Chardonnay is one of the world's most famous white grapes. Describing its flavor is difficult. It can have many different faces. Unaged Chardonnay from cool climates is crisp, fresh, and sleek. In the warmer climates of the New World, the same Chardonnay can produce full-bodied, golden-yellow wines with exuberant aromas of tropical fruit and vanilla. If you're considering buying a Chardonnay, ask whether it's aged in steel tanks or oak barrels. The flavors can vary considerably.
It may be hard to imagine, but until the 1970s, Chardonnay was barely planted outside of Burgundy and Champagne. Only then did the "Chardonnay tsunami" really take off. Especially in the New World. By the 1990s, it was already the most widely planted white grape in California and Australia. Any winemaker who wanted to be a force to be reckoned with had to be able to make a decent Chardonnay. And because New World winemakers liked to put the grape's name in bold letters on the bottle, Chardonnay became a global brand.
It's no wonder that Chardonnay has become so popular. It's a hardy grape that rarely lets the winemaker down. It's naturally quite neutral in flavor and not too acidic. In the cellar, the winemaker can do all sorts of things with it. Lean white wines from steel tanks, "fat" versions, fermented in oak barrels, sparkling wines... Chardonnay lends itself to everything. In Austria,they even manage to make beautiful, noble-sweet wines from it.
Burgundy is the birthplace of Chardonnay. Almost all white wine from this renowned region is made from this grape. Yet, there are also clear differences within Burgundy. In the cool northern Burgundy, Chardonnay produces fresh and lean white wines, often minerally and with green fruit on the subtle nose: Chablis.
In slightly warmer areas, for example around the Montrachet villages and in Meursault, Chardonnay is "fatter," more expressive, and darker in color. Here, they are usually aged in (new) oak barrels. The aroma is reminiscent of toasted bread and vanilla, but often also hazelnut, overripe banana, and oatmeal.
A wide range of Chardonnays are produced in the Languedoc region of southern France. Most are quite simple and easy to drink. Some more expensive examples approach the class of Burgundy. Chardonnay from Austria is often reminiscent of Chablis, due to its minerality and because Austrian winemakers are not so keen on what they consider "glossy" wood aging.
Excellent wood-aged Chardonnays are produced in Northern Italy, particularly in Alto Adige, Trentino, and Piedmont. In recent years, more and more award-winning Chardonnays have also been coming from Spain and Hungary.
Australia, South Africa, Chile, California... For several years now, we have been inundated with New World Chardonnay. The differences with the European versions are not difficult to distinguish, even for a teetotaler. While many European winemakers strive for subtlety and complexity, their colleagues from America and Australia often focus on "plenty of aromas" and "plenty of flavors."
Less expensive production wines are often sweetened slightly to appeal to a wider audience. The addition of wood chips is not shunned to achieve vanilla aromas. We would be doing the New World a disservice if we left it at that.
In Australia, golden-yellow top Chardonnays are made with an exuberant aroma of delicious tropical fruit. Some Chardonnays from the misty vineyards above San Francisco can rival the famous French Meursault. In South America, too, the quality of the top lines from the major wineries is rapidly increasing.
We currently have forty wines made from the Chardonnay grape in our range. You can view our Chardonnay wines here.
Orange wine (31) 
Fresh (95) 
Light (35) 
Rosé (17) 
Aromatic (21) 
Medium (99) 
Sparkling (32) 
Ripe (72) 
Full-bodied (95) 
