I sense Ontario’s Le Clos Jordanne (LCJ) is making somewhat of a comeback perhaps now that winemaker Thomas Bachelder is back in the saddle after an absence from Clos Jordanne for several years. He rejoined Le Clos Jordanne in 2019 for the 2107 vintage. LCJ started in 2010 to great fanfare but closed shop in 2016.
How does LCJ Jordan Village Chardonnay 2019 weigh in? On the nose I give it points for not being so easily and immediately recognized as a Chardonnay. Give it a few swirls and the base of that familiar Chardonnay sets in. I mean before you stick your nose deep in the glass it just might remind you of a Viognier. There are definitely toasty qualities on the nose but they are buried deep in the wine not like a flimsy oaked Chardonnay. Ample pear, honey, pineapple, tangerine and mango. Almost tropical. As for the palate indicating some complexity breaking down the components of the palate are not immediately recognizable. What initially seems dilute takes a moment to beguile with a degree of complexity with well ensconced pineapple, Flemish pear and lemon meringue pie. The finish is initially short but give it a moment it swells into a long but subtly long finish. This wine deserves to sit until 2024 in the bottle and then to be consumed by the end of 2027. A thinking man’s Chardonnay yet like a child loves to play peekaboo.
(Le Clos Jordanne Jordan Village Chardonnay 2019, VQA Niagara Peninsula, $24.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario #20455, 13%, RKS Wine Rating 92/100).
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