The amazing chardonnay phenomenon

When I started my winery 20 years ago, I had a modest plan to make a few hundred cases of Carneros chardonnay harvested from the best vineyard in my brief career here, the Sangiacomo Vineyard. I thought that in making a modest living and growing the operation to a few thousand cases of one outstanding white wine, I would be a huge success. Things have worked out, of course, and MacRostie Carneros Chardonnay is a product that sells through successfully year after year.
But getting to this point hasn’t always been easy. In the early years there was a surprising amount of indifference to my new creation on the part of retail stores and restaurants. The so-called “ABC” phenomenon-anything but chardonnay (or cabernet)-was often the response when I presented my wine to a prospective customer. There were-and continue to be-lots and lots of chardonnays out there, and those buyers understandably wanted to get on the cutting edge of presenting new kinds of wines to their customers. Despite the challenges of starting a new brand with no track record, entering a crowded marketplace and an overhanging gloomy economy, the wine did start to gain a following.
The fact is chardonnay is just plain popular, no matter what some gatekeepers may think. Growers love to produce the fruit; winemakers love to fashion it; and consumers love to drink it.
On a worldwide basis, chardonnay is the grape most in demand. In California it occupies the greatest number of vineyard acres of any variety-some 92,000 in all. Next on the list is cabernet sauvignon at 75,000 acres. And while there is some oversupply right now, the growth in sales for California wine is expected to bring about a shortage in chardonnay in a few years. Perhaps that will result in a price increase for “two-buck Chuck” and other very inexpensive wines!
Chardonnay is a grower’s dream in its ability to yield well without a sacrifice in quality. While the most nuanced wines from cool sites on the North Coast of California are made from yields of less than three tons per acre, very good flavor intensity can still be had at five tons per acre. With land and labor costs what they are in this area, a grower looking for profitability views that latter yield with a smile.
Its forgiving nature in yield-versus-quality is matched by its versatility to adapt to cooler and warmer places. Unlike the strongly “aromatic” varietals like riesling and gewürztraminer, whose singular characters shine through regardless of place, chardonnay adopts the personality of where it is grown, showing a remarkable palate of flavors ranging from lemon, apples and honey to melon and even tropical.
The winemaker’s tools also offer an array of flavors that lend themselves to chardonnay and lead to a variety of successful styles. A cold fermentation free from the influence of oak creates delicious crisp, fruity wine. And because it harmonizes well with oak, chardonnay fermented in barrels is a little warmer, rounder, broader and not so focused on fruit, but delicious nonetheless.
California, with its balmy Mediterranean climate, is a very different growing environment from France’s Burgundy, where such famous names as Montrachet and Meursault have long been regarded as the template for world-class chardonnay. White burgundy is leaner and smells of minerals and earth, while California’s is more opulently fruit-forward and supple. While chardonnay in Burgundy ripens at lower sugar and results in lower alcohol, California’s achieves sugar quickly and has to wait for flavor to come along. So our wines have higher alcohol, which adds to their richness and body.