In doing a very-long-overdue inventory of my wine storage cabinets, I discovered and pulled out some older bottles, some of which might be over the hill, or in the questionable area, or at least seemed like now is the time to drink rather than holding longer.
In that vein, I pulled out two 2009 chardonnays and figured the smart play was to open them now. The wines were the 2009 Louis Carillon Chassagne Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles and the 2009 Rhys Chardonnay Alpine Vineyard.
It seemed like a fair fight, two wines of the same age, both from warm vintages, roughly the same price. I tried them single blind, with my wife getting to try them double blind.
Wine #1:
A beautiful clear, light, bright yellow-gold, zero worry of oxidation from the color. The nose has some salted butter, tart pineapple, tea, and the slightest hint of smoke.
The wine really shines on the palate, with bright pineapple, guava, lemon, and especially a wash of ripe orange. You also get a blast of white spices in the mid palate. The finish is long and juicy.
Overall the wine is bright and energetic, without heaviness or oakiness. It feels very much like a pure expression of the grapes and site. A sense of clean, pure, transparency. The bottle was also quite youthful considering its age and vintage.
Wine #2:
Very nearly the same color as Wine #1., light, clear, pretty, and a welcome sigh or relief that the wine is not oxidized. The nose has a layer of sweet earth to it, bright orange, and a persistent note of matchstick and gun flint. The nose gives the wine a feeling of importance.
On the palate, the slightest hint of white spice, much less than the other wine, tart pineapple, baked green apple, lemon, and some lingering notes of toast to the finish.
For those who like tastefully added notes from the barrel, this pulls it off well, without creaminess or heaviness, but with a consistent accent of smoke and toast. This is not as purely transparent as the other wine, but does offer its power with reasonable elegance.
The Judgment:
I think you would impress more people with Wine #2, but I think Wine #1 was probably more spot on. I leaned ever so slightly to #1 myself. Really, though, both were very good and pretty much a tie in quality, it was just a question of which style appealed to you more.
Wine #1 was the Rhys, and Wine #2 was the Carillon. Fun tasting.