Anything but Chardonnay?

ABC?

Or 'Anything But Chardonnay'? - the much-maligned grape which for many people still suffers from an over-oaked reputation as a hangover from the late 80's and 90's. In fact it became so overwhelmingly fashionable through this period that often it was thought to be a brand rather than a grape variety. But Chardonnay is at the heart of a wonderfully varied selection of wine styles - at its best rich and complex, at its worst almost watery – and can provide a great challenge to your wine tasting skills.

Chardonnay is one of the easier varieties to grow, and is the second most widely grown white grape in the world, after Airen in Spain. You'll find it not only in the more obvious regions such as France, Australia, New Zealand and Chile, but also as far afield as India, Uruguay and England - in fact pretty much everywhere that makes wine. Argentina makes some lovely examples. It’s a grape that well reflects its terroir, and adapts to many winemaking techniques. So lets think about some styles.

All white Burgundy is made from Chardonnay. These are some of the most expensive and spectacular white wines in the world, and are much copied - with varying degrees of success. Highly complex and concentrated (and with matching price tags) their characteristics can include notes of marzipan, steel, hazelnut and butter, depending on the vineyard, and will have great finish. They are also long-lived, which is rare among most whites. However, it is possible to find lovely burgundy style whites at a fraction of the cost from say Limoux, St Veran and Macon.

In the north of Burgundy you find Chablis, again made from Chardonnay. This wine however is flinty, crisp and steely - a world away from a Montrachet for example. Its name too has in some parts of the world (notably North America) become a synonym for a style of dry white wine, but it has been almost impossible to reproduce true Chablis style other than in its original region, growing on the Kimmeridgian clay (formed of billions of tiny fossilized oyster shells) that gives it its character.

Then there's sparkling wine and champagne. Chardonnay is one of the three key grape varieties that make up champagne (the other two being Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier), and the vast majority of quality sparkling wines, with notable examples coming from England incidentally.

And as for the New World, well there are surprisingly delicate and elegant examples, deliberately unoaked, from the Clare Valley in Australia and other regions around the globe which may offer you a surprise or two. Be adventurous! It’s time to give old Chardonnay some slack.