Chardonnay Tasting - July 2022
And so it came to pass that the Cluny Cellar Club had its first London event. The menu was Chardonnay, pure and proper. No Sauvignon Blancs or Pinot Gris to speak of. It started in the fizzy form, a Blanc de Blanc by Paul Goerg supplied by the club’s favourite London merchant, Goedhuis & Co. Club. Members and guests filtered in. Club member Clement arrived aptly dressed in suit and tie. Other club members were not so well heeled, though of course the beauty of the CCC is its diversity and inclusivity. Even the most rugged of hand-picked ruffians can attend an invite-only event.
The cheese arrived with the Club Communication’s Executive Storey who had also put together a rather splendid tasting sheet for our reference. The towers of Champagne-moistened goats, gooey Goudas, molten Reblochons and Auvergne Blues sat untouched being so very pleasing to the eye. But once the first tip of the wedge had been cut, the club members began to tuck in and decided we’d need a cheese menu to match the wines at future events.
The second wine, a Kumeu village Chardonnay, one of Club Captain Frazer’s go-to plonks was described by Comms Exec Abi as ‘smelling like Petrol or white spirit’. Other club members were not quite so unimpressed though it was certainly not a favourite. We moved onto a 2015 Fourchaume Premier Cru Chablis from Pinson Freres and most Club members nodded with approval. However, Club Comms Exec Storey stated ‘its fine …. I wouldn’t choose to drink it. But its fine’.
Club Captain Frazer had a moment of concern. Had he chosen the wrong wines? In order to stem the flow of negativity from the Club’s Comms Exec, it was decided we should move onto our fourth wine which was an affordable Californian oaked chard from the Wine Society. Club Captain Tom slipped it into one of his kilt socks hoping that the anonymity would allow some reprieve from critics. ‘This is clearly the American one isn’t it! It tastes so weird and Californian.’ The ploy had failed.
However, things began to look up with the next bottle, also tasted blind. The whole club were correct in guessing which was the French and which was the Californian. The French was a Mâconnais favourite from our friend Marcel Couturier and finally we had a wine which pleased all. I thanked heavens for Marcel and his son, Auxence’s Mâcon-Loche, a wine that punches well above its pay grade and one the club Lepitoperist and I had been tasting from the barrel a mere few weeks before. A Mâcon-Meursault, as he had joked at the time! It seems the club have an oaky palette which should be remembered for future events.
We finished the main tasting with a bottle of Chapel Down’s Flint Dry which fell flat after the soaring success of the Mâcon.
At this point, several club members got up to go. One particular troop including M. Beckford, M. Alastair and Mlle. Alannah were huddled at the doorway planning their escape. ‘But you haven’t tried the mystery bottles yet’ I implored. And so they remained and it was agreed by all that the next person to leave the party would be shot and fed to the pigeons below. The tasting continued. Some more bottles were put in the freezer and anything in the fridge was now within limits.
The first mystery bottle was a bottle of Domaine Talmard’s Macon-Montbellet which went down a treat as a solid but no frills Chard. Next I dressed up a bottle of Yellow Tail which had been hanging around for some months after it had been left at a drinks party. Club Member Hsu stated ‘it tastes like vanilla essence’. The evident falsity of flavour was an assault on the senses after all the natural oak. Nonetheless, it was readily consumed.
Next we tried a 2019 Mâcon-Villages from Domaine Saumaize-Michelin. Not dissimilar ins style to Marcel’s Loche and another very clear winner. Coincidentally, We discovered that Club Member Fisher had previously interned with one of their UK importer’s Charles Taylor Wines.
Then half a bottle of The Elder Pinot Noir from Malborough which had been sitting open in the fridge was consumed and enjoyed by Abi and Will, both singing its praises. Next, I found some 2016 tasting samples from the Catena Zapata estate in Argentina which were passed around like communion wine.
Other bottles came and went, I now forget which. Our attention turned to the music and the volume rose with LCD Soundsystem’s ‘All My Friends’ triggering a complaint or two from the neighbours
I shan’t name names, but it is fair to say certain club members reached their limits. But in the end, it was agreed by all that the first London CCC tasting had been a roaring success.
To paraphrase Club Member Lucy ‘I never really used to drink white wine, but now I will!’
Club Captain Frazer
