Sorry, did you say $109 for a bottle of Argentinian chardonnay?

The maker of some very high-end Okanagan Chardonnay recently gathered a group together to blind taste their wines interspersed with examples of the great chardonnays of the world: Chablis, Puligny-Montrachet. And it was all respectful nodding and whispering until wine #6: “This wine is f***ing insane!” said one taster, and the entire room descended into geeky chatter. When the bags were removed, it was this single-vineyard high-altitude Chardonnay from Catena, arguably Argentina’s greatest producer, and its price tag: well north of $100. What did it taste like: herbaceaous, spearmint gum, chalk, lime, verbena (and I’m not even sure what verbena is)? Most importantly it tastes like nothing else. I’ll admit it—it takes some confidence to drop a C-note and change on an Argentinian white, but think of it this way: if you’re spending that much on a bottle of wine, don’t you want it to be the one that boldly stands out from the crowd? Catena Zapata White Stones 2014, $109