Chardonnay Masters 2017: the results in full

Judges comments: Michelle Cherutti-Kowal MW

What impact did the tasting have on your perception of Chardonnay?

I was pleasantly surprised by the use of oak – it was less obvious than in the past and the oak is clearly being used to add complexity and not simply to add a vanilla flavour.

What did you like?

I was impressed by the improvement in the wines from Chile and Australia, and I was delighted to see that there were much fewer ‘skinny’ Australian Chardonnays.

On the other hand, I found that New Zealand did less well than I had expected.

Were there any surprises?

Australia – the country seems to finally have come into its own. The Chardonnays from Australia weren’t too skinny nor too fat but they were some truly elegant wines. A nice surprise.