The next time I was at a dinner party and wine was being served, I tried the Chardonnay. It was…fine? It had some pleasant notes of peaches and canned pineapple, maybe with a hint of coconut. It went well with the cheese that was being served. I sipped it until the glass was gone and had some more.
I had a Tinder date the next week at a wine bar near me and ordered a glass of Chardonnay. I was worried that there was some secret rule about not ordering Chardonnay, but the guy I was out with seemed unfazed. While this one reminded me much more of pastry cream, it was similarly fruity and bright. It went well with the potato chips that we snacked on.
It was just another kind of wine! The next time I was out with friends from work, I ordered another glass of Chardonnay. This time, I had broken the rule again. I stole some from her box in the fridge once and had a wicked hangover.
Well, my mom had kept juice boxes in the fridge, but those were actually juice and just for us. Bad experiences in college. I sipped the wine apprehensively. Everything I ordered was mediocre, not just the Chardonnay. The first wine was Champagne. America fell in love with Chardonnay because it produces a wine that appeals to a wide audience. A winemaker who wants their Chardonnay to taste crisp and bright often uses stainless steel to ferment and store the wine before bottling.
When a winemaker seeks to create a fuller-bodied wine with secondary flavors of vanilla and spice, they can ferment and age the wine in oak, or ferment in stainless steel and age in oak afterward. Oaked Chardonnay often undergoes partial or full MLF while in barrel, as well as sees contact with the lees dead yeast. The vanilla and spice flavors, plus round, creamy texture from micro-oxygenation, lees contact, and MLF produce a wine that is the stylistic opposite of unoaked Chardonnay.
The differences between wines of different regions are largely due to climate and winemaking traditions. Thus, we can break down Chardonnay between cool versus warm regions and old world versus new world, within that context.
Cool Climate Chardonnay: Cooler regions can be found in both the old and new world. Cooler climate Chardonnay typically has more acidity, citrus flavors and mineral character, and is lighter-bodied, lighter in alcohol and elegant.
Warm Climate Chardonnay: Most warm climate Chardonnay regions fall within the new world. Warm-climate Chardonnay typically has less acidity, with opulent, ripe fruit flavors from yellow peach to papaya and pineapple. Wines are usually fuller-bodied with higher alcohol.
Chardonnay is usually made in a dry style. This means that after the grapes are pressed, the sugar from the grape must is converted into alcohol by yeast. When all of the sugar is converted, it creates a fully dry wine.
Sometimes, a little sugar called residual sugar RS , is left behind. A few grams per liter of RS is still considered a dry wine, however.
Alcohol has calories. If a Chardonnay has a touch of residual sugar, the wine will have carbohydrates or carbs, but only a small amount. Chardonnay, along with its sister grape Pinot Noir, grows well in warm or cool climates. The warmer climates produce Chardonnay with honey and butter flavors, while the cooler climates tend to produce wines with more fruit flavors.
Chardonnay can take on different styles of winemaking, from dry still wines to sparkling wines and sweet late-harvest wines.
Chardonnay and other whites such as Sauternes and White Bordeaux, will become more honeyed and turn a deeper golden color as they age. In his book, Judgment of Paris: California vs. Rather see the movie? Check out Bottle Shock. Bottle Shock gives you a look into the Judgment of Paris , with plenty of Hollywood scripting and editing. Wines Food Pairings Blog. LOG IN.
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