The ABCs and NBCs of Chardonnay - Part 2

Last week I shared the five things you need to know about Chardonnay, one of the most popular grape varieties in the world. This week we’ll continue our “deep dive” into the Chardonnay grape by covering the key regions where Chardonnay is grown, and the different styles of Chardonnay produced in each region.

The Chardonnay grape is everywhere, and everyone wants in on the action! For example, this grape variety is grown across the U.S., in almost every state. You will also find it grown in almost every country around the world. But just because you grow it, and produce a wine from it doesn’t mean you should. There’s some absolutely horrible and insipid Chardonnay being produced out there, so knowing where the best Chardonnay wines in the world are produced will help you narrow the field and greatly increase your chances of picking a bottle that is both high quality and tasty! So let’s take a quick tour of the absolute best wine growing regions for Chardonnay.

Our first stop is France and more specifically, the Burgundy region of France. This is the birthplace of the Chardonnay grape, and the place where some of the best Chardonnay wines in the world are produced. It’s also the birthplace of the original French wine snob, …! Chardonnay is the only white grape that is allowed to be grown in Burgundy. The Cote d’Or region of Burgundy is the sweet spot for Chardonnay – it’s a small spit of land about 30 miles long, but incredibly narrow (at its narrowest point, its 656 feet wide!). The vineyard plots are all small as well, with some consisting of only a few acres. From these vines come some of the greatest (and most expensive!) Chardonnays in the world – the Grand Cru wines of Chambertin, Romanee-Conti, and Le Montrachet just to name a few.

A vineyard in Burgundy, France

While none of the wines here are cheap, you can get some good values from the Villages wines. The Chardonnays from the Cote d’Or are made in the classic style – elegant, subtle, and sleek, they show soft fruit and a hint of richness as well courtesy of the light French oak treatment. They are perfectly balanced wines!

At the northern edge of Burgundy is Chablis which produces a unique style of Chardonnay that’s quite distinct from the Cote d’Or wines. Due to the colder climate and the limestone soil, the Chardonnays from Chablis are lean and steely wines with fresh, bright fruit and zesty acidity. Producers here also use neutral oak for aging which adds a hint of richness to the finish. These wines are an acquired taste, but if you dislike the rich, buttery and oaky style of some California Chardonnays, Chablis might be a good option for you to try. This is the perfect wine for seafood and poultry dishes.

Our second stop is the U.S., where Chardonnay is only second to Cabernet Sauvignon in terms of popularity. As I mentioned previously, you can find Chardonnay in almost every state in the U.S., but the three states that do this grape the best are California, Oregon, and Washington. And of these three, California is king!

Napa is the heart of Chardonnay country in California and is best known for producing a Chardonnay that won the 1976 Paris tasting pitting the best French wines against the best American wines. The 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay from Napa Valley beat out the best white Burgundy wines in a blind tasting that stunned the world and put Napa on the map (the results were similar for Cabernet Sauvignon as well, where a Napa Cab beat out the best Bordeaux red wines from France). Chardonnays from Napa vary in style, but the textbook version is a rich and ripe, fruit-forward wine with toasty oak and butter on the finish. Many of these wines are beautifully balanced with nice acidity and tropical fruit flavors. They definitely make the wines big here due to the heat which ripens the grapes quickly, but you can find more restrained styles as well.

Napa Valley, California

Sonoma County to the west of Napa also makes some fantastic Chardonnays. The cool Pacific fog that covers the vines in the morning takes some of the heat off and results in a slightly lighter style of Chardonnay. These wines still have plenty of fruit, but they also tend to have more acidity than their Napa counterparts and are a bit more restrained in style. Wines from the Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley, and Chalk Hill produce the best Chardonnays in Sonoma.

Carneros straddles both Sonoma and Napa to the south, and provides the perfect climate (not too hot, not too cold) for producing fantastic Chardonnay. The slightly cooler climate results in wines that have great finesse and elegance, with bright fruit and nice acidity on the finish. These Chardonnays are perfect matches for fish and white meat.

Monterey County in the Central Coast is also producing some fantastic Chardonnays that are made in the Burgundian style – elegant, with bright fruit and bright acidity as well.

Moving on to the Pacific Northwest, we land in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, a cooler climate area with hundreds of small boutique wineries producing some of the best Chardonnay in the country. These wines compare favorably to the white wines of Burgundy in terms of elegance and finesse, but they tend to be a bit leaner with tighter acidity. If you like a lighter, more steely style of Chardonnay, these wines from Willamette Valley are for you! They are fresh and delicate, with floral notes along with apple, citrus, and stone fruit accents.

Willamette Valley, Oregon

Our final stop in the U.S. is Washington, where Chardonnay is the most widely planted white grape in the state. These wines tend to be a bit less ripe in style than those in Napa, but they are still fruit-forward wines with a touch of oak and butter on the finish – a nice compromise between the leaner Chardonnays of Oregon and the fatter, bigger Chardonnays of California.

Next, we head out to Australia, where the Chardonnays produced there range widely in style depending on where the grapes are grown. Wines grown in South Australia, especially those grown in the Barossa Valley, are big, bold Chardonnays that taste of tropical fruit, vanilla and oak. They are not for the faint of heart and are similar in style to Napa Chardonnays. But they also produce a more restrained style of Chardonnay in some of the cooler climates of the region – these wines still have lush fruit, but they are also nicely balanced with underlying acidity and citrus notes.

Vineyards in Southern Australia

New Zealand is also producing some really nice Chardonnays these days. While this country is best known for its Sauvignon Blanc, they are making fantastic Chardonnays as well. The North Island and Hawkes Bay is known as the Chardonnay capital of New Zealand and produces ripe versions of this wine that achieve a nice balance between lush fruit and fresh acidity. Down to the south, you find rich, buttery Chardonnays that showcase ripe fruit with plenty of oak and vanilla added into the mix.

I hope that quick tour helped you understand a bit more about where the best Chardonnay is produced, and the different styles you have to choose from. If I were to summarize in a few of bullets, here’s what I’d say:

• If you prefer a bigger, richer style of Chardonnay with lots of oak and butter, then look for Chardonnays from Napa Valley in California, South Australia, and the South Island of New Zealand.

• If you avoid the big buttery Chardonnays and like the leaner style of this grape, they try some of the wines from Chablis in France, and from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Also, many wineries in California are making “unoaked” versions of their Chardonnays that showcase the pure Chardonnay fruit and that are leaner in style – these are also good alternatives.

• If you want something in between these two extremes, then start out by exploring different white Burgundies from France, along with some of the Chardonnays from the Pacific Northwest and more specifically, Washington.

The point is, there’s a Chardonnay for everybody out there – you just need to know where to look!

In next week’s post, I’ll conclude this series on Chardonnay by answering some of the most frequently asked questions I get from friends and family about the Chardonnay grape.