Chardonnay from the Burgundy or Australia? Decanter says Australia!

Pierre Mansour, founder of the Wine Society and jury member said about the result: "my clients can buy wines where they want and when it comes to Chardonnay, they mostly buy from the Burgundy. However, my recommendations have changed to Australia now, whose current Chardonnays are simply excellent". Another "taster", wine consultant Brett Crittenden, also expert of the Australian wine scene, says: "there is no doubt that the current quality of Australian Chardonnays is comparable to that of those from the Burgundy".

A total of five wines received the popular "5-star-Decanter-award", another 29 were marked particularly recommendable and another 70 wines were said to be worth recommending. Anthony Rose, British wine journalist, comments: "This was one of the most impressing tastings that I ever took part in". And even Roger Jones, owner of the Michelin-star- restaurant The Harrow sayid: "The Decanter offered an excellent platform for the Australian Chardonnay. The qualities of the wines were considerably high".

Other jury members confirmed this trend, among them columnist Andrew Jefford, wine author and journalist Sarah Ahmed and justin Knock, manager at Treasury Wine Estates. The jury praised the particularly high amount of freshness, the structural complexity of the wines and the taste of oak and alcohol. It was said that the producers had knowingly not overdone it in their production and instead of making fat Chardonnay, they concentrated on fruit and terroir.

Experts had long agreed that Australia was working on a renaissance of the Chardonnay, but the excellent results were still surprising. "Australian Chardonnay is still laughed at in the press, but this tasting proves the exact opposite", says Andrew Jefford. And Roger Jones comments: "The consumers still believe that Australian Chardonnay is full of alcohol and wood-taste. But this is definitely not true and it is understandable that Australian vintners are offended by this".

In terms of region, Chardonnays from the "Cool-Climate-regions" were ahead. Three of the five winners came from Margaret River, while Chardonnay from Monington Peninsula, Tasmania and Tumbarumba in New South Wales were praised highly. Despite the good results, some people could not help criticizing some of the wines. Wines from the Adelaide Hills and Eden Valley were called "thin and heavy" and without any flair. (red.yoopress)

The five winners are:

• Bird in Hand, Nest Egg, Adelaide Hills 2008
• Gioconda, Beechworth, Victoria 2008
• Killerby, Margaret River, WA 2009
• Evans & Tate, Margaret River WA 2009
• Stella Bella, Margaret River WA 2008