Prologue
In the wine shop you're buying a Chardonnay to pour with the
salmon mousse and a Zinfandel to serve with Philippine adobo
(marinated chicken wings). The California 1997 and 1996
vintages of a given winery are about the same price. Which
vintage will taste better tonight?
The Better Vintage—(from our blind tasting)
To get an answer, we paired a dozen 1997s with
equally-priced 1996s...only Chardonnays and
Zinfandels. When we pulled the winning bottles
out of their sacks, here's what we found. (Those
winning by the biggest number of votes
over their opponent are listed last.)
| Winning Number of Votes |
Winning Vintage |
Price |
The Varietal |
The Wine |
| 12th |
- |
4 |
'97 |
$21 |
Chardonnay |
Trefethen, Napa Valley |
| 11th |
- |
6 |
'97 |
$18 |
Zinfandel |
Kempton Clark, Cucamonga Vly. |
| 10th |
- |
7 |
'97 |
$30 |
Zinfandel |
Gary Farrell Dry Creek Vly. |
| 9th |
- |
8 |
'97 |
$7 |
Zinfandel |
Monterey Vineyard, Lodi |
| 8th |
- |
9 |
'97 |
$20 |
Chardonnay |
Kendall-Jackson, Santa Maria Vly. |
| 7th |
- |
10 |
'97 |
$15 |
Chardonnay |
Burgess, Napa Valley (pictured)
|
| 6th |
- |
11 |
'97 |
$19 |
Zinfandel |
Robert Mondavi, Napa Vly. |
| 5th |
- |
12 |
'97 |
$16 |
Zinfandel |
Rosenblum, Contra Costa |
| 4th |
- |
14 |
'97 |
$7 |
Zinfandel |
Bogle, California |
| 3rd |
- |
17 |
'96 |
$30 |
Zinfandel |
Guenoc G. Magoon Reserve |
| 2nd |
- |
28 |
'97 |
$18 |
Chardonnay |
Rosenblum, Paso Robles |
| Winner |
- |
31 |
'97 |
$16 |
Zinfandel |
David Bruce, Paso Robles |
Comment
From $7 to $30, Chardonnay or Zinfandel, the
1997s won 11 out of 12 matches. Case closed!
|
