Where is chardonnay produced

However, Chardonnay is frequently confused with true Pinot Blanc. Chardonnay is an early budding variety and thus must be protected from spring frosts in locations where such frosts are likely. However, it resists rather well to cold winter temperatures. Chardonnay must be planted with tight spacing high density in cold and temperate regions. In contrast, it can be planted with wide spacing low density in hot areas, but it is likely to give low yields unless it is irrigated during the summer.

Under both types of conditions, lyre-shaped trellising is being attempted. Chardonnay vines must be trained on a trellis. This variety can be harvested properly by machine. In cool and temperate regions, cane pruning is advised in order to give satisfactory yields. In hot and sunny regions such as California, spur pruning with two buds per spur is possible, since these conditions produce significantly larger clusters than in cooler climates.

Chardonnay is very sensitive to shot-berry production under poor weather conditions during flowering cold, rain. Chardonnay is also very sensitive to the fanleaf degeneration virus yellow mosaic and malformations. As plantings of Chardonnay have increased internationally, the causal mycoplasma-like organism has spread in recent years from the Armagnac region to the South of France, Italy and all the way to Moldavia ex-USSR.

This disease cannot spread to Burgundy and Champagne because of the absence of the leafhopper vector in these regions. Chardonnay is one of the varieties most sensitive to Pierce's Disease, a bacterial disease encountered in the Americas.

It kills grapevines after having dried out grape clusters and foliage. Chardonnay wood must therefore not be brought in from the USA, since such importation could lead to the spread of this disease to Europe, which would be very serious for regions such as Burgundy since the insect vector is present there.

Chardonnay grapes are very sensitive to Botrytis cinerea when they are at or near maturity. These are called primary flavors, because they derive directly from the grape.

Secondary : Chardonnay also has secondary flavors, or notes, that come from the winemaking process. The first set of flavors includes coconut, vanilla and baking spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

They come from the use of oak. Factors that affect the flavors and their intensity include origin of the wood French vs. American , shape of the wood barrels, chips or staves , toast level and length of time in contact with the oak. Diacetyl is byproduct of a process called malolactic fermentation, or MLF. Grapes contain malic acid, which tastes like tart green apples. When a good bacteria called Oenococcus oeni converts that malic acid into lactic acid, either naturally or by a winemaker addition, that green-apple note softens or disappears, while diacety—the buttery note—increases.

Winemakers encourage this conversion to reduce the perception of sharp acidity in favor of the rounder, creamier lactic acid, with notes of, well, butter. This white grape has a long, noble history, which starts with its Old World roots in Burgundy. Some of most coveted, and therefore expensive, Chardonnays in the world come from this region in France. Eventually, the grape made its way to California, where it became the most widely planted white variety in the state.

America fell in love with Chardonnay because it produces a wine that appeals to a wide audience. A winemaker who wants their Chardonnay to taste crisp and bright often uses stainless steel to ferment and store the wine before bottling.

When a winemaker seeks to create a fuller-bodied wine with secondary flavors of vanilla and spice, they can ferment and age the wine in oak, or ferment in stainless steel and age in oak afterward. Oaked Chardonnay often undergoes partial or full MLF while in barrel, as well as sees contact with the lees dead yeast. The vanilla and spice flavors, plus round, creamy texture from micro-oxygenation, lees contact, and MLF produce a wine that is the stylistic opposite of unoaked Chardonnay.

The differences between wines of different regions are largely due to climate and winemaking traditions. Thanks to its ability to adapt to many different soils and terroirs , Chardonnay was planted all around the world. Chart Data: Anderson, K and N. France remains the largest producer of Chardonnay with over 44, ha planted. But the USA is a close second with nearly 41, ha.

Chardonnay grape is aromatically quite neutral , meaning that the winemaking greatly influences the final flavor profile of the wine. To guide you through what the different Chardonnay wines taste like, with our friends at HisandHerWine. Everything you will commonly smell in a Chardy.

In a cool climate on a cool and mineral soil like limestone e. On the other end, in a warm or hot climate like certain parts of California, Australia or South Africa , grape berries and their flavors will reach a higher level of ripeness revealing notes of summer fruits or tropical fruits like apricot, peach, mango, pineapple.

Many Chardonnay wines combine several of the above fruit flavor families. Because Chardonnay gives a juice that is aromatically quite neutral to start with, it is greatly influenced by how the wine is made. Often Chardonnays go through malolactic fermentation , which gives them notes of yogurt, butter or cream. But for a lighter and more fruit-driven style, winemakers can prevent these flavors to appear in the wine.

Chardonnay can be oaked or unoaked depending on whether the wine is put into contact with oak wood using barrel fermentation and maturation, or oak chips. Whether new oak barrels are used, whether the wood is lightly or heavily toasted influences the type of oaky flavors found in the wine: from lightly smoky or hazelnut flavors, to intense coconut, vanilla or char.

Traditional Burgundy-style Chardonnay has a lot of malolactic aromas, but subtle oak flavors because only a little new oak is used. Indeed, Burgundians generally use their barrels for a few years. Each year it is used, the oak flavor intensity a barrel gives to the wine decreases. This provides an easier-drinking and lighter style, but generally with a lesser aging potential.

Typically Chardonnays develop notes of wax, honey, nuts and spices.