A Short History of California Chardonnay

Chardonnay has been the best selling wine in the U.S. for a long time so it would seem it's not affected by wine trends. Or is it? Let's take a look at Chardonnay beginning about 1970 when premium wine production ramped up in the Golden State.

Chateau St. Jean's winemaker, Dick Arrowood,
was a pioneer in Sonoma County Chardonnay

The Chardonnay grape is sort of a blank slate for winemakers to work with. That's a nice way of saying there isn't really much to Chard as a wine without winemaker intervention.

Wente worked with Chardonnay clones and made it into the popular wine it is today. And, of course, Chateau Montelena put California Chardonnay on the map with the famous Judgement of Paris in 1976.

'70s Chardonnay was from the pre-malolactic days. Malolactic fermentation gives the wine its buttery flavor by converting the naturally tart acids to softer, lactic (milk) acids.The wines went from earlier barrel fermentation to stainless steel tank fermentation with Hanzell and Mondavi some of the early pioneers in this style. Chardonnay, as with other grapes, was grown sort of haphazardly in various microclimates that were often quite warm even though the French grow it in much cooler areas.These wines were fresh and fruity.

In the early '80s things changed with Kendall Jackson's barrel fermented, malolactic (buttery), and slightly sweet Chardonnay. This style was soft (low acid) and complex with lots of different flavors from the fruit, the barrels, malolactic fermentation, and lees aging. It was a hit and was the prevalent style for a couple decades as winemakers decided if a little wood and butter were good then more was better. By now you might be thinking about Rombauer's "butter bomb" Chardonnay introduced in 1990.

In the 2000s many winemakers began dialing back on the oak and buttery characteristics with some even making a "special" unoaked, or even called naked, Chardonnay. This was for the anti-Rombauer movement, I suppose. I personally didn't care for most of them. The smarter move was planting vineyards in cooler coastal climates like the Sonoma Coast and keeping the oak and malolactic characteristics in balance. These wines are higher acid, lower alcohol often with apple and citrus characteristics. These are often expensive Chardonnays, but are among the best IMO.

Some of this info from deborahparkerwong.files.wordpress.com and jancisrobinson.com