The grape that thinks it's a brand

Related tags Chardonnay Wine Oz clarke

In the first part of a new series of features Adam Withrington looks at the chardonnay grape, probably the most famous of wine varieties.This is the...

In the first part of a new series of features Adam Withrington looks at the chardonnay grape, probably the most famous of wine varieties.

This is the first in a series of features focusing on grape varieties. I want to break each one down and look at the very basics of the major grapes and see how that can benefit sales in pubs.

I will look at grapes like merlot, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and syrah (or shiraz as it is known in Australia) and analyse how the wines from each major producing country compare.

There is nothing worse than sometimes going into a pub, wanting to order a bottle of red wine to share for the next hour and getting a very heavy epic that puts you off for life.

Sometimes there is nothing better than having a nice light wine that goes down as easily as a soft drink.

It is all about providing the right wine for the right occasion and hopefully this series of articles will help strike this balance.

To start off with, chardonnay receives The Publican treatment.

Adam Withringtonnqnzj@gurchoyvpna.pbz

Sadly, being the most famous doesn't always mean being seen as the best.

Chardonnay receives a lot of bad press these days - where once it stood for growth and invention, now the chattering classes believe it simply stands for naffness.

But the fact remains that, unlike any other grape variety, chardonnay is a brand - it is an industry in itself. If someone asks for a chardonnay they feel like they know what they're getting.

Taste

  • Oak​ - chardonnay could almost be described as "the oaked grape". Winemakers in the southern parts of Burgundy, which is the spiritual home of chardonnay, have traditionally added flavour by maturing the wine in oak casks. The reason they do this is that many believe chardonnay needs flavour to be added to it to make it more interesting.
  • Light and crisp​ - there are some chardonnays that have no oak and instead have a much lighter, crisper and fruity/mineral taste. The most famous of these is chablis. However, more New World producers are taking to this style of chardonnay. (See "To oak or not to oak" below).

Ubiquity

  • So much can be done with chardonnay - the grape has been described as a blank canvass onto which anything can be painted. As a result it is grown in all the major producing countries, even in such far-flung arenas as China and India!
  • It is so versatile that it can be blended with other grape varieties. For example, many Australian winemakers blend chardonnay with semillon. Much of the champagne produced contains chardonnay.
  • "To describe the essential character of chardonnay would be to attempt the impossible... more than any other white wine chardonnay is open to manipulation." (Tim Atkin, in his book Chardonnay)

If you want to know more about chardonnay then read Tim Atkin's authoritative book Chardonnay. For a more general study, then Oz Clarke's Encyclopedia of Wine is excellent.

USA

  • California's chardonnays are known to be some of the richest and oakiest around. General opinion is that this is still broadly true, but if you look around you will be able to find some lighter varieties have appeared over the last couple of years
  • According to Oz Clarke the best chardonnay producing regions, apart from the sunshine state, are the west coast states of Oregon and Washington
  • For a typical taste of US chardonnay try: Kendall Jackson Chardonnay, California (Bibendum wines).

Germany

  • Compared to other grape varieties, chardonnay is not widely grown in Germany
  • If you are keen to have a German version on your list then look for chardonnays made in the Pfalz or Baden regions.

France

  • Chardonnay's traditional home is Burgundy. The buttery, oaky flavour of chardonnay wine is typical of most from Burgundy
  • The exception to this is Chablis, a region in the north of Burgundy where lighter, crisper wines are produced
  • For a typical taste of French chardonnay try: Chablis, Domaine Laroche, France (Bibendum wines).

Italy

  • Chardonnay wines are not the preserve of a particular wine-growing region in Italy - the whole country has some chardonnay tradition
  • The regions that excel are considered to be Sicily and Piedmont
  • However, according to Jonathan Pedley, the Italians are now really buying into the unoaked side of the chardonnay debate - in other words the wines are becoming crisper and lighter.

Eastern Europe

  • While not widely known for its wine-making prowess, several Eastern European countries like Romania and Bulgaria have built up impressive repertoires. As far as chardonnay is concerned it is Hungary's winemakers that have gained the seal of approval from wine writers like Oz Clarke.

Australia

  • Chardonnay is the most popular wine from the UK's favourite wine producer. Over 250,000 tonnes of the stuff is made in Australia - double that of its closest rival semillon, according to Oz Clarke
  • If you want no-nonsense, easy drinking wines then look no further than the cheaper end of the Australian chardonnay market. Brands such as Jacob's Creek, Lindeman's and Hanwood fit this description
  • For a typical taste of Australian chardonnay try: Banrock Station Chardonnay, Australia (Matthew Clark).

New Zealand

  • Much like its New World competitors, the most recent New Zealand chardonnays are taking the lighter, crisper route, away from the traditional oak
  • Opinion from the experts is that you can find almost anything you want here, from the very light to the very rich.

South Africa

  • Chardonnay has slowly become the most successful white wine grape in South Africa after winemakers overcame problems with the grape, including smuggled and diseased vines, in the 1980s
  • According to Oz Clarke, chardonnay in South Africa tended to be over-oaked in the early days but now all regions in the country produce much more balanced and complex varieties.

South America

  • The two most prominent wine producing powerhouses in South America are Chile and Argentina
  • The former has "developed its own soft, fruity style", according to Oz Clarke, while Argentina's style is generally considered to by fuller and oakier
  • For a typical taste of South American chardonnay try: Bodega Norton Chardonnay, Argentina (Berkmann Wine Cellars).

To oak or not to oak

According to Jonathan Pedley chardonnay now sits in two distinct camps, oaked and unoaked. "Until two years ago the dominant style was the rich, heavy, oaked style that we are all used to. That is the barrel-aged style originally produced in the south of Burgundy and copied by all of the New World producers.

"However, we now have a lighter, crisper style, which actually always existed in the form of chablis. No wood is used in the maturation process and it is increasingly being used by the New World. chablis producers believe that oaking chardonnay masks the true flavour of the grape and terroir."

So Jonathan believes that licensees should put the two

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