Chardonnay
(aka. Beaunois, Morillon)
Chardonnay
vines are shy-bearing and susceptible to a myriad of maladies.
Chardonnay berries are relatively small, thin-skinned, fragile,
and oxidize easily. This makes chardonnay somewhat more sensitive
to winemaking techniques and more difficult to handle from harvest
to bottling than most other grape types. These factors, combined
with increasing popular demand over the past decades, contribute
to making chardonnay-based wines one of the most expensive on
the shelf or winelist. Different wine making techniques also
produce wide variances in the Chardonnay flavor profile. Such
techniques as barrel fermentation, proportion of new to old
cooperage, lees stirring, and partial, complete, or prevention
of malolactic fermentation generate controversy and lively discussion
among winemakers. The ‘taste and smell’ of Chardonnay is surprisingly
unfamiliar, as its true character is often guised with winemaking
signatures. The rather subdued primary fruit characteristics
of Chardonnay lean toward the crisp fruitiness of apples, pears,
and lemon. However, Chardonnay’s full body can support a host
of complementary characteristics, such as oak, butter, and vanilla.
In an effort to reproduce the great whites of Burgundy, Chardonnay
has regularly been complemented by oak fermentation and or aging,
sur-lees treatment, and malo-lactic fermentation.
(Description
courtesy of Professional Friends
of Wine)
Chardonnay
Descriptors |
| Varietal
Aromas/Flavors |
Processing
Bouquets/Flavors |
Floral: acacia,
hawthorn
Fruit: lemon, lime, orange, apple, pear, peach, apricot
|
Oak (light):
vanilla, coconut, sweetwood
Oak (heavy): oak, smoke, lees, yeast
Malolactic: butter, cream, hazelnut |
|
| |
