10/03/07 American Chardonnay

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. Today we continue discussing the wines made from the grape Chardonnay and the different styles of American Chardonnay. The differences in Chardonnay may be subtle or pronounce. It helps to recognize this in order to understand why a winery would produce more than one Chardonnay. Style in wine is a reference to the characteristics of the wine's flavor profile. There are so many decisions made during the winemaking process greatly influencing the style of the wine. In the United States there are really no laws that define style. So perhaps the simple approach is to describe the general characteristics of the most common styles of Chardonnay. First the ones that are lighter in body and usually lighter in color have more of an emphasis on fruit. They will be a bit crisper with nice crunchy acidity. They smell and taste of green apple or citrus such as lemon. The medium bodied medium yellow colored chards are usually influenced by an oak barrel and will smell and taste more spicy with tropical fruit notes and buttery toasty qualities. Followed by those deeper medium to golden Chards which are usually much fuller in body with a rich oak emphasis  you will notice lots of vanilla and butterscotch in the smells and tastes. Currently gaining in popularity are unoaked Chardonnay and I personally hope to see more of these clean less gooey and food friendly wines. So be aware of styles of American Chardonnay when selecting the one that most suits your tastes. And thanks for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.