Wine For Thought: Chardon-Nay or Chardon-Yay?
Chardonnay is simultaneously one of the most coveted, most dis-liked, most miss-understood and most versatile grape varieties that you can find in the white wine section of your local bottle shop and I would like to take a moment to champion this ambrosia of the gods.
Chardonnay in some markets (mostly UK and US) has suffered from word of mouth and bad social publicity and part of the blame comes from trend shifting and public opinion that can be traced back to the 80´s and the arrival of a new breed of colourful, ripe tropical, buttery Chardonnay that hit the ground running, straight out of Australia. When it first hit shelves, it was celebrated as an exciting and fun version of a classic that was perfect for big lunches, BBQs and picnics in the park with friends, with its funky labels and catchy names, it quickly became a party staple. By the mid to late 90´s however, austerity started to take hold Down Under and paired with the arrival of Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand as the latest craze, the focus shifted drastically toward cleaner, crisper and ….DRYER ( said with emphasis to mark that it almost became a buzz word without the comprehension of what it means ) wines. As a result of this, those who still enjoyed the big oaky Chards, found themselves ousted for not being “cool” and as is the way with these things, so began the downfall of the oaked Chardonnay ( or so it would seem ).
As it turns out White Burgundy wines came back in to fashion after this whole Dry-naissance and people started to covet Chablis ( the pricier 1er and Grand Crus ), Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet etc etc and whilst it is true that these wines have elegance, acidity, minerality and freshness to varying degrees……..it doesn’t change the fact that they are all Chardonnay and all use oak to different effect. As it turns out, the stigma behind the wine outgrew the actual concept of the wine and so a large part of the casual drinker market, would speak ill of and claim dislike for the very wine they served at dinner parties with such pride in a renowned white wine with such an international profile as an expensive White Burgundy.
