In the Grand European Jury Wine Tasting of 1997, the Grand Jury Européen, consisting entirely of European judges, conducted a

blind tasting Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...

of 27 Chardonnay wines from seven countries. Held in Bordeaux, 70 percent of the entries in the

wine competition A wine competition is an organized event in which trained judges or consumers competitively rate different vintages, categories, and/or brands of wine. Wine competitions generally use blind tasting of wine to prevent bias by the judges. Types of ...

were from France (Burgundy). All other countries were represented with one entry each, except for Australia, which had two. The

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

entries were "a regular Hall of White Burgundy Fame. They had such great vineyards and outstanding producers as

Meursault Meursault () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department and region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Etymology The oldest attested form of the toponym Meursault dates from 1094, as ''Murassalt'' and ''Mussalt'', in a charter by t ...

Charmes from Domaine Comtes Lafon and Meursault Perrières from Domaine Coche-Dury." In addition, "Various hyphenated ''grand cru''

Montrachet ''For the restaurant, see Montrachet (restaurant)'' Montrachet (pronounced ''Mon-rashay''; ) is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for white wine made of Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy. ...

s showed up: two

Chevalier-Montrachet Chevalier-Montrachet is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for white wine from Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy. It is located within the commune of Puligny-Montrachet. K. MacNeil ''The W ...

s, one from

Bouchard Père et Fils Bouchard Père et Fils is a French wine grower, négociant and producer based in Beaune, in the Côte de Beaune wine-growing region of Burgundy, France. The firm was established as a cloth merchant by Michel Bouchard in 1731, and in 1746 his so ...

, the other from

Maison Louis Jadot Maison Louis Jadot (or Louis Jadot) is a winery that was founded by Louis Henry Denis Jadot in 1859. The first vineyard bought by the Jadot family is the Beaune vineyard, Clos des Ursules, in 1826. The family wine company produces and markets ...

. Other ''grands crus'' included a

Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for white wine from Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy. It is located within the commune of Puligny-Montrachet.K. MacNeil ' ...

from Olivier Leflaive and two

Corton-Charlemagne Corton-Charlemagne is an '' Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) and Grand Cru vineyard for white wine in Côte de Beaune subregion of Burgundy. It is located in the communes of Aloxe-Corton, Pernand-Vergelesses and Ladoix-Serrigny with C ...

s (Louis Latour and Domaine Bonneau du Martray). Two Montrachets were present as well, from Marquis de Laguiche (

Joseph Drouhin Maison Joseph Drouhin is a French wine producer based in Burgundy that was founded in 1880. The estate owns vineyards in Chablis, the Côte de Nuits, Côte de Beaune and Côte Chalonnaise, as well as in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Drouhin is ...

) and Domaine Jacques Prieur" (Kramer, p. 110). In addition, there was Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes from Domaine Sauzet, Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles Domaine Leflaive, and Chablis Grand Cru Valmur from that district's most acclaimed producer, Domaine Francois Raveneau. The judges tasted three

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

s of each

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

, a 1989, a 1992 and a 1994. At the end of the evaluation, the judges declared the top wine to be

Robert Mondavi Robert Gerald Mondavi (June 18, 1913 – May 16, 2008) was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted label ...

Chardonnay Reserve, a

California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...

. Rank number two was won by Domaine Comtes Lafon's Meursault Charmes. The organizer told Matt Kramer, who wrote an article about the event in ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...

'', that he had later "put on the exact same tasting, with the exact same wines, in New York using American tasters. The results were almost identical" (Kramer, p. 111).

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Further reading