PRODUCED IN ALMOST EVERY wine-growing region, Chardonnay is the world’s most popular white wine. It’s made in styles ranging from lean, racy, and unoaked, to ripe, rich, and unctuous. It can express a wide range of terroir influenced elements, from stony minerality to salinity, and herbal tones. Love them or hate them, the beauty, versatility, and diversity of this amazing grape does not go unnoticed. Let’s take a dive into the deep end of the chardonnay pool to see what else we can discover about this amazing grape.
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape used to make white wine. It’s considered a neutral grape with many of the flavors associated with the wine being derived from the influence of terroir and oak. In cooler climates such as the Carneros AVA, located in California, or Chablis, located in France, Chardonnay tends to be light to medium-bodied with higher acidity and flavors like green plum, apple, and pear. In warm climates like the Mornington Peninsula, in Australia, or Marlborough, in New Zealand, the flavors lean toward citrus, peach, and melon while very warm environments such as the Central Coast of California tend to have more tropical fruit and fig flavors.
Malolactic conversion is a process in winemaking in which malic acid, a tart-tasting acid, naturally occurring in grape juice, is converted to lactic acid, a much softer tasting acid. This process in standard in red wine production and is common in white wine production as well. In the production of Chardonnay, this conversion imparts fruit flavors along with a buttery mouthfeel and notes of hazelnuts. High acid Chardonnay is a key component in many sparkling wines, especially Champagne. It is the second most widely planted grape in the world, finishing second to the Spanish varietal, Airén.
Modern DNA testing has determined that Chardonnay is the product of a cross between Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc. It’s believed that the Romans brought Gouais Blanc from Croatia to eastern France where it was embraced by peasants. Pinot Noir, widely enjoyed by the aristocracy in France, was grown in close proximity, so there was ample opportunity for the crossing to take place. Further propagation of this successful crossing, in turn, produced Chardonnay’s siblings: Aligoté, Auxerrois, Gamay, and Melon de Bourgogne.
Chardonnay is known for its relative ease of cultivation and adaptability. It can grow in all wine-growing climates. It’s considered very malleable as it reflects the impression of both the winemaker and the terroir where it’s grown. It’s a highly vigorous plant which requires vineyard managers to aggressively prune and limit yields so that quality is not diminished. It also adapts to most soil types: chalk, clay, limestone, stone, shale, and Kimmeridgian marl.
Known for its versatility, Chardonnay lends itself to almost any wine-style. Two wine making decisions that most affect what you’ll find in a bottle of Chardonnay are whether or not to use malolactic conversion and whether to age the wine in oak or not. Oak can either be used during the fermentation process or during the aging process or both. Oak barrels can be charred on the inside. The amount of charring determines the level of “toastiness” that is present in the wines flavor. The level of “toastiness” also adds flavors such as caramel, cream, smoke, spice, coconut, cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla.
Other factors that affect Chardonnay are the temperature of fermentation and the amount of time, if any, that the wine is allowed to spend on the lees. Lees are the deposits of dead yeast and other particles that precipitate to the bottom of the fermentation vessel after fermentation has completed. Colder fermentation temperatures produce tropical fruit flavors like pineapple or mango.
The time of harvesting is a key decision for Chardonnay because it loses acidity as soon as it ripens. In Champagne, the grapes are harvested early while slightly un-ripe to preserve its high acidity levels. Sparkling Chardonnay based wines exhibit more floral notes and steely flavors in their youth. When they are aged on the lees, they tend to develop toasty notes. Even in cooler climates, Chardonnay has little difficulty developing sugar. This promotes the potential for high alcohol levels. Low acidity levels can be a problem, however. These wines tend to be flabby or dull. In cases like this, the winemaker can add tartaric acid to help balance the wine. This process is called acidification.
As mentioned earlier, Chardonnay is very malleable. This is good news for the winemaker because there is no one distinct wine-style for Chardonnay. He or she is not limited by terroir, region, or aging vessel. Not only that, but they can also make still or sparkling wine. The sky is the limit. This wide range of styles allows Chardonnay to pair with a diverse spectrum of foods. Chicken and turkey are commonly paired with Chardonnay, however, heavily oaked Chardonnay pairs well with smoked fish, Asian cuisine, and dishes with guacamole and garlic. Chardonnay with higher acid levels pair well with tomato-based dishes while older vintages of Chardonnay pair with earthy/mushroom soups or aged cheeses.
In France, Chardonnay is prominent in the regions of Chablis, Burgundy, and Champagne. These wine-producing regions are known throughout the world for their very high-quality wine offerings. Burgundy has long been known as the benchmark for expressing terroir through Chardonnay. The United States is known for the successful commercial production of Chardonnay in California. Areas such as Sonoma, Napa Valley, Monterey County, and the Russian River Valley have set themselves apart with their quality Chardonnay production. Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and South Africa have also made a name for themselves by producing high quality wines made from Chardonnay.
I, personally, have a love/hate relationship with Chardonnay. As a wine professional, I appreciate what Chardonnay can be. When it’s done properly, Chardonnay has an unmatched elegance that few grapes can express. Sadly, the best Chardonnays are too expensive to enjoy every day. Those that are affordable, leave a lot to be desired. For me, they are too oaky, have too much acid, or too much alcohol. They are too unbalanced for me to enjoy. But on that rare occasion when I can enjoy one of those expensive examples that expresses terroir in a way that transports me to another time and place, I close my eyes and enjoy the journey. I hope that, one day, you get to experience that too.