Chardonnay’s rep gets a grape-over from the W25 gals this week as we do a deeper dive into what is often called “the wine maker’s grape.” There’s good reason for this, and you may be surprised at all the ways you can Chardonnay. Another factoid-palooza along with some juice for the #W25Challenge is on deck for your sipping pleasure. The gals are kickin’ it a little country style with beer and bourbon on the side – and some red cowboy boots. So giddyup, grab a glass, and get set for this month’s grape gab, y’all!
Val: “Welcome back to Wine Two Five!”
Steph: “Hey Val! Hi everyone! Dude, Val, thanks again for letting me borrow your red cowboy boots for the Cyndi Lauper concert on Sunday night in Denver.” What we were most curious about was: 1) Why one would need cowboy boots for a Cyndi Lauper concert; and 2) Why the hell Val even owns a pair of red cowboy boots, which is a long story involving cow print pants and two-stepping.
Val’s fall cocktail (old pic, but you get the idea)
In our glasses during this episode:
Oddly enough, we decided to chat about Chardonnay, but neither one of us bothered to pour one. Val reached for Eagle Rare bourbon from Buffalo Trace and Steph reached for a beer by Louisiana brewer Abita. Go figure. Rest assured we’ve both drunk plenty of Chardonnay in our day and continue to do so, so there’s that.
Steph’s brew
Val: “This is a chilled maple, bourbon & apple cider cocktail with a sprig of rosemary. Sweet, spicy and savoury from the rosemary which is nice nod to fall when it still feels like summer outside.”
Steph: “I was thinking along the same lines and almost went for the Bourbon today. Maybe that’s because it is National Bourbon Heritage Month, not to be confused with National Bourbon Day in June. So you, Val are celebrating America’s Native Spirit! I however, was dying from curiosity on 2 levels. First My buddy Wayne was over a few weeks back and brought a six-pack of Turbodog Brown Ale from Abita Brewing from Louisiana. Thanks, Wayne! AND secondly, I wanted to try the govino beer glasses ever since you said that you and John loved them. So that’s what I’m sippin’ on.”
Discussion Topic
We’re having a little grape gab about Chardonnay. You know, it’s often given a bad rap, or called “overmanipulated” – and it can be. Yet, this is one of the most versatile grapes and is grown in nearly every wine-making region in the world.
Synonyms: Auxerrois, Beaunois, Clevner, Melon d’Arbois
Its roots (get it?) can be traced back to the Bourgogne and Champagne regions of east central France. As far back as the late 17th century we can find mentions of the grape near the village of what is now La Roche-Vineuse, north of Macon, where they spelled it “Chardonnet” along with a variety of other spellings.
But speaking of variety, this variety can make quite the variety of varietal wines from a variety of places. Notice the emphasis on variety vs. varietal which makes Val bejiggety. It’s only fair we start with its home turf in Burgundy, and namely Chablis! Funny thing – Chablis is actually closer to Champagne than it is Burgundy. This is a cool-climate where Chardonnay will display more tart citrus and green, less ripe plum or apple fruit aromas. Due to a shorter growing season, Chardonnay from cool climates tends to be lower in sugar and higher in acidity at harvest time as well. Chablis is a fine example of this style.
The further south we go in the northern hemisphere, the warmer the climate, so even as we approach the Mâconnais in Burgundy where we have more moderate climate Chardonnay will take on more melon, riper citrus and peach or stone fruit aromas with moderate acidity on the palate.
Likewise, hotter climate Chardonnay will take on tropical mango, pineapple notes, and sometimes fig, and display lower acidity due to their ability to fully ripen and develop sugars, decreasing acidity. Some parts of California and Australia offer these styles, where alcohol levels are proportionally higher as well. But there so many different styles of wine that can be made from the Chardonnay grape. Should we start with our favourite? Sparkling??
Yes! Chardonnay is a key grape in the production of sparkling wines from France, such as Champagne, and makes appearances in regional Cremant appellations in Southern France, Alsace and the Loire. In Italy it is used in Franciacorta and Trento DOC and other classic method sparklers (like the Deltetto from Piemonte we mentioned on the show). It is also blended into Cava in Spain, and creates superb quality sparkling wines in South Africa (Methode Cap Classique), Tasmania (Method “Tasmanoise”), New Zealand, Australia, South America, the United States, United Kingdom and Russia (Sovetskoye Shampanskoye or “Soviet Champagne).
Many of these wines are dry – or Brut – but some are produced with residual sugar levels ranging from off dry (demi-sec) to sweet (doux). Aromas range from citrus to tree fruit, autolytic or yeasty/toasty/pastry notes, tree or stone fruit, white flowers, or nuts. Textures can range from lean zingy acidity to a creamy mouthfeel with a long, luxurious finish. Alcohol levels are not normally very high.
We already covered the still styles, but how do we address that whole ABC phenomenon – anything but Chardonnay? Well that’s something to think about when it comes to different Chardonnay styles. Barrel-fermentation or prolonged exposure to oak or other wood can add a certain amount of flavor compounds, such as spice, smoke, wood itself, butterscotch and caramel and add deeper golden color to the wines. Lees aging and malolactic fermentation can also aid in softening the texture and yield a more creamy mouth feel, rounding out a full-bodied style of wine that can stand up to richer foods. 
Keep in mind, there is a trend toward more lean styles of Chardonnay, some known as “naked”, “inox”, “silver” or other descriptor indicating to the consumer that these are unoaked and approachable styles for those who do not enjoy more “manipulated” styles (let me hear you, ABC folks!). These wines will be fermented in stainless steel, will not undergo malolactic fermentation, and will express more primary fruit aromas, citrus, apple, pear and may or may not be slightly softened with bâttonage or lees-stirring.
You know, there’s a growing preference among consumers for a balanced or middle-of-the-road style of Chardonnay that lies somewhere in between the two dry styles described above. These styles with judicious use of wood to give softness and texture – and often complexity – to the finished wines while preserving the fresh fruit aromas and flavors are reminiscent of fine Burgundy styles that are being produced by meticulous winemakers around the world to occupy that desirable space in the Chardonnay scale of versatility that will appeal to a wine variety of consumers.
FACTOID: Well if that wasn’t a factoid-palooza I don’t know what was, but here are a few more digestible tidbits:
- The most planted grape in California, Ontario
- The most planted white grape in Washington State, Chile, Australia
WINORADAR:
The Boulder Burgundy Festival is 20-23 October in Boulder. It starts with a Champagne kick-off party and goes until the Grand Tasting on Sunday evening. Tickets are extremely limited, but the guest list is pretty impressive – including Master of Wine Jancis Robinson who will be doing a seminar on “To stem or not to stem” on Sunday the 23rd.
OTHER GOOD JUJU:
We were recently featured in Libsyn’s latest episode of The Feed as a “Rockin’ Libsyn Podcast!” Thank you to Elsie and Rob for all the guidance we get from you guys and the feature.
SHOUTOUTS: Patreon Love: We’ve since come up with a name for the $10/month level of support!
Jeff E from the hilarious drinking show, We Like Drinking
You may remember this guy from Episode 35: We Like Drinking With a Free Lunch. Also, if you listen the the We Like Drinking podcast you may have heard them poking fun at Val. A lot. In her defense, however, she has never fallen off the treadmill, elliptical, or Swiss ball while listening to their show … although she’s come close. Because these dudes are that funny. Honestly, we couldn’t be happier to have played back and forth between the shows. Jeff and the boys can be found every Friday morning in your downloads if you subscribe to their show. Jeff is a fellow wine lover and a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) through the Society of Wine Educators, so he’s part of our tribe. We cannot thank him enough for the support, tips and laughs while we got the podcast up and running. He’s also helped us to get our Patreon page going. Much Patreon love to you, Jeff, our “Drinking Podcast Brother From Another Mother!”
We love you Meg from South Dakota!
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Thank you Clay from Arizona!
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