10/13/08 Chardonnay

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. It is harvest and some of the first grapes to be picked were the white grapes. One of the most popular white grape is Chardonnay. Today we're going to begin a three part series about Chardonnay. In the emerging wine world of the 1980's wines began to be named for the grapes that made them and something happened. We Americans discopvered Chardonnay - it became the all the rage. Known to very few by its traditional geographic names, Chablis, Montrachet, Corton-Charlemagne or Meursault, it was now being labeled for the grape it was made from and it gained great popularity. Many consumers found it easy to drink because very often it was lower in acidity and fermented dry and that was all it took to be considered a cool wine drinker. Wine grape growers find it to be adaptable - not horribly difficult to grow and profitable. Winemaker's seem to enjoy the wide range of winemaking techniques they are able to apply to Chardonnay. It is readily blended with grapes varietals like Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and back then Kendall Jackson fooled many Americans by adding sweet varieties such as Chenin Blanc to the wine. We were talking dry but drinking sweet. Because they weren't 100% Chardonnay they were usually a bit less expensive. For awhile I found the Chardonnay's all becoming quite similar to one another especially those that put a major emphasis on the use of malolactic fermentation and French oak barrels. Join me tomorrow as we continue our discussion of Chardonnay and thanks for joining for today's Vine to Wine.