Page 34 - Kimberly Hunt and daughter

The Wine Connoisseur CHARDONNAY

By Deborah Damery Lazear, CSW

It was a dark and stormy night. The revelers were inside means that Chardonnay can be grown just about anywhere.
tasting wine and staying dry. Laughter and the sound of “oh, That doesn’t mean it is at its best anywhere!
mocha” or “this wine has gone through serious oak” floated Some of the words often used to describe the flavor and
through the air. Suddenly the door blew open and a stranger aroma of Chardonnay are flint, stone, lemon, cantaloupe,
stepped in. He strode purposely to the wine bar. The server peach, pineapple, banana, butter, caramel, green apple,
stepped hesitantly towards the stranger and asked in a small pears, honey, ginger, vanilla, oak, butterscotch, nutmeg.
voice “Which of our wines would you like to taste? I can Note that New World (US, Australia, Chile, for example)
recommend the Merlot.” The stranger narrowed his eyes Chardonnay is often the most full bodied with the butter-
and growled “ABC”. A gasp was heard throughout the tasting scotch, vanilla, and nut flavors. The fruits associated with
room “Anything But Chardonnay”. Didn’t he know? New World are tropical, apple pie, burnt sugar, vanilla, gin-
No joke! So much Chardonnay had entered the marketplace ger, nutmeg, and lots of oak, with low acid and is short lived.
overoaked and blowsy that many of us turned away, leaving
the noble grape for Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris (aka Pinot Old World (France, for example) Chardonnay is more subtle
Grigio), and Viognier to satisfy our white wine desires. Well, with higher acid and green apples, stone, and flint tones.
I am here to Old World
tell you that wines are
Chardonnay longer lived;
deserves you can
much better keep them
treatment 10 years
than that. plus. They
Chardon- see very
nay is one little wood
34 of the noble during their
winemaking
grapes “vitis
vinifera”. It cycle.
ranks up
there with While the
Pinot Noir differences
and Caber- mentioned
net Sauvi- above are
gnon. The general and
grape can note true in
be a light every case,
to medium- they can
bodied white be helpful
with crisp in finding
acidity and your style.
subtle flavors or a full-bodied white with complexity and rich- Here are some of the areas of the world that make wonderful
ness. Chardonnay, all in different styles. Find out the style you like
Society of Wine Educators describes Chardonnay as “all and shop the world!
about winemaking”. The grape is neutral in flavor and Burgundy is the birth place of great Chardonnay, in my
aroma, marked by simple green apple and mineral notes. humble opinion. It is easy to think that wine from Burgundy
Winemakers can influence its flavor through several wine is only red, made from the Pinot Noir. Now you know that
making practices such as fermenting in oak barrels or the Burgundy is also white, only from the Chardonnay grape.
addition of oak chips that are much cheaper than a barrel. There are laws in Burgundy that dictate the variety of grapes
Oak gives that butter popcorn and vanilla flavors that we allowed to be grown there. The major winemaking areas are
often pick up with a glass of Chardonnay. Chablis, Cote d’Or (especially Cote de Beaune), and Macon-
nais. Did you know that, not counting Beaujolais, 60% of
DNA analysis places Chardonnay as an offspring of the Burgundy’s wine is white! It is important to recognize that
Pinot family and Goulais Blanc. It is indigenous to Burgundy, Chablis from France has nothing to do with Chablis from
France. It performs to its best in limestone soil and cool any other place, including the United States. French Chablis
climates but is such an adaptive grape that it can survive is 100% Chardonnay, rich, complex, with a fine aroma and
anywhere. It buds early so is susceptible to frost yet it ripens mineral finesse. California Chablis is not any of the afore
early so can be picked before autumn cold rains. All this mentioned! Beware!
Issue 1, 2009