The Big C. In television shows, it’s Cancer. To Sarah Palin,
it’s Christmas. To phobias, it’s Clowns. To wine, it is Chardonnay. The Wine
Institute, Department of Commerce, lists Chardonnay as the most popular selling
wine in the United States, and California’s most produced wine varietal. It is
planted wherever grapes are planted because it is easy to grow and can make
great wine.
Winemakers love chardonnay because it is influenced by terroir
and technique. The most intensely flavored examples per
Wines of the World compiled by Susan Keevil are found in
California, then Australia, and in descending order Chile, New Zealand, and Burgundy
with the most delicate flavors produced in Chablis, France.
www.wine-searcher.com states due to the
“high level of winemaker involvement, Chardonnay has become known as the
‘winemaker’s wine.”
Chardonnays of California and France went head to head at
the historic 1976 Judgment of Paris – the blind tasting by French judges which established
New World wines as not only equal to Old World, but superior. California
entries won in both the red and white wine categories – Chardonnay vs. white Burgundy
and Cabernet Sauvignon vs. Bordeaux (note: Americans and much of the New World
name wines by grape variety, while European wines are named after places). The 2008 movie Bottle Shock is inspired by the
event, as is the proposed Judgment of
Paris written by screenwriter and winemaker Robert Mark Kamen, Kamen Estate
Wines.
The winner in white - Napa Valley’s Chateau Montelena 1973
Chardonnay – came from owner and winemaker Jim Barrett. A self-made man and lawyer,
Barrett purchased Chateau Montelena in 1972 and replanted the vineyards with
Cabernet Sauvignon. Wine Spectator May
31, 2013 ran his obituary stating “while his Cabernet vines matured, Barrett
focused on Chardonnay made from purchased grapes.” Which makes me think the
vintage that won came from purchased grapes, though I have found no speculation
let alone confirmation in any articles. The winning bottle is on display at the
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Annually, Wine
Spectator features senior editor Jim Laube’s Chardonnay report (July 31,
2013). This year’s recommended Top Wines from a tasting of 425 selections:
Kongsgaard Chardonnay Napa Valley The Judge 2010 ($175) “openly rich and smoky,
yet graceful and polished, with roasted fig, honeysuckle, baked apple,
marshmallow, and cinnamon-tinged spices”; Aubert Chardonnay Russian River
Valley Eastside 2011 ($80), Knogsgaard Chardonnay Napa Valley 2010 ($75)
followed by selections from Edge Hill, Kistler, Lewis, Alpha Omega, Paul Hobbs,
Laird Family, Marcassin, Sbragia Family, Shafer, Beringer, Hanzell, Peter
Michael, and Ramey.
Laube’s Top Values: Chateau St. Jean Chardonnay Alexander
Valley Robert Young Vineyard 2010 ($25), Ferrari-Carano Chardonnay Sonoma
County 2011 ($23), La Follette Chardonnay North Coast 2011 ($20), followed by
selections from Morgan, Pali Wine Co., Rock View, Beringer, Bonterra, Byron,
Navarro, and finally Souverain Chardonnay North Coast 2010 ($14) offering
“notes of citrus, green apple, white flowers, and cream.”
Note, not all Chardonnays are created equal. Between the number
one Top Recommended at $175, and the last Top Value at $14, is a lot of money,
a lot of taste, and a lot of adjectives.
