Chardonnay

VIVC records Chardonnay as variety number 2455 under the prime name Chardonnay Blanc, with a white berry skin and France as its country of origin. jancisrobinson.com places the variety's roots in Burgundy, writing of 'its Burgundian homeland and Champagne'. According to VIVC, Chardonnay's parents are Gouais Blanc, which VIVC catalogues under the prime name Heunisch Weiss, and Pinot, and VIVC lists this pedigree under 'Pedigree confirmed by markers'. VIVC-derived lineage data record Aligoté, Auxerrois and Melon de Bourgogne as full siblings sharing both parents, and list Gamay, Riesling and Furmint among Chardonnay's half-siblings.

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

jancisrobinson.com credits Chardonnay with 'relatively high alcohol' and a 'lack of powerful scent'. According to WSET, it grows in cool, moderate and warm climates, with resulting differences in acidity, aromas, flavours, body and alcohol. WSET describes relatively cool Santa Barbara County as able to 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, according to a WSET Level 2 study piece published by Decanter. The same Decanter piece says the steep sun trap slopes and warm climate at Pouilly-Fuissé, in the south of the Mâconnais, bring full-bodied Chardonnay wines with tropical fruit and oak flavours. In California's hot inland Central Valley, WSET says the wines tend to show effusive oak and butter flavours and low to moderate acidity.

The BIVB says Chardonnay is most at home on the marl limestone of the Bourgogne region, and describes a flexible variety with limited aromatic intensity that interprets the subtle variations of the Climats where it grows. jancisrobinson.com describes Chablis in northern Burgundy as 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, and counts Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Meursault and Corton-Charlemagne among the most famous names. In Champagne, Chardonnay 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, according to champagne.fr (accessed 2026). Blanc de Blancs champagne is made exclusively of Chardonnay, as jancisrobinson.com notes. Beyond France, the OIV counts the United States, Australia and Chile among its main producers. jancisrobinson.com singles out Carneros, much of Sonoma and the Central Coast for fine California Chardonnay, and names the Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, cooler parts of New South Wales and the southern vineyards of Western Australia as capable of top quality Chardonnays. The Decanter WSET study piece adds Margaret River in Western Australia, New Zealand's Marlborough, Chile's Casablanca Valley, Argentina's Mendoza and South Africa's Walker Bay.

• Chablis: cool northern Burgundy, with wines higher in acidity and lighter in body than those of the Côte d'Or (jancisrobinson.com)
• Côte de Beaune: ample, smooth and powerful Chardonnays with white-fleshed fruit, floral, creamy and oaky notes (BIVB)
• Mâconnais: home of the namesake village of Chardonnay in the Haut-Mâconnais (BIVB)
• Champagne: 31% of the area under vine; star grape of the Côte des Blancs, on chalk (champagne.fr, accessed 2026)
• California: Carneros, much of Sonoma and the Central Coast (jancisrobinson.com); Santa Barbara County, Sonoma, Carneros, Napa Valley and the Central Valley (WSET)
• Australia: Adelaide Hills, Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and the southern vineyards of Western Australia, with Tasmania making the leanest examples (jancisrobinson.com); Margaret River (Decanter WSET study piece)
• South Africa: Walker Bay, named with Chile's Casablanca Valley and Argentina's Mendoza as cool-climate sources of high-quality Chardonnay (Decanter WSET study piece)

Chardonnay is not very aromatic in itself, and its character is shaped by where it grows and how it is made. In Chablis, the BIVB describes delicate notes of citrus, green apple, silex or acacia, and says Premier Cru and Grand Cru wines, which can be partially aged in oak, develop aromas including blossom, nuts and honey. jancisrobinson.com writes that Chablis 'reminds me of wet stones, with some suggestion of very green fruit'. Côte de Beaune Chardonnays, per the BIVB, show intense aromas of white-fleshed fruit with floral, creamy and oaky notes, and are ample, smooth and powerful in the mouth. jancisrobinson.com describes typical Meursault as butter-golden and a little heavier than a typical wine from the Montrachets, and Corton-Charlemagne as nutty, almost almond-flavoured. In the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais, the BIVB notes fresh fruit and nuts, with some barrel-aged wines developing notes of honey and vanilla. In the United States, WSET describes a 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 (BIVB): citrus, green apple, silex, acacia; blossom, nuts and honey in partially oak-aged Premier Cru and Grand Cru
• Côte de Beaune (BIVB): white-fleshed fruit with floral, creamy and oaky notes; ample, smooth and powerful
• Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais (BIVB): fresh fruit and nuts; honey and vanilla in some barrel-aged wines
• Mâconnais (jancisrobinson.com): plump, open wines that can taste of melon, or apples warmed by the sun
• Champagne (champagne.fr): delicately fragrant wines with floral, citrus and sometimes mineral notes

WSET notes that 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, according to WSET. jancisrobinson.com writes that 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, per the same page. The Decanter WSET study piece describes malolactic fermentation as softening harsh acids and bringing out dairy flavours, lees ageing as giving butter and toast, and oak ageing as adding spice, toast and vanilla. In the United States, WSET reports a shift away from overly ripe 'butter bomb' Chardonnays toward more balanced styles with moderate or no oak use.

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

Writing about Burgundy, jancisrobinson.com holds that 'the name of the producer is generally more important than the name of the appellation'. In Australia, the same page names Giaconda, Petaluma Tiers Vineyard and Leeuwin as proof that 'Australians can make Chardonnays with real finesse'. In Argentina, it notes that 'almost exact reproductions of California Chardonnay have been produced under the Catena label'.

• Australia: Giaconda, Petaluma Tiers Vineyard and Leeuwin (named by jancisrobinson.com)
• Argentina: the Catena label (jancisrobinson.com)

The BIVB describes Chardonnay as an early variety, budding early, which makes it susceptible to spring frosts. jancisrobinson.com notes that it can yield well and ripen usefully early, although it buds rather too early for frost-free comfort in cool climates. According to the OIV, Chardonnay 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, per the BIVB. jancisrobinson.com credits better clones with improving Oregon Chardonnay, and reports a rare clone in Mudgee that locals believe was imported in the nineteenth century.

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

The BIVB identifies three main Chardonnay styles in Burgundy, 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, the BIVB says. jancisrobinson.com calls the Côte d'Or the heartland of Burgundy and 'effectively the nerve centre' of savoury, dense Chardonnay, and writes that here, as nowhere else, the grape can express a sense of place. Per the same page, 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, according to jancisrobinson.com, 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, according to the BIVB.

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

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/ Last verified 2026-09-29