Chardonnay: The King Of White Wines
Chardonnay is considered the king of white wines. It is the most popular white wine grape variety in the world, with over 300,000 acres dedicated to its production worldwide, including 100,000 acres in California in the United States alone. Chardonnay also serves as the base for most of the best sparkling wines in the world.
Aside from California, vast areas of land have been dedicated to the production of Chardonnay wine grapes in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile and South Africa. The Burgundy region in France, regarded as the homeland of Chardonnay, produces some of the best Chardonnay wines in the world, thanks largely to the region’s cool climate.
In Australia, Chardonnay is the wine variety of choice among wine producers. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, a record 2,162 hectares were dedicated to planting Chardonnay wine grapes in 2005, making it the most widely planted wine grape variety in Australia, dwarfing the second place Shiraz wine grapes, which had 1,523 hectares.
Chardonnay accounts for 44.5% of all wine grape vineyard areas dedicated to producing white wine followed by Sauvignon Blanc (472 hectares), Pinot Gris (228 hectares), Semillon (199 hectares), Riesling (125 hectares), Viognier (122 hectares), Muscat Gordo Blanco (84 hectares), Sultana (59 hectares) and Colombard (42 hectares).
In terms of areas allocated to particular grape varieties (bearing and non-bearing), Chardonnay is by far the most widely-allocated white wine variety in Australia, with a whopping 30,507 hectares allocated to it in 2005. This figure indicates a hefty 8.9% increase from the 28,008 hectares allocated for Chardonnay in 2004.
On the average, Australia’s premium white wine grape production is projected to increase by 9.9% to 724,000 tonnes between 2004–05 and 2006–07. Of this, production of Chardonnay is expected to rise by 15.3% by 2006–07.
While the best Chardonnay grape wine varieties are generally grown in cool climates, it can also adapt well to warmer locales. Two reasons for its popularity are its good yield and the fact that it ripens early in season. Its thick skin may lead to noble rotting from early rains.
Wine historians believe the wine grapes originated in the Chardonnay village nestled in the Maconnais region of France, the same location where Pouilly-Fuisse is produced. The University of California conducted a DNA fingerprinting research study that indicates that Chardonnay was created by crossing the Pinot and the Gouais Blanc grape varieties. (Gouais Blanc, which came from Croatia, is not that well known and is practically extinct.) For this reason, Chardonnay was known traditionally as Pinot Chardonnay. It has also been referred to as Aubaine, Beaunois and Melon Blanc.
Chardonnay is generally medium to full-bodied with touches of rich apple, citrus and tropical fruit flavours and aromas. It can also be vinified as a crisp quaffing wine. The best Chardonnays, however, are the wooded Chardonnays as opposed to unwooded Chardonnays. (Please click on these links for more information on each one.)
Chardonnay is a selective complement and does not go well with a wide variety of food. It is best taken with simply prepared dishes such as seafood and poultry.
