Chardonnay 101 – The Basics

The king of all grapes! This noble grape (one of six) is one of the most versatile in terms of where it can grow and how it can express itself. Overplayed with smack-you-in-the-face oak in the 1990s, it fell out of grace with a lot of people - the ABCers (Anything But Chardonnay). It's a grape that lends itself well to manipulation by the winemaker, which can make it hard to pick out a bottle when you don't know what you're going to get. But if you're looking to order a bottle for the table without knowing what everyone is going to order, Chardonnay is the way to go.

Chardonnay is actually the name of a village in Burgundy, France. It's hard to talk about this grape without mentioning Burgundy, where some of the best Chardonnays in the world are produced. Chardonnay is a forgiving grape to grow, and is grown all over the world. It takes on the characteristics of where it's grown (this is called "terroir") and an easy way to think about it is to imagine how warm it is where it's grown.

For example: Chardonnay from a northern wine climate, like Burgundy, is going to reflect that crisp weather and mineral deposits from the ice ages. You'll get tasting notes of citrus, apple, pear and minerality. It will have a refreshing acidity and light to medium body. As you go farther south to warmer growing climates, like the Adelaide Hills of Australia, you'll find notes of very ripe stone fruits and tropical fruits like bananas and pineapple. You'll notice the acidity goes down and the body increases - this makes sense! Just imagine how the grapes change on the vine in warmer climates, building up more sugar from the sunlight which is later converted to alcohol.

In Chardonnay from any region, you may detect vanilla, butterscotch, and toasted bread from the oak. You might get smacked in the palate with a buttery finish - this is from the oak and from malolactic conversion that happens in the wine making process (and also something that wine makers have control over).

So how do you make sense of this information the next time you're picking out a Chardonnay, either in the wine store or at a restaurant? I find a good rule of thumb for crowd-pleasing is pick an unoaked or minimally oaked bottle from northern, cooler climates. This gives you the best chance of having a bottle of wine that represents the grapes themselves the best. This includes wines from northern France (Chablis and Maconnais are famous!), northern Oregon, and New Zealand. For the jammier finish of warm climates, head to Australia, California, and South Africa.

If you open up your mind, Chardonnay will have endless possibilities and you will ALWAYS be able to find one you like. Incredible value can be found from new world producers. This is an excellent grape varietal to drink on its own and is also a powerhouse for pairing with food. Nothing is better than a good Chardonnay.