Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine, including some of the best sparkling wines such as Champagne. It originated in Burgundy, in east-central France, and is now grown in nearly every wine-producing region in the world, making it one of the most widely planted grapes.
History
Its origin is tied to the Burgundian village of Chardonnay, where vine cultivation is already mentioned. The name is usually traced, by one hypothesis, to an old Latin place name linked to thistles, and it appeared under several forms, such as chardenet or chaudenet, until the 1896 ampelography congress at Chalon-sur-Saône settled on the current spelling.
For a long time it was confused with Pinot noir and Pinot blanc because of the similarity of its leaves and clusters. Modern DNA research at the University of California, Davis, points to a natural cross between Pinot noir and Gouais blanc, an old vine widely grown by peasants in eastern France. Theories about a Middle Eastern or Cypriot origin lack solid documentary support.
Its spread came through the selection and cloning of promising material. The university in Dijon developed clones chosen for their adaptability, and the grape reached Italy, Spain, California, New York, Australia and New Zealand. It has also been used as a parent of several French-American hybrids.
Culture
Chardonnay is one of the dominant grapes of Burgundy and Chablis, where it is treated as the benchmark for expressing terroir through a single variety. In Champagne it is usually blended with Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, and the blanc de blancs style, made only from Chardonnay, is prized for its finesse and balance.
Its character shifts with climate. In cool areas it gives light, acidic wines with green apple and pear notes; in warmer places such as parts of Australia, New Zealand or California, the flavors turn citrusy, peachy or tropical. Oak ageing and malolactic fermentation add notes of butter, vanilla and hazelnut.
In recent decades the New World boom of Chardonnay prompted a backlash among enthusiasts who saw it as a symbol of the uniformity of globalized wine. It remains central to international wine lists.
Legend and fact
Chardonnay has been credited with Middle Eastern origins, supposedly brought to Europe by returning Crusaders, and with descent from an ancient vine in Cyprus. These accounts lack solid documentary support. What genetic studies do support is the cross between Pinot noir and Gouais blanc in Burgundy.