Of all the well known white grapes, Chardonnay is the grape that is most ubiquitous. It’s pretty much planted in every major and (minor wine) producing country worldwide, from England to China. Of course, this makes it sound like it’s the MacDonald’s of grapes and, for some wine producers, that’s just what it is. But the principal reason for its widespread planting, is its ability to adapt to whichever environment it encounters.

In South America, the wonderful wine producer of Catena Zapata of Mendoza in Argentina produces the continent’s best white wine (Catena Alta Chardonnay) from a vineyard that is almost a mile (1,500m) above sea level.

In Australia, where the climate is much warmer, even hotter that it is in most Chardonnay growing regions in Europe, some lovely Chardonnays are produced in Western Australia (Leewin’s Art Series Chardonnay and Pierro’s Chardonnay, both hail from Margaret River), Adelaide Hills in South Australia (the less pricy Petaluma is worth checking out) and in The Mornington Peninsula in Victoria as well as The Hunter Valley in New South Wales.

Rightly so in California, it is regarded as the top quality white grape bar none and all the best Californian whites are made using it. Sonoma Valley, in particular, has taken it to its womb but there are fine examples of it throughout the northern half of California. This is in spite of many lesser producers ’slam dunking’ it with new oak like it’s going out of fashion. Buyer beware!

Within Europe, both Spain and Italy produce some interesting wines from Chardonnay but the ‘killer wines’ using this grape come from France. Here it can excel in two regions, Champagne and Burgundy.

In Champagne, three grapes are used to make the wonderful fizz but only one is white and it’s Chardonnay. It makes about 30% of all champagne and is the sole grape used to make the very dry, elegant, mineral style of Champagne that is labelled ‘Blanc de Blancs’, meaning ‘white wine from white grapes’.

It is really in Burgundy that Chardonnay reaches it zenith. The most famous wines of the region (Chablis, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet blanc) all show the potential of Chardonnay when married with their limestone soils.

This, ultimately, is what great wine is about: the taste of the individual location (the French call this ‘Terroir’). No other white grape communicates this to the drinker like Chardonnay. And if you want to taste the great soils, it doesn’t come cheap! For the French, a grape is not an end unto itself (as it often is in the New World), it’s about communicating the individuality of the location to the drinker. Great soils give great wines (in the hands of the right producer), ordinary soils give ordinary wines.

Just as the right actor with the right part gives a great performance, so it is with Chardonnay and the right soil.

The Riesling grape has sometimes being considered as the best of the white varieties. It can, and does, in the right hands make strongly characterful, minerally wines. The problem for me is that Riesling is just a bit to full of itself. It’s all about being ‘Riesling’ and any relationship it has with the soil falls into second place. When I taste a wine made from this grape, the first thing I notice is the Riesling character. This isn’t true of the best wines from Chardonnay. The first thing I notice is the mineral character from the soil, which is the way it should be.

In short, Riesling is the ‘Mel Gibson’ of white grapes whereas Chardonnay is the ‘Meryl Streep’.

Tags: Chardonnay

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