Chardonnay- [shar-dun-NAY]
About:
Chardonnay is a dry style white wine. The Chardonnay grape is the most widely planted white wine grape in the world. Many times chardonnay is aged in oak barrels for a period of time before bottling, which will soften the wine and impart an oaky, buttery flavor in the wine depending on how long it is aged and if the barrels are new oak or slightly used. Some producers make unoaked versions of the wine where the wine is stainless steel fermented or aged in older oak barrels which impart very little oak character making the wine have more crisp acidity. Some producers may also put Chardonnay through a process called malolactic fermentation, a process which converts the tart malic acid to lactic acid, making the wine softer.
Aroma:
Some aromas that may come from chardonnay are: green apple, melon, pear (these aromas come mostly from wines grown in cool climates), and tropical fruit (from more warm climate). In oak aged versions you may get vanilla, butterscotch, caramel, butter, or toast.
Taste:
The taste of chardonnay will vary depending on a few things such as the region where it was grown, whether it was oak aged or unoaked, and other factors the winemaker controls during the vinification process. Some tastes you may get from chardonnay are: rich fruit flavors of fig, melon, peach, grapefruit and lemon, apple and pineapple. With oak aging you may detect honey, butter, butterscotch, toast, vanilla, smoke and hazelnut flavors.
Popular Growing regions:
In California look to the following regions known for producing quality chardonnay: Carneros, Russian River, Anderson Valley, Monterey, Santa Barbera, and Santa Maria Valley as well as general Sonoma Valley or Napa Valley sources.
In Washington State look to the Columbia Valley.
In France you will rarely see the term Chardonnay on the label. Most French wine labels only provide you with the region the wine was produced. So the following are regions of France where chardonnay is the primary white grape grown to produce the white wines of the area.
Montrachet, Meusault, Pouilly-Fuissè, Mâcon, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and Chablis which are some of the areas of Burgundy. The primary white grape of Burgundy is chardonnay and many other areas of Burgundy produce these wines.
In Champagne France chardonnay is one of the three primary grapes used to produce the popular sparkling wines of this region. Many times Chardonnay is blended with one or both of the other grapes used which are Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. If the sparkling wine is called a “blanc de blanc” then it is using all Chardonnay in the wine.
Other areas producing Chardonnay are New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and Australia.