California chardonnay has always been a style: voluptuous, mouth-filling, rich and buttery. And just like clothing and music, wine styles change. These days, preservation of acidity and freshness is the mantra of serious chardonnay producers around the world, with most staying away from the oak-soaked, fat, buttery soft editions. How are they doing it? They’re calling in the clones.
California’s winemakers have long made headlines for their post-phylloxera (read: torn out and replanted) vineyards, and how they’ve reshaped those vineyards to fit modern tastes. Much of the buzz has centred around proximity to the ocean, altitude, row orientation, irrigation, pruning, temperature variations, vine density – even how many hours those vines remain under fog.
But in the past decade, another variable has been added, and that’s an increased emphasis on pre-selecting plant material. In other words: the use of clones.
The growing use of different chardonnay clones is changing the face of this very public grape. It may take a few years before the impact is fully felt, but sooner than later chardonnay drinkers everywhere will taste the change. Nowhere is this more evident than in California where chardonnay is undergoing a facelift so subtle it would make even a Beverley Hills plastic surgeon jealous.
What is a clone, you ask?
In an interview posted online at http://www.saintsbury.com/college_varietals.html, David Graves, Saintsbury co-proprietor and curious grape guy, posed that same question to Carole Meredith, a long-time member of the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis.
Meredith says, "A clone is a variant within a variety that has some difference of interest to grape growers and/or winemakers. The differences can be in visible features like berry size or cluster shape or they can be differences in such things as aroma or acidity. The older the variety, the more variants exist within the variety because there has been more time for the differences to arise."
The interest in a particular chardonnay clone may arise because it develops a zingy acidity or it thrives in cool-climate conditions, thus preserving its acidity and fruit better than other clones. It could be about richer flavours, lower alcohol or broader mouthfeel.
A quick look at the history of California chardonnay explains its significance – and the reason it needs to change. California chardonnay was born in the late 1950s. Its eureka moment, says Hugh Johnson, in his new book Hugh Johnson Wine, A Life Uncorked , was when French barrels were brought to California from Burgundy.
The seminal moment came with the release of the 1957 Hanzell Chardonnay from Sonoma, says Johnson, followed closely by efforts by Mondavi, Heitz and Beaulieu Vineyards.
"The appellations of new wines were the people making them," Johnson writes. "If you knew where Bill Bonetti or Brad Webb was making chardonnay (respectively at Freemark Abbey and Charles Krug wineries), you had the keys. Joe Heitz was in his Napa cellar and Fred McCrea was up at Stony Hill."
In the next two decades California’s golden grape became the height of fashion, so much so that it became more than just the state’s signature variety. It influenced winemaking around the world.
In 1988, Alan Young, the author of Chardonnay: The World’s Most Popular Grape: The Definitive Guide , wrote, "California makes the best California-style chardonnay in the world," an obvious comment on the global rush to ape the production of California, if not Napa-style, chardonnay.
And rush they have: Australia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Canada and even parts of France have launched versions of the Golden State chardonnay, hoping consumers will respond to their labels in the same numbers that have embraced California’s.
So why change anything?
The best answer may be that California chardonnay has always been a style, and style changes. The idea of drinking wine with food, while a given in the Old World, is fast becoming part of mainstream North American culture. And now those consumers don’t want big, rich oaky styles. They want lighter, fresh, leaner, more food-friendly wines.
That’s where the clones come in.
The problem is if cutting edge drinkers – sometimes referred to as the early adopters – are excited about California chardonnay’s evolution, winery sales types are understandably nervous. After all, who in their right mind would tinker with a worldwide market that measures a staggering 45 million cases per year? You can imagine the resistance to changing a cultural icon like chardonnay.
Yet change it will, no matter how many wineries object. People want to drink more than a glass of wine before palate fatigue sets in.
In the spirit of change here are 10 New World chardonnays that reflect the modern mantra of clean, crisp, fresh and food-friendly:
Alamos Chardonnay 2005, Mendoza, Argentina $17
A high-altitude chardonnay has a super cool mineral, creamy, citrus melon fruit flavour.Blasted Church Revered Series Chardonnay 2004, Okanagan Falls, B.C. $26
Green apple skin, lees, green melon, buttery, citrus peel flavours. New fresh style.Carmen Chardonnay 2005, Valle de Casablanca, Chile $14
Fresh, cool style, very Casablanca that is only 20 per cent barrel fermented.
E&J Gallo Chardonnay Two Rock Vineyard 2003, Sonoma Coast, California $36
Mineral, lime rind, green apple, grapefruit flavours with a floral, Granny Smith streak.Finca Los Primos Chardonnay 2005, San Rafael, Argentina $9
A very fresh chardonnay with green apple skin and peachy background notes.Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay Vintner’s Reserve 2004, California $24
Crisp with green apple, citrus, peach skin, pear, with a floral, orange, buttery finish.Koonunga Hill Chardonnay 2004, South Eastern Australia $15
Green apple skin, floral, grapefruit and vanilla flavours with a zippy, warm finish.
La Chablisienne Chablis 1er Cru Cote de Lechet 2002, Chablis, France $38
Fresh lemon, green apple skin, lees, mineral, flinty flavours. Try it with halibut.Mission Hill Chardonnay Reserve 2004, Okanagan Valley, B.C. $18
Citrus, nutty, grapefruit, green apple, honey flavours with a touch of vanilla and cinnamon.
Quails’ Gate Chardonnay Limited Release 2004, Okanagan Valley, B.C. $18
A contemporary style made for food with grapefruit, smoky mineral and honey flavours.
Anthony Gismondi is a globetrotting wine writer who makes his home in West Vancouver, British Columbia. For more of his thoughts on wine log onto www.gismondionwine.com
