in the northeast of Italy (in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, among other regions), where clean and refreshing wines are styled much like the local Pinot Grigio: light, pure, and crisp. In Italy, as everywhere, there are examples of wines that are Burgundy-style, and these are most often found in Tuscany. Many other European countries have their own versions of Chardonnay. Those from Germany's Pfalz, Austria's Styria, and Spain's Navarra are among the most successful, displaying ample weight and aromatics and employing varying levels of oak. Cava, the appellation of the workhorse sparkling wine from Spain's Catalonia, has since the mid-1990s permitted the use of Chardonnay in its méthode traditionnelle wines, which were historically blended only from local grapes such as Xarel-lo and Viura, and the results have been very good.
Australia is producing some of the finest Chardonnay anywhere, ranging from the rich, oak-laden styles of the Hunter Valley to the crisper, tree-fruit-nuanced examples of the Clare Valley. Australia was once known for the same overdone, overoaked interpretations that plagued California early on, but Australian winemakers have, over the past two decades, blown that provincial approach out of the water. Instead of the old Chateau Two-by-Fours, world-class efforts are being vinified in microclimates as widespread as Western Australia's Margaret River, the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, and the island of Tasmania, where Chardonnay is used for both still and sparkling wines. Complex stone fruit, tree fruit, and citrus flavors, rich, waxy textures, and a deft use of oak identify Australia's best bottlings today. Look for the tropical-scented wines of New Zealand's Gisborne region and the Auckland area (Kumeu-Huapai), as well as South Africa's Stellenbosch and Paarl—countries and regions considered young and emerging stars in Chardonnay whose wines are getting better with each vintage.
The Americas, both north and south, are avid players in the Chardonnay arena. A sound majority of the fifty U.S. states bottle Chardonnay. While, in my opinion, the best of the breed still come from California (the Carneros vineyards of Napa and Sonoma, Sonoma's Russian River, Santa Ynez's Santa Rita Hills, and Mendocino's Anderson Valley, among other areas), formidable wines are being made in unexpected states, including New York, Virginia, Maryland, and even Texas. American wines have, like their Australian counterparts, benefited from the discovery of cooler microclimates within the regions where Chardonnay has traditionally flourished. The range of styles is immense: Carneros Chardonnays exhibit a green-apple and lemon personality with bright acidity, while those that come from Santa Barbara exhibit tropical pineapple and guava flavors with secondary notes of peach and pear, and the Russian River Valley wines are waxy and lush with a note of dense melon and apple fruit. Continuing up the Pacific coast, Oregon and Washington's best Chardonnays are distinct, with slightly less body but great structure, as you might expect at more northerly latitudes, and some of the recent examples of British Columbia's best Okanagan Valley Chardonnays show promise.
Chardonnays from Chile and Argentina as a general rule display personality traits somewhere between those of California and those of northern Italy, with the best examples rivaling the Burgundy-style interpretations from the latter area. For now, the most notable efforts come from Chile's Casablanca region and Argentina's Mendoza, especially the higher-altitude vineyards of Argentina such as the Uco Valley.
A table of principal wine-growing regions for Chardonnay appears on pages 265-67.
VINTNER CHOICES
Still or sparkling; clones or selections; skin contact or none; wood or no wood; new or older wood; type and size of wood; use and percentage of barrel fermentation; use and percentage of malolactic fermentation (ML); lees stirring
The most significant choice for the vintner is whether to make still or sparkling wine. For sparkling wines, the decisions on production techniques and ripeness of the grapes at harvest will be made long before the crushing and pressing begin, because the grapes for bubbly require many viticultural choices. Chardonnay for sparkling wine is always picked at lower sugar levels and pressed quickly but gently, while the grapes for still wine are left out on the vine longer to ripen and develop more mature flavors. Prior to fermentation, the wine may also be left in contact with the skins for longer to extract more flavor. Deciding on the selection or clone of Chardonnay is important, as Chardonnay is generally not blended with other varietals (grape types): complexity is achieved through blending grapes from different vineyards, choosing smaller lots within vineyards, and using differing selections of Chardonnay. Selections of Chardonnay are like relatives within a family. Although they come from the same ancestors and are genetically similar, environment and experience also affect their character: siblings may differ from one another emotionally and physically as much as oil does from vinegar.
Vintners sometimes leave the fermenting wine must (the combination of grape pulp and solids) in contact with its skins. In white wine production, this process “pops” the fruit character of the wine by extracting components from the skins that make the wine very opulent and flashy. The downside is that, over time, the wines often brown and oxidize (that is, age) more quickly and can ultimately seem more like sherry than Chardonnay.
Oak, the wood employed for most wine barrels, contributes key elements to many wines. The butter or butterscotch flavors that many people identify with Chardonnay come not from the grape but from the oak, from the aging or actual fermenting of the wine in the barrel. Oak bestows a waxy, velvety texture and can add a sweet buttercream flavor to the wine. The flavors of charring or toasting picked up when the staves of the barrels are bent over an open flame, a common technique for making wine barrels, also influence the wine. As a rule, the heavier the toasting or charring of the staves, the greater the effect on the wine. Heavily toasted barrels impart more intense roasted and toasted flavors (think caramel, molasses, toffee, coffee, and burnt sugar) to the wine. The age of the barrels employed is also significant, as new oak contributes much more flavor than older, previously used oak—which, depending on the wine and the grapes, may be a better choice. The size of the oak vessel is critical: the smaller the barrel, the larger the surface area of wine exposed to the wood, and the stronger the oak influence. Then again, some producers want minimal or no oak used, as they feel it distracts from the purity of the fruit. Many winemakers in Chablis (France) and other producers around the world now making wine labeled as “unoaked” vinify their Chardonnay in this manner.
The implementation of malolactic fermentation (or ML) can soften the wine's acidic edge and adds a strong buttered-popcorn flavor. It can be entirely prevented in the winemaking process or allowed to happen in some portion of the wine, which is then blended with the rest; again, this is a vintner's choice. ML, by converting wine's malic acid (the same sharp acid found in tart green apples) into milder lactic acid (that in sour cream, yogurt, etc.), reduces the tartness of the wine and contributes a velvety smooth texture that for many wine lovers is a source of great enjoyment. This smooth texture of the wine is commonly referred to as its mouthfeel. It's considered particularly important in Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
During alcoholic fermentation, as the yeast metabolizes the sugar and produces alcohol, the dead yeast cells (lees) tumble slowly to the bottom of the fermentation vessel. When the wine is stirred or agitated, they can add additional toasty flavors, along with more texture and yet another dimension of complexity. Lees stirring, as this process is called, is an increasingly common practice that originated in Burgundy.
FLAVORS
Fruit: Lemon, lime, grapefruit, tangerine, Mandarin orange, peach, nectarine, pear, apple, pineapple, fig, guava, melon, banana, marmalade, pie fruit, mango, passion fruit, kiwi, quince, cucumber
Floral: Mint, lemongrass, verbena, lemon thyme, aromatic white flowers, lemon, lime, or citrus blossoms, blond tobacco
Earth: Minerals, stones, gunflint, steel, mushrooms, chalk, forest floor (humus)
Wood (oak): Smoke, cream, vanilla, custard, caramel, bread crust, burnt sugar, molasses, maple syrup, honey, toast, coconut, hazelnut, almond, walnut, cashew,
