Chardonnay

Among the world’s most prolific wine grapes, Chardonnay is also the most diverse. Around 400,000 acres are planted worldwide. Its zesty, crisp expression in Chile will be quite different than an oaky Chardonnay from Napa. Similarly, a Chablis made with Chardonnay grapes from France’s Loire Valley will be completely different from its counterpart in South Australia.

This variation is due to "terroir," the French word for sense of place, as it relates to the soil, along with winemaking styles and weather patterns. However, the grape thrives in many soil types, including limestone, clay, and chalk.

The Chardonnay grape was first discovered in Burgundy, France, in the town of Mâcon, during the Middle Ages but was not planted in California until the late 1880s in the Livermore Valley, just east of San Francisco. The wine’s acclaim in Napa and Sonoma counties flourished until reaching a peak in the 1980s when the market was saturated with Chardonnay. In the years since, producers have been able to recapture the love for this white wine grape.

Quick Facts

• A “naked” Chardonnay simply means the wine was aged in stainless steel, not oak as most Chardonnays are
• The 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting, in which wines from France and California were tasted blind, revealed two surprising Chardonnay winners: the 1969 vintage from Freemark Abbey in Napa Valley, California and the 1973 vintage of Chateau Montelena Winery, also in Napa
• Chardonnay is the best-selling wine in America: to the tune of about 840,000 bottles annually