I was fortunate to attend the 2010 International Chardonnay Challenge forum and awards dinner last week.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate Prue Younger and her team of helpers and judges for a wonderful event. With the rise of wines such as Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris, Chardonnay has suffered a decline in consumption but it still occupies the position of being the number 1 preferred white wine in the world and the most planted white grape variety.

The reason for this is simple, well made Chardonnay is beautiful.

New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has put the New Zealand wine industry on the map and for that we must toast the skilled winemakers for this, but these same winemakers do not just devote their energy and passion solely to Sauvignon Blanc.  The true test of their skills and abilities comes when wines are made requiring more influences and expertise other than stainless steel tank fermentation. The white wine that challenges winemakers around the world like no other is Chardonnay. What other grape is perfectly matched to oak in so many different ways, big rich oak, soft subtle oak, warm toasty, buttery oak.  How about a wine that displays elegant fruit characters of fresh nectarine, peach and citrus and with the skilled winemaker as its friend, glide over the palate with seamless finesse, caressing the senses with soft creams and buttery characters.

This is the realm of the King of white wines, Chardonnay, a wine that challenges the winemaker and delights the drinker. There will always be usurpers to the crown but that is only what they will be. Chardonnay has and will be the choice of white wine that continues to delight and amaze the wine novice and expert, no other white wine has the strength of character and the ability to achieve this.

Go on New Zealand, embrace Chardonnay again. Get out there and buy a rich and toasty Gisborne, a vibrant and fresh Marlborough or a mouth filling, buttery Hawkes Bay, you will be amazed how New Zealand Chardonnay has evolved.

Look For -

Whitehaven (Marlborough) Chardonnay 2008

Squawking Magpie (Hawkes Bay) Gimblett Gravels Chardonnay 2006

TW (Gisborne) Black Label Growers Selection Chardonnay 2009

If you want some wine advice for a party you are planning call one of our wine advisors on 0508 946372. We can even offer free glass hire in most cities.*

*Some conditions apply.

We may be biased here but the best place to buy wine in New Zealand is online. Do your research well in advance and you’ll be sure to get the best deals delivered straight to your  place.

2. Try before you buy big.

Why buy a whole case before you know if you even like the wine? You may save a buck a bottle but that will be little consolation each time you trip over the 11 bottles of undrunk wine clogging up your kitchen/front room/cellar.

3. They do make wine outside of New Zealand.

We’re big fans of the NZ wine industry and all it’s achieved. And rightly so the industry is well supported by us parochial Kiwis. But sometimes we can be a little myopic in our viewpoint. New Zealand produces less than 1% of the world’s wine.  So that leaves a lot of wine out there to be discovered. We also forget that the whole wine world has been improving over the last 20 years. Some may complain about the Parkerization of the global wine market but one reality today is that every country has improved their quality out of sight. Gone are the days of taking your chances with wines from far off places. You’re more likely to get a great bargain and discover something new about the world of wine to boot. So keep drinking your Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, but remember wine can be about discovery, adventure and learning as well. Why not try some Pinot Grigio from Italy, some Tempranillo from Spain, some Carmenere from Chile or some Malbec from Argentina. And if you get really crazy you might even buy some wine from France!

4. Don’t let someone else choose your wine.

Letting someone else choose your wine for you is probably not the best way to maximise your wine enjoyment. Some of the wines sent to you might just be memorable enough to get you to stay in the club but most of them you will have forgotten before they hit the recycling bin. Choose your wine yourself and you may make the odd mistake but on the whole you’ll get a lot more value for money and have some fun along the way.

5. Leave the medals for the athletes.

When was the last time you invited a few friends around to your place, opened 150 bottles of wine and took a sip out of each one before spitting  into a jar? Never – that’s not how you drink wine? OK – there’s always going to be a place for wine shows, but it’s hard to get away from the fact that wines are simply not judged the same way they are consumed. Some big fruity wines do very well at wine shows because they provide the palate hit that appeals to a judge who has already sampled 50 wines before morning tea. Other more subtle, elegant wines tend to get overlooked and yet these are the wines that can provide the most enjoyable drinking. If you’re only going to buy wines with a medal sticker on the bottle you’re still going to leave a lot of gold on the shelf.

6. Stay informed

Probably the biggest mistake to make is not staying informed. A couple of the wine bibles we use around here are:

 Michael Cooper’s Buyer’s Guide to New Zealand Wines
Still the best guide to New Zealand wines going – updated every year. 

James Halliday Australian Wine Companion
The most comprehensive guide to Australian wines out there. 

We also like:

 Quaff 2009 by Peter Forrestal
A great guide to wines under $15 available in Australia. Many of these wines are also available in New Zealand. This is a real budget guide that sticks to its guns. In some quarters the definition of budget wine seems to be creeping up to under $25. I can assure you we won’t let that happen around here!

 Indispensable Wine Guide 2009 by Joelle Thomson
Thomson does a good job of covering a range of wine available in New Zealand including wines from New Zealand, Australia and further afield.

 Also Magazines like Cuisine, Winestate and WineNZ are great ways of staying informed.