Understand the grape
Getting to know the grape
With Chardonnay, compare the fruit and acidity first, then notice how much weight the wine has in your mouth. A cool site can give a wine with firm acidity, green apple and lemon. More ripeness brings peach, yellow fruit and sometimes pineapple. Both are familiar styles, reflecting different climates and decisions in the cellar.
Oak is only part of the picture. Fermentation or ageing in barrel can add spice, toast and a broader shape. Time on the lees, the yeast sediment left after fermentation, can make the wine feel fuller. Malolactic conversion softens sharper malic acidity and can bring creamy or buttery notes. An unoaked Chardonnay that avoids those choices may taste direct and brisk, even when it comes from the same broad region as a much richer bottle.
Where Chardonnay changes
Grape to place
Compare how the grape grows and tastes in these places. Each guide explains the local wines; the Atlas shows where they come from.
Chablis
Usually led by citrus, green apple, firm acidity and a stony impression. Oak is often unobtrusive, though its use varies between bottles.
Côte de Beaune
Often fuller than Chablis, with white or yellow fruit and creamy, nutty or oaky notes. Styles vary between villages and vineyards.
Mâconnais
Generally riper in fruit and softer in texture than Chablis, while retaining freshness. Try a bottle beside Chablis to compare the fruit flavours and texture.
Côte des Blancs
Chardonnay becomes a base for sparkling wine, prized here for freshness, fine fragrance and its ability to develop with age. Blanc de Blancs on a Champagne label points to white grapes, most often Chardonnay.
What changes the result
Vineyard and cellar
The ripeness of the grapes, contact with their skins, and time in tanks or barrels all help shape the wine. Here is what to look for.
Fruit · acidity
No obvious oak
With little obvious oak flavour, you can concentrate on the fruit and acidity. Notice whether vanilla, toast or sweet spice appears alongside them. Many Chablis bottles fit this style, and unoaked examples are made far beyond Bourgogne.
Barrel and lees
Barrel can add spice and toast, while lees contact can make the texture feel broader. The result need not taste heavily oaked. Compare the strength of any barrel flavours with the fruit aromas and the weight of the wine.
Sharper to softer acidity
Malolactic conversion
This conversion softens sharper malic acidity. It can also bring creamy or buttery notes, especially when paired with barrel ageing and lees work. Not every Chardonnay goes through it, and not every converted wine tastes buttery.
Sparkling wine
Picked for sparkling wine, Chardonnay is usually harvested with freshness in mind. In Champagne it may be blended with dark skinned grapes or appear in a Blanc de Blancs. Bottle ageing then adds another set of aromas and textures.
Read the label
On the bottle
A label may name the place instead of the grape. These names and terms help you work out what is in the bottle.
ChablisPlaceHide explanationRead explanation
A place name, not a style name. White Chablis is Chardonnay, but the label leads with the appellation rather than the grape.
Bourgogne BlancPlaceHide explanationRead explanation
A regional white Bourgogne. Chardonnay is the expected grape and the bottle can offer a practical first look at the region.
Blanc de BlancsGrape colourHide explanationRead explanation
In Champagne, a wine made only from white grapes. Chardonnay is by far the usual basis, though other authorised white varieties can be used.
OakedUnoakedMakingSeparate label excerptsHide explanationRead explanation
Useful producer language when it appears, but not a complete account of texture. Lees contact, vessel size and malolactic conversion also matter.
At the table and in the cellar
Practical use
Serve
Serve lighter, unoaked bottles around 9 to 11°C. Give broader or more complex examples a little more warmth, around 11 to 13°C, so the texture and aroma are not muted.
Eat
Match the weight of the dish to the weight of the wine. Brisk Chardonnay works with shellfish, white fish and fresh cheeses. Broader examples make sense with roast chicken, buttery sauces, mushrooms and richer seafood.
Keep
Simple, fruit-led bottles are often best in their first few years. Good Chablis, white Bourgogne and Chardonnay-based sparkling wines can develop for much longer. Region, producer and vintage are better guides than the grape name alone.
Taste it in three steps
Three bottles
You can try these bottles on separate occasions. Keep a note of the name, vintage and what you notice, then use the steps below to decide what to compare.
- 01
Begin with an unoaked Chardonnay
Begin with Chablis or another clearly unoaked, cool-climate Chardonnay. Notice the acidity, any citrus flavours and how light or full the wine feels.
- 02
Compare oak and lees
Put it beside a gently oaked Chardonnay with some lees texture. Keep the region or price reasonably close, and read how each wine was made. The vineyard and harvest year may differ as well as the cellar choices.
- 03
Try Chardonnay in sparkling wine
Try a Chardonnay-led sparkling wine or a Champagne Blanc de Blancs. The grape is familiar, but earlier picking and bottle ageing change the experience.