No surprise to report that the top scoring Chardonnay at our weekly RECM Best Value blind tasting this morning hails from Stellenbosch with Villiersdrop and Robertson hot on the heels of magician Tertius Boshoff. Here he is embracing Clare Mack at a Nederburg Auction tasting many moons ago. Tertius has an interesting book in his hand.

Stellenrust Barrel Fermented Chardonnay 2013 score 16.50 price R122.00 value R187.67
Bouchard Finlayson Kaaimansgat Limited Edition Chardonnay 2011 score 16.40 price R168.00 value R185.00
De Wetshof Bateleur Chardonnay 2012 score 16.20 price R322.00 value R179.81
De Wetshof “The Site” Chardonnay 2014 score 16.10 price R173.00 value R172.43
La Bri Chardonnay 2014 score 16.00 price R110.00 value R163.32
Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Chardonnay 2014 score 15.90 price R100.00 value R153.07

The judges were on top form this morning as the correlation between score and retail price is over 0.4, confirming that when it comes to Chardonnay at least, you get what you pay for, on average. But there are deals galore as our RECM Best Value algorithm confirms. For less than a third of the price, the Drostdy-Hof from Tulbagh is a steal.

Drostdy-Hof Chardonnay 2014 score 15.70 price R35.00 value R103.19
Top Secret Chardonnay 2013 score 15.70 price R44.99 value R103.19
Leopard’s Leap Unwooded Chardonnay 2014 score 15.40 price R42.00 value R94.96
Heron’s Nest Cellar Selection Chardonnay 2014 score 15.30 price R40.00 value R86.18
Perdeberg Winery Unwooded Chardonnay 2014 score 15.20 price R36.00 value R76.42
Rooiberg Chardonnay 2014 score 15.20 price R36.50 value R76.42

Can Chenin Blanc compete? Is Sauvignon Blanc too thin to win?