Ceritas

+1

I would say the change goes back a little further. I generally only have Chablis in a brown-bag tasting group and haven’t been able to recognize them blindly in many cases in the past few years.

Now, tropical flavor – that’s something else. That’s beyond the ripeness/acidity issue. I wonder if Moreau has planted the “muscat” chardonnay clone that’s used so much in California or something.

Nice work Mike. Ofcourse, reading your comparisons of Burgs to Cali wines is not unlike watching Fox News. Not so bad if your views coalesce, and if not, there’re usually some hot news babes.

Nevertheless, my much more limited experience with Cali Chards agrees with yours about the surge in quality (i.e.: “don’t call it a comeback”). It would indeed be very interesting to try those 2 wines, and a few others, head-to-head.

RT

Including vintages like '08, '10 and '11 and producers like De Moor or Pattes Loup (Thomas Pico)? Fevre, in lean vintages, usually offers a lot of typicity, as do the Dauvissat wines. IMHO.

RT

I haven’t been picking the wines, so it has not been Dauvissat or Raveneau – mainly less producers. I think we did have one Fevre that I did pick out as Chablis.

Richard, with respect to Chardonnay - my preference for years was Burgundy and Chablis over California (I guess that’s like watching MSNBC)?

I do think the Chardonnay playing field in California is evolving very rapidly and in an exciting way.

Hopefully the trend continues. Although it was baby-killing, an '09 PYCM St. Aubin Remilly on Saturday night was relatively round, ripe (not overly) and oaky. Would’ve pegged it as a stereotypical Cali Chard if blind and would’ve preferred a number of new world alternatives. So it goes.

RT

Hopefully the trend continues. Although it was baby-killing, an '09 PYCM St. Aubin Remilly on Saturday night was relatively round, ripe (not overly) and oaky. Would’ve pegged it as a stereotypical Cali Chard if blind and would’ve preferred a number of new world alternatives. So it goes.

Is drinking a 2009 St. Aubin, even from a great vineyard and a great producer, baby killing? I’ve always assumed that 5 years out, you’re on the proverbial plateau for a white burg. . .

assumed wrong if you’re looking at great vineyard/great producer. A good many producers have low premox rates. PYCM is one of em.

Thanks for the discussion Mike. I opened the 2011 Porter-Bass a few weeks ago. It was the first Ceritas wine I ever had and I was less than impressed, as were a few others. I admit to enjoying wines across the flavor spectrum but had myself wondering where this will go. I have one more of these and one '11 Peter Martin Ray chardonnay. Time will tell for me I guess.

The 2010 Domaine Christian Moreau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur was my favorite of the white wines I tasted at last year’s Nantucket Wine Festival. While not as flinty as some Chablis I have had in the past, I think it had more of a mineral strength than the 2011 vintage from the same producer. If you can secure a bottle of the 2010 vintage without undue hassle or cost, I recommend trying it.

I think you will enjoy the PMR better than the PB - at least I, and some others did.