TN: Giaconda Chardonnay 2008

I haven’t posted a TN for a while, so I thought I would (as a Public Safety Announcement) with this one because it is just quite … interesting. Tried to enjoy this three nights in a row with food that would / could work - ham off the bone, salmon, chicken. I like Giaconda. I’ve enjoyed many of the Chardonnays from many vintages. I put Leeuwin Art Series ahead in terms of “best ozzie Chardonnay” (because it’s just consistently better, durr) but I can understand why Giaconda is it for others. Not this bottle though. Perfect colour - starting to go gold, but a bit of a greenish / fluro tinge is there too. The nose starts well - wow, power, exotic fruit, something to do with an atomic number of 16 - but quickly jangles some concerning bells too. Yes, these can be exuberant, that’s ok, lets put it in the mouth. Oh, I see, that’s what the nose is for: to warn you that this is NOT something you should put in your mouth. Too bad, it won’t kill me (yet). Hyper confected, fortunately attenuated by a good lick of heat from the alcohol, which tells you if you make the effort and “man up” you can soon enjoy that fortitude usually ascribed to the citizens of the Netherlands. This is like a caricature of an “en-vogue” New World chardonnay. Sweet and cloying, but with a good dose of gherkin juice acidity to ensure neither those with a sweet tooth nor those with no tooth will like it. Crushed almonds and cashew nuts, ground in the mortar with some broken glass and pumice. Oh there is structure and minerality - like Mount Doom and the geothermal marvel that is mud pools. A literal cornucopia of fruits, alas, nobody had specified you should keep the bananas separate and this particular cornucopia has been sitting out in the sun for a week. And black doris plums just doesn’t feel right for Chardonnay. When you push the envelope, I guess every now and again it bursts. In summary, this is an extremely well made wine, which has aged beautifully, but just happens to taste awful (to me).

Had my fair share of oxidized bottles of early noughties vintages Rauno, so the '08 was my last buy. The second to last bottle also left me a bit cold, but I banged open my very last bottle a couple of months ago and it performed rather well. I had lowish expectations but the wine was sound and with lots of interest in the big, full-on fashion that is Giaconda.Not so much though to make me rush off and buy more.

I wish it had been oxidised (or corked, or something) because then I could be optimistic for the other bottles I have. This came across as a pristine bottle. I might just see if another 5 years makes it better.

Heck of a good tasting note, at least.

Great note. Screwcap or cork? I have an 08 under screwcap but I think these were also released under cork until the 12 vintage or so.

Thanks for the fascinating tasting note. I don’t recall tasting the 2008, but I do recall a couple of vintages that were pushing the envelope a bit, wines that had lots of leesy complexity. I have found the more recent vintages to be more linear and a couple of 20yr old bots that outshone a strong line up of grand cru Burgs, although I can’t recall the specific vintages. As I recall '08 was a pretty hot vintage, which may account for the surmaturite notes you describe.

They were quite ripe and heady around this time. Certainly a lot finer and paired-back now.

The 90’s were the great wines for mine. '93, '95 and '96, if the cork has held out are as good as Grand Cru white Burgundy.

This was under cork. I’ve enjoyed '02, '04 and '05 in recent times - while these are all more exotic than the 90s, say, the '08 was just taking the mickey. At least this bottle. Jeremy - I’m sure you’ve had far more than me, but my favourites from the 90s were '94 and '98 IIRC, so it just goes to show. Certainly, the 90s LEAS have held up and developed better for my tastes, and usually outperform white burgundies of a similar ~20+ year age. Good to hear the more recent wines are more linear, though this '08 does look like an outlier.

The Giaconda retails at around A$175, the LEAS at A$110 and Cullen Kevin John at A$120: has anyone had the Cullen KJ Chardonnay and can compare it to the first two? I heard it’s supposed to be a leaner, more mineral alternative to the big and full Giaconda and quite rich and luscious LEAS. It is not hard to find all three on the secondary market with some age on them. Any info on how this compared with 10+ age on them appreciated!

Yes, I would happily admit Jeremy that a '96 opened a couple of years ago alongside a LEAS was absolutely superb. I still have one bottle of the '99 that I hold out good hopes for.

The Giaconda 2008 has always been a Spinal Tap wine for me, almost like they hit peak OTT around that time. The more recent Giaconda wines are quite different from that style, still intense (a young 2018 recently gave me whiplash after a big whiff from a Zalto Burg), but more in a good way for this more elegant white burg lover. Check out 2014 and 2017, or the 2018 after some time (or hours in a decanter) to really get a sense of how it’s evolved from those heady spicy oak days of the naughties.

The Cullen Kevin John is excellent, the 2017 in particular should be sought out if you can find it (2018 is worth a look too). Yes there’s oak, but it’s the polar opposite to the always big oaky but great fruit LEAS and even the modern more intense Giaconda in style. I would say much more in the Puligny mould if one must make such comparisons.

Thanks Tim that’s great info. As soon as we get out of lockdown here in Melbourne I’ll track down a bottle of Cullen or LEAS and get some friends over!

Stay safe in Sydney.

Thanks Jan, but I must add LEAS is a polarising style, some love it, some don’t. Personally I always find it too oaky, give me Tapanappa Tiers, Giaconda or Cullen Kevin John any day. Other Oz/NZ favourites include Holyman and Kumeu River Hunting Hill / Mate’s…

Be safe in Melbourne!

Tim - have you consistently aged LEAS to 20 years? I find it’s too boisterous young (fruit, oak) but quite unparalleled once it’s aged, and not polarising at all. Served blind, I’ve had people consistently picking the Cote de Beaune. One of the most consistent, best value, and highest quality aged Chardonnay experiences IMHO.

I must admit I was a bit cold on the LEAS in the noughties, but recent wines have been top notch with really well handled, unobtrusive oak.

Your mistake, Kent, was trying to drink the noughties vintages ALREADY :wink:! Just joking of course, and frankly I cannot have a relevant opinion on LEAS since the 1999 as I have only had one bottle from the noughties. I’m hoping the style hasn’t shifted too much, particularly re ageability.

I haven’t bought LEAS much, let alone aged it, but I’ve had a fair few 15-20 year ones where the oak does settle into the wine nicely. But even then they still show more overt oak influence than I personally like, but I’m fairly averse to oak in general. Perhaps it’s the LEAS oak flavour profile that puts me off more than anything, quite obvious new barrel vanilla type notes that distract from the consistently high quality fruit. Not an unpleasant flavour, just want it in a milkshake, not my Chardonnay.

And Kent, recent LEAS are indeed top notch, but it’s stretch to call the oak unobtrusive IMHO. At a Chardonnay Challenge last year, we did 16 top Aus/NZ Chardonnays including the LEAS 2014 and it stood out by a country mile, everyone called it straight away… ah oak bomb, must be LEAS! (The winner was Tappanapa Tiers 2016 if anyone is curious)

My note on the LEAS 2014 read… “Oaky! But I don’t mind the caramel popcorn buttery oak in this context of good winemaking with great fruit. Has length, but so reliant on the oak for it’s power. Not my style so much. Gotta be LEAS. 13/20”

Did have a 2005 LEAS last weekend under screwcap, a wine that I loved due to higher minerality and lower obvious oak, but hadn’t tried for 5+ years. But sadly this bottle was affected by DMS (canned corn notes), likely due to it’s previous owner (a friend) storing it closer to 18C instead of an ideal 12C, plus the screwcap closure a factor as well. A real pity as I was looking forward to it.

Slightly off topic, but DMS is something I see a LOT in aged wines from New Zealand such as Pyramid Valley and Felton Road, mainly Chardonnay but also in reds, it was a pity to see it in the LEAS as well. I think I’m quite sensitive to it which doesn’t help. There was a study by the AWRI that showed wines under screwcap are more susceptible to increased DMS levels when exposed to slightly higher storage temperatures over time. As much as I loathe cork due to their TCA and variable permeability issues, screwcap isn’t perfect either. Ah well, just store them cool and hope. Or drink em young!

Tim - you’re spot on about DMS, though I’m quite tolerant. In general, some of the best NZ producers have learned to handle it - i.e. I’ve seen clear improvement since screwcaps were first adopted. One of the other things I noticed though on my sole noughties trial of LEAS: the wine had aged very differently (under screwcap) than the 90s wines I’m used to. It was much more clearly New World (and indeed, the oak stuck out) so I’m rather hoping that is merely a matter of time. Potentially, though, this may mean the style / character of the wines once mature is very different from what it used to be; an unintended consequence of screwcaps. Of course, even if this means I end up enjoying LEAS less in future years than I used to, I will remain an advocate for the more reliable closure :slight_smile:!

Ditto. See this a lot in screwcapped New world Chardonnay, especially those made in a reductive style. Sometimes a strong canned corn note, other times it smells like rancid lettuce. I’m really sensitive to it and find that others aren’t as repulsed by it as I am.
I think it’s similar to how TDN develops in Riesling, cork closures tend to lose concentration over time whereas screwcaps preserve it.

Little bump to say I opened my (screwcapped) 2008 last night.

I thought it was in a really good place. Reading Rauno’s note again I can see some similarities, particularly the sense of confected fruit. But I wouldn’t call my bottle inelegant or hot in any way.
There’s a sense of quite ripe fruit and some hefty, spicy oak, but it evolved with time… I saw a much more mineral side of this wine come out with time.

My CT note:

Screwcap, deep yellow colour. At first the oak spice sort of juts out a bit and the buttery tones are a bit dominant. After a while the site characteristics fade in, the flinty, smoky, mineral-flecked signature I’m familiar with. Some more time and this only becomes more pronounced and intense. It’s big on the palate, really juicy and fleshy and on the riper side for sure. Big yellow peach flavour but huge enveloping length and still some crisp green apple acidity. Clearly very high quality and in a good place right now.


(by the by, I would agree that Leeuwin Art Series is a more consistent wine and thus Australia’s best Chard).