“The Judgement of Chelsea”🍷⚖️
Hello Wine Lover
We're bringing you something a little different this fine Friday morning. With the forecast set for a week of summer sipping, what better time to talk tastings?
And in this case...
A head-to-head showdown. A battle between two great wine nations. And perhaps enough temptation to have your taste buds salivating and your fingers hovering over the "Buy Now" button.
Welcome to The Judgement of Chelsea🍷🇦🇺⚔️🇫🇷
A nod to the late Steven Spurrier, whose iconic Judgement of Paris reshaped the wine world and inspired tastings like this one.
Australia vs France
The tasting concept for our most recent tasting was loosely based on the famous (in the wine world) tasting known as “The Judgement of Paris” which occurred in Paris in 1976. This blind wine tasting event was organised by the late British wine merchant Steven Spurrier, in which leading French judges compared top French wines against relatively unknown Californian wines. To the surprise of the wine world, California's Chateau Montelena Chardonnay 1973 won the white wine category and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 1973 won the red wine category.
The result challenged France's long-held dominance in fine wine and is widely credited with establishing California as a world-class wine-producing region. Other notable Californian wines that performed exceptionally well included among others, Ridge Monte Bello, Heitz Martha's Vineyard and Mayacamas (we offer the Monte Bello and Mayacamas from later vintages), many of which later became iconic names in American wine.
The tasting also demonstrated that great wine could be produced outside Europe's traditional fine-wine regions, helping to accelerate the rise of premium wine production in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa. There was a follow-up with the 30th Anniversary Tasting held in 2006, often called the Judgment of Paris Revisited. The original 1976 wines were tasted blind again by panels in both Napa Valley and London, and the Californian wines performed even more impressively than they had in 1976.
You can Google or Chat the line up if you want to learn more and there was even a film made about it called “Bottle Shock” which starred Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier, though there was a fair bit of dramatic licence taken in the film version. The original event has been replicated in various forms around the world over the years and have been informative as to the narrowing of the gap between fine wines from the old and new world wines. With 2026 being the 50th anniversary we called this tasting, with tongue planted firmly in cheek, “The Judgement of Chelsea.”
Our version last week was France vs Australia (we will do France vs the USA later in the year) and the format was based on four “flights” of two bottles each, one French and one Australian. Each flight showed the same grape variety, same vintage similar quality (average score) and roughly the same price.
For practical reasons the wines were not served blind and not ranked overall but simply the preferred group choice for each flight. As the only countryman of either side, my vote didn’t count. The flights compared Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah/Shiraz and Cabernet/blends. The wines were double decanted for around 2 hours prior to service. The group was knowledgeable rather than expert (including me). The following were the ranking and some individual comments regarding each flight.
Flight 1: Chardonnay (White Burgundy style)
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Penfolds Bin 144 Yattarna Chardonnay 2021 £149 (Critic Av 96/100)
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Dom. Jean Marc Pillot Chassagne Montrachet Premier Cru 2021 £129 (Critic Av. 94/100)
Penfolds Yattarna was apparently designed to become its flagship white wine – essentially a “white Grange” with the indigenous name translating as “little by little, gradually”. True to its name the wine developed slowly to become one of Australia’s top Chardonnays. This vintage was pristine and fresh and offered notes of grapefruit, lime, vanilla and excellent and restrained oak treatment.
Les Caillerets is one of Chassagne’s finest vineyards and in the hands of the highly regarded Jean Marc Pillot, it offered up a first class Chardonnay which appeared deeper in colour and more developed than the Yattarna and showed peach, lemon curd, orchard fruit, caramel, honey and some minerality. The character of the variety shone through and while at first taste the Yattarna was clearly the favourite, the Chassagne definitely evolved in the glass to eventually deliver characteristic quality, flavour and complexity.
The Verdict: The Yattarna edged the flight but it was agreed that the Chassagne developed beautifully in the glass. The Yattarna looks the best longer term option.
Penfolds, Yattarna Chardonnay Bin 144, South Australia, 2021
£149.00
Dom. Jean-Marc Pillot, Les Chenevottes, Chassagne Montrachet, 2021
£125.00
Flight 2: Pinot Noir (Red Burgundy style)
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Domaine Dujac Morey Saint Denis Village 2022 £149 (Critic Av 93/100)
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Bass Philip Gippsland Reserve Pinot Noir 2022 £229 (Critic Av 97/100)
Both producers are iconic in their respective worlds and it would have been a little more interesting to consider relative classification levels here. The hard to find Bass Philip offers an Estate wine (like a Burgundian village), a Reserve (Premier Cru equivalent) and Premium (Grand Cru). Regrettably we were able to find a Premier Cru Dujac so we effectively compared a village with a Premier Cru here.
The Dujac was an excellent and appealing benchmark Burgundy and offered generous but balanced and complex fruit offering notes on cherry, plum and violets. However the Bass Philip was understandably at another level, an exceptional Pinot and I can’t think of a better Aussie Pinot. I suspect it would be more equal to have had the similarly priced Premier Cru Dujac in the match.
The Verdict: The Bass Philip was the preferred wine but the Dujac, especially as a village wine was a worthy (and relative value) match - we must revisit with a Dujac Premier Cru. The feeling was the Bass Philip had the best long term potential.
Dom. Dujac, Village, Morey-Saint-Denis, 2022
£149.00
Bass Philip, Premium Pinot Noir, Victoria, 2022
£229.00
Flight 3: Syrah/Shiraz (Northern Rhone style)
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Rene Rostaing Cote Rotie La Landonne 2016 £149 (Critic Av 96/100.
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Penfolds St Henri Shiraz (South Australia) 2016 £99 (Critic Av 96/100)
Rene Rostaing is a fabulous producer of Cote Rotie and from an esteemed site was fresh, concentrated and classically structured with notes of berry fruits, olive, dried herbs and earth. Notably La Landonne also showed strong regional characteristics, complexity and balance, a lovely Rhone.
The St Henri on the other hand is more of a Penfolds “house style” which is multi-regionally sourced from various sources in South Australia and it demonstrated a Shiraz of purity elegance rather than a sense of place. One of the finest modern vintages of St Henri, the wine showed berries, olive, crème brûlée, espresso, rich but balanced.
The verdict: These were both great wines pure and simple – hard to separate in terms of pure quality but overall perhaps a slight nod to the Rostaing, which also showed the best better longer term development.
Rene Rostaing, La Landonne, Cote Rotie, 2016
£149.00
Penfolds, St. Henri Shiraz, South Australia, 2016
£99.00
Flight 4: Cabernet led blends (Left Bank Bordeaux style)
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Henschke “Cyril Henschke” Eden Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2016 £129 (Critic Av 95/100
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Chateau Montrose Saint Estephe Grand Cru Classe 2016 £199 (Critic Av 98/100)
The final flight was that of Bordeaux Blend (Cabernet led) styles. Henschke’s Eden Valley Cabernet showed notes of berry, plum, mint, leather, earth and tobacco and was one of the top Cabernets of the vintage in Australia. A very well made wine from a stellar producer.
Along with Cos d’Estournel and perhaps Calon Segur) is one of the top wines of St Estephe and in outstanding vintages such as 2016 produces wines that are close to First Growth standard. The Montrose offers notes of blackcurrant, blackberry, cassis, cedar and frankly the epitome of a classic left bank Bordeaux. The critics and the team at Montrose regard the 2016 as one of their best wines ever – praise indeed.
The verdict: The Montrose was the clear favourite of the group but the Henschke was also admired for its quality and value for money. The Henschke will age well but the Montrose should age magnificently for some decades, but is approachable now with decanting.
Henschke, Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon, Eden Valley S.A., 2016
£129.00
Ch. Montrose, Grand Cru Classe, Saint Estephe, 2016
£199.00
Some conclusions
So there you have it. In fine wine tastings, comparisons can be slightly misleading in that sometimes the “lesser” wine in the flight would shine brilliantly on its own. All the wines here were outstanding in their own right.
My view is that the tasting highlighted the progress made in each country in the last decades. French wine sales in the 1980s and 1990s were challenged by some of the “new world” wines, which took some market share based on their immediate attractiveness and quality.
However, in many cases the “new world” wines were also sometimes a little OTT in terms of fruit power, oak and extraction. At the same time, critics like Parker and events like the Judgement of Paris (and subsequent similar ones) have especially raised the profile and acceptance of premium “new world” wines.
Partially in response to this challenge we have seen in France improvements in winemaking and oenology generally. In the “new world” reflecting more elegance and complexity as well as a more heightened sense of origin (and OK “terroir”). The consumer is the beneficiary of this worldwide progress, with more quality, regional and stylistic choices – albeit often at an increased price. Its not about competition, but more about recognising that the “old and new worlds” are producing premium wines of the highest order.
With the exception of the hard to find Bass Philip (though we will get some more), we have limited stock on offer at the shop and all our highly recommended though the first choices of each flight are probably at another level.
We’ll send an update on tastings next week.
Cheers!
