A Sadly Abused Grape

I know that there is a huge movement out there called ABC or "Anything But Chardonnay". I can understand the sentiment when it comes to the gaudy and down right silly wines called "Chardonnay" that were, and to some degree still are being produced in California. Personally I think that this particular grape gets a very bad wrap. The problem is that Chardonnay grows well anywhere, so people grow it anywhere. Then came the oak wars of the 1990's and well into the aughts, where it seemed as if every producer was trying to produce the biggest, oakiest, butter laden wine they could. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with the use of oak in wines, in fact I for one feel that there are many Chardonnay based wines out there that could use oak... but there came a point where people threw up their collective hands and said we cannot stomach another Frankenwine that makes us want to gag ourselves. So along comes the ABC movement, and something very good came out of this. People began discovering exactly how sublime a great Riesling is, how special Sancerre can be, and the pleasures of quaffing a Vinho Verde on a hot summer afternoon. But what is so often missed these days, even by some wine "professionals" who have joined the ABC movement, is that the Chardonnay grape is also responsible for some of the greatest wines in the world.

White Burgundy (always Chardonnay, though I have heard rumors of some Pinot Gris ending up in Corton-Charlmagne...) comes in a variety flavors, from the piercing and mineral laden wines of Chablis, to the bruisers from Mersault, and the flinty awesomeness of wines from the village of Puligny-Montrachet. These are wines that have been produced for well over a thousand years and it shows. Nothing can compare to the white wines produced in Burgundy.

There has been a lot made about "Un-Oaked" Chardonnay lately. It seems that many winemakers are producing these wines with the hope of shedding the over-oaked image (and by default increase sales) that has so crippled the reputation of this fine grape . But just like the aforementioned oak wars that occurred in California and driven by similar market forces, the new un-oaked wine wars have begun. And once again we are seeing wineries taking this to the extreme and producing wines that can be very lacking in character.

Classically, un-oaked Chardonnay is produced in Chablis, and these are some of the greatest wines in the world. Many tasting as if you drank them from a stone chalice. The reason that Chablis can produce such magnificent wines without the use of oak is very simple, Terroir. In Chablis there is a very large Limestone shelf (incidentally this same shelf runs down to the Loire Valley) as well as a large amount of crushed oyster shells left over from an ancient sea. This soil structure leads to magnificently mineral laden wines that have shocking complexity at times. Chablis also has a rather cool growing climate that produces wines with tremendous natural acidity. The Terroir of Chablis is very unique and enables wine makers of the region to produce wines of great complexity, focus, and balance. This Terroir does not exist in other growing regions that are known for Chardonnay. In these regions a little oak is almost essential to produce wines that are of much interest.

Here in America there is a new resurgence of Chardonnay. Winemakers have gone back to what makes any wine great, balance. There are some very fine examples of Chardonnay coming out of America. We are featuring one of my favorites in the Mt. Eden from Saratoga, CA my old stomping grounds. Mt. Eden Vineyards are some of the oldest in California and they are producing gorgeous and powerful wines that hold their own against some of Burgundies finest. Matt Kramer has recently written two articles on the winery, one for the Oregonian, and one for the Wall Street Journal. Here in Oregon, Eyrie Vineyards continues to produce some of the most complex and age worthy Chardonnays in America. A fact that is driven home by the recent tasting featuring an uninterrupted vertical of David and Jason Lett's Chardonnays from 1970 to 2007.

At Metrovino we feature a a wide spread of Chardonnay from Burgundy, California, and Oregon. Each wine is very unique and I feel all are excellent expamples of wines produced with this very noble grape.

So give this sadly abused grape another try, you might be surprised...