A Burrowing Owl Chardonnay Shoot-out

Dinner with my parents typically means breaking out a bottle or two of Chardonnay. My Dad loves Chardonnay almost to the exclusion of all other varietals. He buys his favourites by the case, which guarantee there is always a stash of in his wine cooler for those "special occasions". One recent evening he surprised us by having an impromptu taste test among the 2001, 2002 and 2003 vintages of Burrowing Owl Chardonnay.

BOV Chardonnays have been considered the gold standard by which all BC competitors are judged (although the field has many strong players today). It was going to be interesting to taste the differences of three bottle-aged Burrowing Owl wines from year-to-year. That said, white wines are usually appreciated 2-3 years after they've been bottled.

We wondered, will these 4-6 year-old whites hold up?

We began by opening up a bottle of the 2003 vintage, working backwards to finish with the 2001.

All the wines were chilled so we let the bottles sit for a bit after we uncorked them, to let them breathe and open up.

My observation was that the 2001 seemed to have the most acidity of all, and was a little smoky. We agreed that the 2002 had a more 'creamy' feel on the palate, but the nose was very subtle if not non-existent.

The 2003 had butterscotch highlights, with a slightly deeper yellow hue than the previous vintages.

In the end, my favourite was the 2003 Burrowing Owl Chardonnay. Mike liked the 2002 best thanks to its balance and smooth finish.

And Dad? Well, he is a very discerning Chardonnay drinker after all, and he thought they were all okay. None probably live up to his high standard for the 'perfect' Chardonnay.

The slight differences can equate to big differences when it comes to what you like in a wine. In the end, it all comes down to just having some fun with it – which we certainly did!