Julie Harrison - Forget The ABC Club

Do you refuse to drink Chardonnay?  I know I have a few friends who will not go near it having experienced some of the over-oaked wines of the 80’s and 90’s.  For me it is a wonderful wine and there is so much variation that there is definitely a Chardonnay for “non-Chardonnay” drinkers.  I recently did a blind wine tasting for a party of young women.  They told me at the beginning of the night that they did not like  Chardonnay.  After the tasting I asked which wine was their favourite and the overwhelming majority voted for the wine that was a light, unoaked Chardonnay.

Chardonnay is a very versatile grape and by selecting when to pick it, whether to use oak or other winemaking techniques such as malolactic fermentation you can change its character completely.   Where it comes from will of course also influence the final product.

The true home of Chardonnay is Burgundy in France. Here Chardonnay demonstrates its versatility with  light, flinty, unoaked wines from Chablis in the cooler north to the elegant, complex styles found further south in the Cote d’Or.  Here you find wonderfully rich wines such as Meursault and Chassagne Montrachet.  They are pricey when you buy them here but well worth it.  Of course Chardonnay is a main player alongside Pinot Noir in Champagne.  Chardonnay for Champagne or Methode Traditionnelle wines is picked at a lower sugar level than for a still table wine, making a more acidic base wine suited for Champagne production.

So what should you expect from an unoaked chardonnay.  These wines are zesty and fresh and if picked less ripe, say from a cool climate region, will be quite pale and may have hints of apple, peach and pear.   When picked riper (from a warmer region) you will get a more golden wine with tropical notes such as pineapple, figs and melon.  This is a great style to try if you want a change from Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris.  

An oaked Chardonnay is a different wine altogether.   These wines are more golden in colour and round and rich on the palate.  You get flavours such as vanilla, butter and toast.  These wines may have been through what is called malolactic fermentation.  This bacterial fermentation turns tart malic acid into the smoother lactic acid.  This makes the wine feel more creamy and silky and one of the by products of the fermentation, diacetyl, imparts the buttery character often associated with Chardonnay.

So if you would like to give Chardonnay another try ask your local wine retailer for some advice.   If you like Sauvignon Blanc an unoaked Chardonnay from a cool climate region might be a nice change.   An unoaked  Chardonnay from a warmer climate might be a good change from Pinot Gris.  If you prefer something more full bodied, buttery and smooth ask for a Chardonnay that has had some oak treatment and gone through Malolactic fermentation.