Chardonnay

Chardonnay is catalogued as VIVC variety number 2455 under the prime name Chardonnay Blanc, with a white berry skin and France as its country of origin. Burgundy is its homeland. Chardonnay's parents are Gouais Blanc, catalogued under the prime name Heunisch Weiss, and Pinot, a pedigree confirmed by markers. Aligoté, Auxerrois and Melon de Bourgogne are full siblings sharing both parents, and Gamay, Riesling and Furmint are among Chardonnay's half-siblings.

• VIVC variety number 2455; prime name Chardonnay Blanc; country of origin France
• Pedigree: Heunisch Weiss (Gouais Blanc) crossed with Pinot, confirmed by markers
• Full siblings: Aligoté, Auxerrois, Melon de Bourgogne

Chardonnay pairs relatively high alcohol with a lack of powerful scent. Chardonnay typically has medium body and low acidity. It grows in cool, moderate and warm climates, with resulting differences in acidity, aromas, flavours, body and alcohol. Relatively cool Santa Barbara County can give medium-bodied, high acid wines with citrus and stone fruit flavours. In cool Chablis, Chardonnay of high acidity has pronounced notes of smoke, flint and minerals. At Pouilly-Fuissé, in the south of the Mâconnais, steep sun trap slopes and a warm climate bring full-bodied Chardonnay wines with tropical fruit and oak flavours. In California's hot inland Central Valley, the wines tend to show effusive oak and butter flavours, low to moderate acidity, and sometimes extra ripe fruit.

Chardonnay is most at home on the marl limestone of the Bourgogne region, a flexible variety with limited aromatic intensity that interprets the subtle variations of the Climats where it grows. Chablis in northern Burgundy is one of France's coolest wine regions, with wines much higher in acidity and lighter in body than those of the Côte d'Or to the south; Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Meursault and Corton-Charlemagne are among the most famous names. In Champagne, Chardonnay, a robust, early ripening variety, accounts for 31% of the area under vine and is the star grape variety of the Côte des Blancs, where it suits terroirs on an outcrop of chalk. Blanc de Blancs champagne is made exclusively of Chardonnay. Beyond France, the United States, Australia and Chile are among its main producers. Carneros, much of Sonoma and the Central Coast have produced fine California Chardonnay, and the Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, cooler parts of New South Wales and the southern vineyards of Western Australia have proved capable of top quality Chardonnays. Margaret River in Western Australia makes Chardonnay of various styles, New Zealand's Marlborough is an important region for premium Chardonnay, and Chile's Casablanca Valley, Argentina's Mendoza and South Africa's Walker Bay are also producing high-quality Chardonnay.

• Chablis: cool northern Burgundy, with wines higher in acidity and lighter in body than those of the Côte d'Or
• Côte de Beaune: ample, smooth and powerful Chardonnays with white-fleshed fruit, floral, creamy and oaky notes
• Mâconnais: home of the namesake village of Chardonnay in the Haut-Mâconnais
• Champagne: 31% of the area under vine; star grape of the Côte des Blancs, on chalk
• California: Carneros, much of Sonoma and the Central Coast; also Santa Barbara County, Napa Valley and the Central Valley
• Australia: Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, the southern vineyards of Western Australia and Margaret River, with Tasmania making the leanest examples, some so lean they are snapped up by Australia's sparkling wine industry
• South Africa: Walker Bay, which with Chile's Casablanca Valley and Argentina's Mendoza is a cool-climate source of high-quality Chardonnay

Chardonnay is not very aromatic in itself, and its character is shaped by where it grows and how it is made. Chablis offers delicate notes of citrus, green apple, silex or acacia, and Premier Cru and Grand Cru wines, which can be partially aged in oak, develop aromas including blossom, nuts and honey. One critic finds that Chablis 'reminds me of wet stones, with some suggestion of very green fruit'. Côte de Beaune Chardonnays show intense aromas of white-fleshed fruit with floral, creamy and oaky notes, and are ample, smooth and powerful in the mouth. Typical Meursault tends to be butter-golden and a little heavier and earlier-maturing than a typical wine from the Montrachets, while Corton-Charlemagne can be nutty, almost almond-flavoured. In the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais, the wines show fresh fruit and nuts, with some barrel-aged wines developing notes of honey and vanilla. In the United States, styles range from steely, lean wines with high acidity and crunchy green apple flavours to full-bodied bottlings with vanilla, toast and ripe tropical notes.

• Chablis: citrus, green apple, silex, acacia; blossom, nuts and honey in partially oak-aged Premier Cru and Grand Cru
• Côte de Beaune: white-fleshed fruit with floral, creamy and oaky notes; ample, smooth and powerful
• Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais: fresh fruit and nuts; honey and vanilla in some barrel-aged wines
• Mâconnais: plump, open wines that can taste of melon, or apples warmed by the sun
• Champagne: delicately fragrant wines with floral, citrus and sometimes mineral notes

Some Chardonnay is made with extensive oak contact, malolactic fermentation and lees contact, creating a toasty, buttery, creamy wine, while some winemakers block malolactic fermentation and use stainless steel instead of oak for a purer expression of the variety's character. In warmer regions, where natural acidity may be low, acidification is used to help create a fresher style. Top-quality Chardonnay almost invariably involves fermentation and maturation in oak barrels, a second, softening malolactic fermentation, and different levels of lees stirring, or batonnage. Vanilla flavours point to American rather than the more normal French oak favoured by Burgundian producers. Malolactic fermentation softens harsh acids and brings out dairy flavours, lees ageing gives butter and toast, and oak ageing adds spice, toast and vanilla. In the United States, there has been a shift away from overly ripe 'butter bomb' Chardonnays, and the trend in California and the rest of the country's Chardonnay-producing regions has been toward more balanced styles with moderate or no oak use.

• Malolactic fermentation: softens harsh acids and brings out dairy flavours
• Lees contact: gives butter and toast flavours
• Oak: spice, toast and vanilla; vanilla points to American rather than French oak
• Stainless steel with blocked malolactic fermentation: a purer expression of the variety's character

'Typical' burgundy hardly exists, and in one critic's view the name of the producer is generally more important than the name of the appellation. In Australia, the same critic names Giaconda, Petaluma Tiers Vineyard and Leeuwin as proof that 'Australians can make Chardonnays with real finesse'. In Argentina, the same critic observes that 'almost exact reproductions of California Chardonnay have been produced under the Catena label'.

• Australia: Giaconda, Petaluma Tiers Vineyard and Leeuwin
• Argentina: the Catena label

Chardonnay is an early variety, budding early, which makes it susceptible to spring frosts. It can yield well and ripen usefully early, although it buds rather too early for frost-free comfort in cool climates. It is a high-vigour plant that produces low-to-medium yields with close pruning, yields between 3 and 10 t/ha, and is susceptible to powdery mildew, phytoplasmas and botrytis. Its bunches are small and elongated, with loose, spaced-out berries that take on a golden hue on ripening. Oregon Chardonnay is improving thanks to better clones, and Mudgee has produced Chardonnay from a rare clone that locals believe was imported in the nineteenth century.

• Frost: early budding exposes the variety to spring frosts
• Disease: susceptible to powdery mildew, phytoplasmas and botrytis
• Yields: between 3 and 10 t/ha
• Soils: most at home on the marl limestone of Burgundy and suited to the chalk of the Côte des Blancs

Burgundy has three main Chardonnay styles, depending on where it is grown: Chablis, the Côte de Beaune, and the Côte Chalonnaise with the Mâconnais farther south. Chablis wines are taut, fresh and mineral in the mouth. One critic calls the Côte d'Or, the heartland of Burgundy, 'effectively the nerve centre' of savoury, dense Chardonnay, and holds that here, as nowhere else, the grape can express a sense of place. A typical wine from the Montrachets has a more lean, pure, nuanced character than typical Meursault. The Mâconnais tends to produce a more New World style of Chardonnay, while the most ambitious producers there, notably in Pouilly-Fuissé, are increasingly making wines to rival those of the Côte d'Or. The village of Chardonnay still produces wine and, together with 26 other villages, may use the Chardonnay name on its labels alongside the name of Mâcon, giving Mâcon-Chardonnay.

• Chablis: taut, fresh and mineral; higher in acidity and lighter in body than the Côte d'Or
• Côte d'Or: savoury, dense Chardonnay where the grape can express a sense of place
• Mâconnais: a more New World style, with Pouilly-Fuissé's most ambitious producers aiming to rival the Côte d'Or
• Mâcon-Chardonnay: the namesake village and 26 others may use the Chardonnay name on labels

Primary sources: https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=2455 ; https://www.wsetglobal.com/knowledge-centre/blog/2022/may/24/behind-the-grape-chardonnay-in-the-us ; https://www.oiv.int/public/medias/5888/en-distribution-of-the-worlds-grapevine-varieties.pdf ; https://www.bourgogne-wines.com/wine-and-terroir/our-grape-varietals-our-colors/chardonnay/chardonnay-a-bourgogne-original-that-has-travelled-the-world,2797,10602.html ; https://www.champagne.fr/en/about-champagne/a-great-blended-wine/champagne-and-its-grape-varieties Reference sources: https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/grape-varieties/white/chardonnay ; https://www.decanter.com/learn/wset/chardonnay-grape-climatic-winery-influence-most-important-regions-wset-level-2-283975/ ; https://winefolly.com/grape-varieties/chardonnay/ Last verified 2026-10-04