Where Chardonnay's Characteristics Come From

You've got the natural flavors of the grapes along with where they're grown, you throw in some oak maybe and you've got the characteristics for the finished wine. That's kind of close for most wines, but not for Chardonnay. Chard is, I can't say this gently, a little bland without some help.

Descriptors used for Chard are often oak, butter, peaches, tropical, citrus, butterscotch, mineral, and vanilla. You can describe it as lush to lean. You could say Chardonnay's styles are very diverse. You could also say Chardonnay is a bit of a blank canvas waiting for the artist (winemaker) to put their brush strokes to it. That is, Chard is probably more of an expression of the winemaker than the grapes compared to any other wine.

Chardonnay grapes aren't actually all that distinct on their own so where do all those flavors come from?

Vineyard Location

Chardonnay is a cool climate grape. This means it likes coastal regions of the West. The cooler the location the higher the natural acids. The warmer the vineyard the softer (lower acid) and more tropical fruit tasting of a wine is produced.

Some of the best-known areas for growing Chardonnay in California are Carneros, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Coast, Santa Lucia Highlands, Arroyo Seco, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Maria.

Concrete tank

Barrels, Stainless, or even Concrete

Oaky and toasty flavors come from newer, usually French, oak barrels. If older barrels or only some of the wine is in barrels the influence is less. For several decades the very oaky style has been popular with American Chardonnay, but many winemakers are pulling back and using less or no oak at all.

An unoaked Chardonnay is usually considered a bright and refreshing style (this comes from the acids). And might be more akin to a Sauvignon Blanc or a Riesling than one of those big oaky, buttery Chards. These are usually processed in stainless steel tanks, but some winemakers have been experimenting with concrete eggs. Yes, it's a large, somewhat egg-shaped vessel where the juice comes in contact with concrete instead of oak or totally neutral steel.

Butter

Most wines, reds especially, go through two fermentations. The first is the one converting the sugars to alcohol that all wine go through. The second is call malolactic fermentation (MLF) that converts tart appley-type acids (malo) into softer dairy-tasting acids (lactic).

This is done to keep a wine from being too tart. If it's done 100% to a Chardonnay you get that buttery flavor. Some winemakers do it only partially or not at all. Those soft, rich, creamy characteristics in Chardonnay come from ML.

Lees

This is a nice word for the dead yeast cells that settle to the bottom of the tank or barrel. Leaving a Chardonnay on the lees or even stirring them up once in a while adds a bit of creaminess. Usually the dead yeast cells are removed right away, but in the case of Chardonnay sometimes they're left in for awhile to add flavor.

Shopping for Chardonnay

One of Sonoma County's best
but it'll cost you a bit more

If you are in a store that has wine knowledgeable help then you can ask for something lean and crisp, full-bodied and buttery, oaky, or for something in between. Price-wise the sweet spot for a decent Chard is probably between $20 and $40. The cheap ones you find in the grocery are going to be oaky, buttery, acidic or some combination of those as they are using lower quality grapes and will cover that up with the winemaking.

Some ideas for different styles of Sonoma County Chardonnays to help you to find out what styles may you like:
Benziger Carneros, Chateau St. Jean Robert Young Vyd, La Crema Sonoma Coast, La Crema Russian River Valley, Landmark Overlook, Pellegrini Russian River Valley, Sonoma Cutrer Sonoma Coast, Sonoma Cutrer Russian River Ranches.
A couple from just over the hill in Napa you may want to look for:
Chateau Montelena Napa Valley and Smith-Madrone Napa Valley
These should all be fairly easy to find and fall in the $20 to $40 range.