Chardonnay Essentials
Chardonnay, meaning ‘a place of thistles’ in Latin, is so wildly popular that it is nearly synonymous with white wine itself. Chardonnay is the fifth-most planted grape in the world, the second-most planted white wine grape in the world, the world’s most widely grown white variety, and the grape responsible for some of the world’s most coveted wines.
From California to Burgundy, Australia to Chile, South Africa to New Zealand, and nearly everywhere else in the wine world, Chardonnay is grown to the delight of adoring consumers. It can produce everything from basic fruity styles to some of the finest expressions of white wine in the world. French novelist, Alexandre Dumas, was quoted as saying "Montrachet should be sipped only while kneeling and with head bowed".
Styles
The white Chardonnay-based wines of Burgundy are revered throughout the world. Those made in the northern reaches of Burgundy tend to be leaner and more acid-driven, while styles become riper and more fruit-driven toward the south. Flavors often include apple, pear, citrus peel, underripe stone fruit, lemon balm, and minerals, with hints of hazelnut as the wines age.
The famous Chardonnay wines of California generally provide riper fruit flavors of apple, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, fig, peach, baked citrus, and sometimes vanilla, cedar, and spice that come from the influence of new oak.
Chardonnay is ubiquitous and finds a slightly different expression everywhere it is grown, so most areas will express a combination of the classic styles above.
Chardonnay’s trademark flavors of pear and apple are always intact, but its further expression can be heavily influenced by winemaking techniques, climate, and desired style. Popular styles range from the lean precision of Chablis with its incisive chalk, citrus, mineral, and quince flavors, to the ripe and full-bodied heft of Santa Barbara or Southern Australia with their baked apple, peach, fig, pineapple, and vanilla flavors. Of course, every region provides its own particular expression between these two extremes of style, and the overall worldwide range of expression is nearly endless.
Viticulture & Winemaking
Chardonnay is the result of a spontaneous crossing between the humble Gouais Blanc grape and Pinot Noir. It is considered highly adaptable to numerous climates and soil types, and it has proven supremely malleable in the winery with its affinity for lees stirring (used to add richness and mouthfeel), malolactic conversion (used to adjust texture, reduce malic acidity, and create ‘buttery’ flavors), barrel fermentation (used to create harmonious wine/oak integration), and barrel aging (used for controlled oxidation and to impart new oak flavors).
It does well in both warm and cool climates, but it buds early and can become susceptible to damage from spring frosts in cooler zones. An enormous range of available Chardonnay clones can help define the expression of a finished wine, and Chardonnay’s ability to produce fairly high-quality wines at high yields means there is usually plenty of Chardonnay wine to go around.
Chardonnay is an early budding variety that makes it susceptible to frost damage, but it also ripens early which allows it to work well in areas that are cooler or have shorter growing seasons. Chardonnay performs well in a wide range of soils and climates; this is a factor that helped it to become one of the world’s most ubiquitous grape varieties. Also, it can produce a fairly high yield without much loss of quality, which makes it a darling among grape growers who get paid by the ton! There are many available clones that can produce an array of different flavors within the Chardonnay spectrum: Martini, Wente, Robert Young, Mondavi, Matanzas Creek, Calera, and a handful of Dijon clones are some of the best-known clones used in the industry.
Chardonnay in Burgundy
The wines of Burgundy are regarded as a model for producers worldwide, and Chardonnay is by far the dominant grape of the area. From north to south the region includes Chablis, the Côte-d'Or, the Côte Chalonnaise, the Mâconnais, and technically, Beaujolais. Styles tend to be leaner and more acid-driven in the north, becoming riper and more fruit-driven toward the south.
The Côte-d'Or is widely believed to produce the finest Chardonnay in the world, due in no small part to the centuries-long efforts of monastic orders who codified wine growing and turned it into a trade. They thoroughly identified differences in vineyard plots, noted subtle variations in soil types, and continually adjusted their approach to get the best grapes out of the predominant calcareous marl of the area.
Quality Chardonnay from Burgundy has had such an influence that the term ‘Burgundian Style’ has come to refer to wines that have undergone techniques like cold soaking, barrel fermentation, malolactic conversion, lees stirring, and barrel aging – all of which have become increasingly fashionable of late.
Chardonnay in California
California Chardonnay has enjoyed a meteoric rise in popularity in the last sixty years, surging from just 300 acres of plantings in the early 1960s to being the most widely planted and successfully sold grape variety from California. The Judgment of Paris tasting in 1976, and Chateau Montelena Chardonnay’s ‘win’ over some top white burgundies, helped pique public interest in the grape. Chardonnay’s popularity continued to rise until it became nearly synonymous with white wine in the United States at the turn of the century.
Many commercial examples can be one-dimensional and contain a bit of residual sugar to give them broad appeal, but sites with coastal influence and/or high altitude have become increasingly popular and can produce grapes suitable for making high-quality Chardonnay to rival the best in the world.
Traditional California styles of Chardonnay are usually medium-to-full bodied with pronounced pineapple, peach, baked apple, butter, and vanilla flavors. The newer, fresher, leaner styles often have less ripe fruit character and much less new oak influence.
Food + Wine
Chardonnay has unbelievable versatility at the table. The fact is, Chardonnay is not just ‘one wine,’ there is a wide range of Chardonnay styles produced and there are many choices available to complement a world of menu items. Just avoid tomatoes, smoke, and high spice, and Chardonnay will work with what you’re preparing!
Cool climate Chardonnay works well with dishes like vegetable soup, grilled fish, and lighter salads. Lightly fruity Chardonnay with a bit of oak influence finds harmony with roasted chicken and salmon with lemon butter sauce. Eggs benedict, corn chowder, and butternut squash ravioli pair beautifully with rich oak-aged Chardonnay and treats like miso-glazed mushrooms or poached lobster are magical with mature barrel-fermented Chardonnay.
Cool Climate, Usually Unoaked (Chablis, etc.): shellfish, raw fish, grilled fish, vegetable terrines, vegetable soup, lighter salads
Lightly Fruity, Lightly Oaked (South Africa, Chile, etc.): tuna, roast chicken, mild curries, dishes with butter sauces, salads with stone fruits
Very Fruity, Oak Aged (California, Australia, etc.): salmon, eggs benedict, butternut squash ravioli, corn chowder, grilled cheese sandwiches
Mature, Barrel Fermented (Burgundy, Western Australia, etc.): seared scallops, poached lobster, mushroom risotto, umami-rich foods
Did You Know?
Chardonnay is the "daughter" of Pinot Noir. A chance crossing of Pinot Noir and a grape variety called Gouais Blanc produced the most popular grape variety in the world!
Chardonnay is one of the three classic grape varieties used to make Champagne.
Chardonnay is extremely adaptable and can be grown in a wide range of climates and conditions.
More Chardonnay than Pinot Noir is produced in Burgundy.
Chardonnay takes its name from the small village of Chardonnay in the Maconnais region of Burgundy
Chardonnay becomes buttery through a process called ‘malolactic conversion’ (also called malolactic fermentation or MLF) through which the tart malic acid in wine is converted to softer, creamier lactic acid. During this process, a compound called diacetyl is produced, and it is this compound that is most responsible for the ‘buttery’ impression that’s created.
Emperor Charlemagne’s wife disliked the red wine stains that would often show up on her husband’s beard, so she ordered that white grapes be planted in their Burgundy vineyard – that vineyard is now known as the famous appellation of Corton-Charlemagne.
In 1976, the 1973 vintage of Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from California bested its French counterparts at the Judgment of Paris wine competition and effectively put California Chardonnay on the world wine map.
