Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a dry white grape originally from Burgundy, France, and now grown virtually everywhere wine is made. Its style ranges from crisp lemon and green apple to rich peach, butter, vanilla and toast. Ridiculously versatile, it’s brilliant with seafood, roast chicken, creamy pasta, salmon, mushroom dishes and soft cheese.

Taste:

Chardonnay is less one specific flavour and more an entire personality spectrum.

Cool-climate and unoaked Chardonnay tends to be crisp and fresh, with lemon, green apple, pear and mineral flavours. Move somewhere warmer and the fruit can become riper, bringing peach, melon, pineapple and other tropical notes.

Then there's oak. Barrel fermentation or ageing can add vanilla, toast, spice and a richer texture, while malolactic fermentation can create the creamy, buttery flavours many people associate with Chardonnay.

So when someone says they "don't like Chardonnay", there is a reasonable chance they just haven't met the right one yet.

It's the grape equivalent of saying you don't like music.

Food Pairings:

Chardonnay's food pairings depend heavily on the style in your glass.

Crisp, unoaked Chardonnay is brilliant with prawns, oysters, crab, grilled fish, sea bass, cod, sushi and seafood salads. Lighter chicken dishes and fresh salads work beautifully too.

Richer, oaked Chardonnay can handle lobster, scallops, salmon, fish pie, roast chicken, chicken in a creamy sauce and roast turkey.

Creamy pasta is prime territory. Try chicken Alfredo, carbonara, mushroom pasta, truffle pasta, creamy garlic pasta or seafood pasta.

Mushroom risotto and truffle risotto are excellent matches for richer styles.

For cheese, Brie, Camembert, Comté and Gruyère all work beautifully.

Similar Wines:

If you enjoy leaner Chardonnay, Chablis is essential exploring for a famously fresh, mineral expression from northern Burgundy.

For richer white Burgundy, Meursault brings texture, nuts and complexity, while Puligny-Montrachet is known for elegance and minerality.

Chassagne-Montrachet offers another prestigious expression, while Pouilly-Fuissé showcases Chardonnay further south in Burgundy.

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More About Chardonnay:

Chardonnay originated in Burgundy in eastern France, where it's responsible for some of the world's most famous white wines. It's also the grape behind Chablis and plays a major role in Champagne and other traditional-method sparkling wines.

Today it's grown almost everywhere, from France and England to California, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa.

Part of Chardonnay's success comes from its ability to reflect both where it's grown and how it's made. Climate, soil, oak, lees ageing and malolactic fermentation can all dramatically change the finished wine.

Genetically, Chardonnay is a natural crossing of Pinot and Gouais Blanc.

Crisp Chablis. Buttery California Chardonnay. Vintage Champagne.

Same grape.

Overachiever.