The word is out…Chardonnay is back!
Let’s be honest though…Chardonnay never really left. While the wine press was furiously bashing ripe, oaky Chardonnay (you know…the same wines that they extolled just a few years before), the public continued to consume lush, fruity, buttery New World Chardonnay. Rombauer didn’t go out of business. Neither did Far Niente, or Cakebread, or Rochioli.
(Its also interesting to note that while the wine press was sneering at ‘fat’ New World Chardonnay, they swooned over Chardonnay from Burgundy, especially when a warm vintage pushed those wines towards riper, more tropical flavors.)
So now the blowhards that loved sun-drenched Chardonnay, then despised the same wine, are back in the saddle, saying that Chardonnay is fashionable once again because now it’s leaner, crisper, less blowsy and more subtle.
Far the record…there have always been lean, crisp, focused Chardonnay. It came from cool growing areas like Chablis and Margaret River, Piedmont and Oregon. It seldom came from warm climate California, because the bright sun and cool nights created ripe grapes that when fermented in new oak barrels tasted…just delicious. And for most of the public, it’s really not about perfectly pairing food and wine, it’s about drinking something that tastes fine. (not fine as in ‘average’ or ‘okay’, but fine as in fine.) The successful business model for California wineries is, since one had the benefit of a steady supply of sun and a generally temperate climate, then make wines that exhibited those advantages. And since those wines were (and are) generally easier to enjoy, the public embraced the buttery richness.
The other factor in the the popularity of Chardonnay is that the grape is ‘knowable’. By that I mean that almost always, Chardonnay tastes like….Chardonnay. Regardless of ripeness, oak treatment or vineyard site, Chardonnay retains a flavor profile that is identifiable to most wine drinkers. And that’s not a bad thing. As the world of wine has expanded (if not exploded), consumers are often overwhelmed by choices. Chardonnay was and is a safe harbor.
I have to confess, that Chardonnay has never been my wine of choice, except for Champagne (yep, mostly Chardonnay). But when I honestly survey the wine landscape and start picking the wines that I really, really like… a goodly number of them end up being Chardonnay. Chardonnay, done right, is delicious and versatile and interesting. And ‘done right’ has more than one meaning. That’s really why Chardonnay never went out of style. Its because there just isn’t one style of Chardonnay. Never has been. Could someone please let the wine press know?