There is nothing wrong with chardonnay. It is full-bodied, easy to drink, and available everywhere. What more could one desire? Well, how about diversity?
Chardonnay is a grape variety which has become a brand. Indeed, for many the name is synonymous with white wine (Bridget Jones). Fundamentally, however, it is the white grape of Burgundy, the grape, for example, of bourgogne blanc, of chablis and of any wine with Montrachet in its name. It produces some of the greatest white wines in the world, wines which are complex and delicious. But it also produces some of the most boring and, for this, wine drinkers themselves are responsible.
The 1970s and 1980s saw the growth of "varietal" wines, those which have the name of a grape variety, rather than an area such as Bordeaux or the name of a ch?teau or a producer, on their labels: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay. This is not surprising. The post-war period saw a massive growth in the number of wine drinkers, and many of them found it hard to decipher the information provided on the label. Unfamiliarity can make buying a bottle an occasion for unease rather than pleasure, but the name of the grape variety is easily remembered. The 1980s also saw a growing thirst for full-bodied white wine, and wines labelled chardonnay met this wish so precisely that worldwide plantings of the grape quadrupled. This was possible because the Chardonnay grape can grow in a variety of climates, can produce high yields and is relatively neutral in flavour. Consequently, it is good raw material for many types of wine, many of which taste good. What they seldom are is complex, with a lingering taste in the mouth.
Much of chardonnay's popularity can be attributed to its high level of alcohol, which can produce a hint of sweetness. But even more important to the taste is the use of oak. The marriage of chardonnay and oak can be sublime. Oak also provides a hint of sweetness and vanillin and spice. The great French burgundies are fermented and aged in French oak barrels, resulting in bouquets and flavours that can stun with pleasure. But what you sometimes get with cheaper bottles is a very alcoholic liquid flavoured with oak. Indeed, "flavoured" is the proper word. Oak barrels are expensive, costing about ?400 each. Yet until recently, to produce an unoaked chardonnay could be foolhardy: so some producers have been using a T-bag filled with oak chips. This is soaked in the wine until the desired level of oakiness is reached. It is whispered that some winemakers do not even use T-bags and just add oak essence.
Yet, if people like the result-and millions do-what is wrong with a river of chardonnay wine? Many people naturally stay with the wines which they like. After all, people seldom change their brand of gin; why change their wine? Chardonnay provides that certainty of type and taste. And because most people buy on price, chardonnay which is being heavily promoted at a discount is often the wine of choice. The supermarkets are always discounting one wine or another, and the chances are that one of them will be a chardonnay.
The pity is that there are hundreds of smell and taste experiences out there which many people are missing. Once you have had your fill of Australian chardonnay, with its tropical fruit flavours encased in oak, try a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, with its scents of gooseberries and flowers, or an Alsatian gewurztraminer, with its nose of Turkish Delight and spice, or an older German riesling, with its bouquet of honey and petrol. If you still prefer a chardonnay, at least you will know why, and there are some very good ones.
But there is a more fundamental problem flowing from the grape's predominance, and this is the fact that it has driven out many native varieties. In some cases this does not matter, but some traditional and local grapes provided unusual wine-drinking experiences that cannot be replicated. Chardonnay is not, for example, native to the Languedoc; rather, as demand for it grew, plantings swept south and west of Burgundy and now provide much of the Vin de Pays d'Oc. Some of the wine is nice, or at least drinkable, but much of it is of low quality and some is quite awful. For this, acres of old, native vines have been pulled up and burnt. In some areas, this continues.
The wine drinker caused this, and can change it by ignoring the routine purchase and trying something new. There is evidence that many are doing so: believing it to be a health-giving beverage, many white wine drinkers have changed to red, with the outcome that in America, merlot is the new chardonnay. But for those wishing to drink a white wine, a fashionable one is made from Viognier, the white grape of the Northern Rh?ne, redolent of peaches, apricots and blossom. Californian viognier is an alcoholic monster, and Australia and Italy also produce it. But perhaps one might return to the source and drink a viognier wine which is actually made in the Rh?ne?
