CHARDONNAY REVISITED

Carole A Boyle DipWSET Dental Editor, Surgeons’ News

Richard Lane DipWSET DipWSET wine educator, journalist and podcaster The Wine List

Your reaction to the name chardonnay may well depend on your age: those of us old enough to remember the heavy oak style of the 1990s may have less happy memories of the grape. It was everywhere then, becoming the shorthand for easy drinking, fruity white wines with toasty oaky flavours. It even became a popular first name for girls. This ubiquity became its downfall when New World producers – especially in Australia and California –began overdoing the oak – not just from barrels, but using staves or chips, or even adding essence. These were all much cheaper and quicker to lend the required oak aromas of smoke, toast and vanilla.

The negative reaction to the buttery, rich and fat chardonnays 25 years ago led to the term ‘ABC’ –Anything But Chardonnay. However, many of those drinkers who rejected the grape variety would also have happily accepted a glass or two of chablis, not realising that they would be drinking chardonnay, albeit made in a more restrained, mineral and usually oak-free style reflecting the fossil-rich soils of northern Burgundy.

Other classic white burgundies include those produced in celebrated villages including Meursault and Montrachet, but with the French custom of not naming the grape on the label, consumers can perhaps be forgiven for the confusion.

Cool Contender

Chardonnay grapes are easy to grow in a wide range of climates. The vines produce high yields, and therefore profits, in both cool and hot conditions. Winemakers use a variety of techniques to produce a wide range of styles, including the use of oak vessels. They can age the wine on the dead yeast cells (known as sur lie ageing) after fermentation, a process that increases mouth feel and complexity of flavour. Chardonnay can also can be blended with cheaper and less-fashionable varieties, including sémillon and chenin blanc.

While France maybe the heartland for chardonnay, its ease of growing means it is found in winemaking regions across the world. Notable examples include Margaret River in Western Australia, where small quantities are produced of high-quality wines with characteristic ripe stone and tropical fruit flavours; Hemel en Aarde, in South Africa, where the cool breezes from Walker Bay help produce wines with high acidity; and California, the home of chardonnay in the US. Fine expressions are also found in neighbouring Oregon, although small production output leads to higher prices.

Left: It may have been a mainstay of the 1990s wine scene, but chardonnay has a lot to offer, with styles to suit all tastes

Tasting notes

From blossom to bread and butter

Rustenberg Chardonnay 2021

Available from Waitrose (£14.99)

A lightly oaked chardonnay from Stellenbosch where the climate is warmer, resulting in tropical fruits. The wine has eight months in new French oak barrels, but these are large, which reduces the oak influence. Suitable to drink now, but does have potential for ageing.

Chablis Premier Cru ‘Les Vaillons’ 2020, Louis Moreau

Available from Vinatis (£27)

Chile, too, makes quality chardonnay, notably in regions exposed to cooling ocean breezes, which slows grape ripening in the warm climate to enable more nuanced grape flavours to develop. Even New Zealand, best known for sauvignon blanc, makes great chardonnay, especially in the Hawkes Bay region of the north island, where it is the most widely planted white variety. The wines are full bodied with high acidity and peach flavours.

Bubbly Personality

Chardonnay is also one of the three classic grapes of champagne, alongside pinot noir and meunier. Look for blanc de blanc on the label to indicate a 100% chardonnay with fresh green apple aromas when young, leading to the development of toasty bread characteristics with age. Many regard blanc de blanc as the most elegant of champagne styles, with great ageing potential. Chardonnay also grows well on English chalk soils, similar in character to those found in Chablis and Champagne

Chardonnay should be a grape for all white wine drinkers, be it an easy-drinking, food-friendly Aussie ‘chard’ with lots of oak, or something more angular, mineral and austere from Chablis. It is more a case of identifying a style of chardonnay that fits your palate and pocket, rather than pursuing the now-outmoded views of the ABC movement a quarter of a century ago. Rather than asking yourself whether you like chardonnay or not, consider which style of chardonnay suits from this hugely versatile and widely planted grape variety.

Push the boat out a touch with a premier cru chablis, from better positioned vineyards giving light blossom, ripe apple and peach flavours with characteristic chablis poise and minerality.

The Society’s Exhibition English Blanc de Blancs 2018 , Ridgeview, ABV 12% Available from www.thewinesociety.com (£28) This shows typically English high acidity with restrained fruit lemon and peach and just a hint of toast from four years spent on the lees. This wine is made by Ridgeview in Sussex and compares well both on price and complexity with blanc de blanc champagnes.

Bread & Butter Chardonnay 2019/20, California, ABV 13.50%

Available from Majestic (£15.99)

This bold chardonnay is made to taste of bread and butter by combining grapes from two areas: fresh. Monterey, known for its big chardonnays; and cool Carneros, resulting in more refined flavours. Understated, it has fresh notes of citrus, stone fruit with vanilla and almond. Worth trying if you like full-bodied wine with lots of oak and want to relive those heady nights of the 1990s.