Everything about Chardonnay totally explained
Chardonnay is a green-skinned
grape variety used to make white
wine. It believed to have originated in the
Burgundy wine region of eastern
France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from
England to
New Zealand. For new and developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a "
rite of passage" and an easy segue into the international wine market.
The Chardonnay grape itself is very neutral, with many of the flavors commonly associated with the grape being derived from such influences as
terroir and
oak. It is vinified in many different styles, from the elegant, "
flinty" wines of
Chablis to rich, buttery
Meursaults and
New World wines with tropical fruit flavors.
Chardonnay is an important component of many
sparkling wines around the world, including
Champagne. A peak in popularity in the late 1980s gave way to a backlash among those wine drinkers who saw the grape as a leading negative component of the
globalization of wine. Nonetheless, it remains one of the most widely-planted
grape varieties, with over 400,000
acres (175,000
hectares) worldwide, second only to
Airén among white wine grapes and planted in more wine regions than any other grape – including
Cabernet Sauvignon.
Modern
DNA fingerprinting research at
University of California, Davis, now suggests that Chardonnay is the result of a cross between the
Pinot and
Gouais Blanc (Heunisch) grape varieties. and
Dameron.
Clones, crossing and mutations
As of 2006, 34
clonal varieties of Chardonnay could be found in vineyards throughout France, most of which were developed at the
University of Burgundy in
Dijon. The so-called "Dijon clones" are bred for their adaptive attributes, with vineyard owners planting the clonal variety best suited to their
terroir and which will produce the type of characteristics that they're seeking in the wine. Examples include the lower-
yielding clones
Dijon-76, 95 &
96 that produce more flavor-concentrated clusters.
Dijon-77 &
809 produce more aromatic wines with a "grapey" perfume, while
Dijon-75, 78, 121, 124, 125 &
277 are more vigorous and higher yielding clones. New World varieties include the
Mendoza clone, which produced some of the early Californian Chardonnays.
While Chardonnay can adapt to almost all
vineyard soils, the three it seems to like most are
chalk,
clay and
limestone, all very prevalent throughout Chardonnay's traditional "homeland". The
Grand crus of
Chablis are planted on hillsides composed of
Kimmeridgian marl, limestone and chalk. The outlying regions, falling under the more basic "Petit Chablis"
appellation, are planted on
portlandian limestone which produces wines with less finesse. Chalk beds are found throughout the
Champagne region, and the
Côte-d'Or has many areas composed of limestone and clay. In Burgundy, the amount of limestone to which the Chardonnay are vines exposed also seems to have some effect on the resulting wine. In the
Meursault region, the
premier cru vineyards planted at
Meursault-Charmes have
topsoil almost 78
inches (2 m) above limestone and the resulting wines are very rich and rounded. In the nearby
Les Perrieres vineyard, the topsoil is only around 12 inches (30 centimeters) above the limestone and the wine from that region is much more powerful,
minerally and tight, needing longer in the bottle to develop fully. In other areas,
soil type can compensate for lack of ideal climate conditions. In
South Africa for example, regions with stonier,
shaley soils and high clay levels tend to produce lower-yielding and more Burgundian-style wine, despite having a discernibly warmer climate than France. In contrast, South African Chardonnay produced from more sandstone-based vineyards tend to be richer and more weighty. This confusion between Pinot blanc and Chardonnay was very pervasive throughout northern Italy, where the two vines grew interspersed in the vineyard and were blended in winemaking. Not until 1978 did the Italian government dispatch researchers to try to distinguish the two vines. A similar situation occurred in France, with the two vines being commonly confused until the mid 19th century, when ampelographers began combing through the vineyards of Chablis and Burgundy, identifying the true Chardonnay and weeding out the Pinot Blanc.
Chardonnay was believed to be first planted in Chablis by the
Cistercians at
Pontigny Abbey in the 12th century. Today, the Chardonnay made in the Chablis region is one of the "purest" expression of the varietal character of the grape due to the simplistic style of winemaking favored in this region. Chablis winemakers want to emphasis the
terroir of the
calcareous soil and cooler climate that help maintain high acidity. The wines rarely will go through
malolactic fermentation or be exposed to
oak (though its use is increasing). The biting, green apple-like acidity is a trademark of Chablis and can be noticeable in the bouquet. The acidity can mellow with age and Chablis are some of the longest living examples of Chardonnay.
California
The first successful commercial production of California Chardonnay was from plantings in the
Livermore Valley AVA.
Wente Vineyards developed a Chardonnay clone that was used to introduce the grape variety in several Californian vineyards throughout the 1940s. In the 1950s
James Zellerbach, one time
US ambassador to
Rome, started
Hanzell Winery and dedicated it to making Burgundian style Chardonnay. His success would encourage other Californian winemakers to follow suit and culminated in
Chateau Montelena's victory over Burgundy Chardonnay in the 1976
blind tasting event conducted by French judges known as the
Judgment of Paris. In response, the demand for Californian Chardonnay increased and Californian winemaker rushed to increase plantings. In the 1980s, the popularity of Californian Chardonnay would explode so much that the number of vines planted in the state eclipse that of France by 1988. By 2005 there was nearly 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) accounting for almost 25% of the world's total Chardonnay plantings. The early trend was to imitate the great Burgundy wines but soon gave way to more rich buttery and
oaked styles. In Oregon, the introduction of Dijon clones from Burgundy has helped to adapt the grape to the Oregon climate and soils.
Australia and New Zealand
Like many grape varieties, Chardonnay first came to
Australia in the collection of
James Busby in 1832, but it only really took off in the 1950s. It is most significant in
South Australia,
New South Wales — especially the
Hunter Valley - and
Victoria. One of the first commercially successful Chardonnays was produced by
Murray Tyrrell in the Hunter Valley in 1971. Tyrell's vineyard was planted with Chardonnay cuttings that he "
borrowed" from
Penfolds' experimental plantings by hopping over their barb-wire fence one night and pruning their vines. The
export driven Australian wine industry was well situated for the Chardonnay boom of the 1980s and 1990s and
Australia responded with a unique style of wine that was characterized by big fruit flavors and easy approachability. To compensate for the very warm climate, richness was enhanced by the use of oak chips and acid was added during
fermentation. During this period the number of Chardonnay plants increased five fold and by 1990 it was the most widely planted white wine grape in Australia and third most planted overall behind
Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Early in the 21st century, demand outpaced supply and there was a shortage of Chardonnay grapes which prompted Australian winemakers to introduce new blending partners like Sémillon (known as "SemChard") and Colombard.
Other winemaking decisions that can have a significant effect include the temperature of fermentation and what time, if any, that the wine allowed to spend aging on the
lees. Burgundian winemaking tends to favor extended contact on the lees and even "stirring up" the lees within the wine while it's aging in the barrel in a process known as
bâttonage. Colder fermentation temperatures produces more "tropical" fruit flavors like
mango and
pineapple. In 2003 there were 91 Chardonnays born in the UK.
But as more vineyards responded with massive new plantings of the variety, they found that fashions were changing again. The market was drinking more red wine, and there was a backlash against heavy, oaky, New World Chardonnays in favor of lighter wines such as
Pinot Grigio. There was a new fashion, "ABC" - Anything But Chardonnay, identified by Frank Prial in 1995. Another reason for the backlash was that Chardonnay was seen as a symbol of the globalization of wine, in which local grape varieties were grubbed up in favor of the big names demanded by international markets.
Oz Clarke described a view of Chardonnay as
"...the ruthless coloniser and destroyer of the world's vineyards and the world's palates." The criticism was centered on the habits of winemakers to pull out or give up on local varieties in order to plant more Chardonnay which offered potentially more income but lack the uniqueness and character of local varieties. Examples of this occurred in south Italy and Spain when ancient
Negroamaro,
Primitivo,
Grenache and
Mataro vineyards were ripped up in favor of new Chardonnay plantings.
Synonyms
Due to the worldwide recognition of the name of "Chardonnay", many of these synonyms have fallen out of favor as winemakers use the more marketable Chardonnay:
Arboisier, Arnaison Blanc, Arnoison, Aubain, Aubaine, Auvergnat Blanc, Auvernas, Auvernas Blanc, Auvernat Blanc, Auxeras, Auxerras Blanc, Auxerrois Blanc, Auxois, Auxois Blanc, Bargeois Blanc, Beaunois, Biela Klevanjika, Blanc de Champagne, Blanc de Cramant, Breisgauer Suessling, Breisgauer Sussling, Burgundi Feher, Chablis, Chardenai, Chardenay, Chardenet, Chardennet, Chardonay, Chardonnet, Chatenait, Chatey Petit, Chatte, Chaudenay, Chaudenet, Chaudent, Clävner, Clevner Weiss, Cravner, Epinette, Epinette Blanc, Epinette Blanche, Epinette de Champagne, Ericey Blanc, Feher Chardonnay, Feherburgundi, Feinburgunder, Gamay Blanc, Gelber Weissburgunder, Gentil Blanc, Grosse Bourgogne, Klawner, Klevanjka Biela, Klevner, Lisant, Luisant, Luizannais, Luizant, Luzannois, Maconnais, Maurillon Blanc, Melon Blanc, Melon D'Arbois, Meroué,
Moreau Blanc, Morillon Blanc, Moulon, Noirien Blanc, Obaideh, Petit Chatey, Petit Sainte-Marie, Petite Sainte Marie, Pineau Blanc, Pino Sardone, Pino Shardone, Pinot Blanc à Cramant, Pinot Blanc Chardonnay, Pinot Chardonnay, Pinot de Bourgogne, Pinot Giallo, Pinot Planc, Plant de Tonnerre, Romere, Romeret, Rouci Bile, Rousseau, Roussot, Ruländer Weiß, Sainte Marie Petite, Sardone, Shardone, Shardonne, Später Weiß Burgunder, Weiß Burgunder (normally refers to Pinot Blanc), Weiß Clevner, Weiß Edler, Weiß Elder, Weiß Klewner, Weiß Silber, Weißedler, Weißer Clevner, Weißer Rulander.
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