Chardonnay everywhere!

[robr]

Why is it that there is so much Chardonnay and it is nearly always good? I have had cheap, moderate, and expensive chards, and they were all good, drinkable wines.

Is it just the easiest grape to grow and make into wine?

[winoweenie]

Just the most popular , earliest ripening, and fastest cash cow in the mix. WW

[Glass_A_Day]

I know what your saying Bern. If I try 10 Cabs and 10 Chards in any price range I usually find more winners in the chard column. I just use cab as an example, but this seems to apply to many veriatels. I think WW is correct in saying that Chard is an easy grape to deal with and takes a lot less work to turn into a decent quaffer.

[robr]

Thanks for the responses, but I'm still curious. It seems that there is so much good chardonnay that there must be a reason for it. Is there anyone on this board who has ever actually made this wine?

[lucy_presley]

If it makes you feel any better, I've never had a Chardonnay that I did like.

[robr]

Thanks Lucy, but that doesn't make me feel any better. I'm curious, what is it that you do not like about chardonnay?

[lucy_presley]

I very rarely like tart flavors, but really dislike them combined with even a hint of sweetness. Key lime pie, lemon pie, lemon squares are among my least favorite foods. Even strawberry desserts are pushing it a little.

Chardonnay is usually tart, annoying enough to my palate, but it often has enough sweetness to really make it unpleasant for me. Add oak to that, and it's just hell on earth.

[Glass_A_Day]

You're not spending enough Lucy... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

[lucy_presley]

When I hit $40 and still couldn't find one that didn't taste to me like jet fuel, I quit bothering.

[robr]

I agree. The cheaper ones are usually tart. Try Blackstone, Rodney Strong, almost anything from Sonoma but over $10. I even like the tart ones, but the better ones are not -- they are more nutty and buttery than anything else

[robr]

$40! Oh well. I guess your palate must be different than mine, that's all. We all taste sweet and sour slightly differently.

[lucy_presley]

Chardonnay is known for its tartness. It is California producers who put it through malolactic fermentation to lessen this bite (the chards known for being buttery), but it's still there for me.

If a winemaker were able to get the tartness down to a level I could stomach, my husband (a/k/a "dananne" to you) would think he was drinking solid popcorn butter.

Overall, it's a lose lose proposition to even try to find a wine to please both of us with this varietal. So we skip it.

[winoweenie]

Lucy girl that's what you get fer drinkin' them SWs'. Put the 40 smackers in a nice Pinot and smile. WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

[Thomas]

Bern,

I've produced Chardonnay and found it easier to produce than Gewurztraminer, but no easier than Riesling, both of which I have also produced.

And Lucy is right on--not necessarily in her taste [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img] but in her observation, Before the often heavy-handed malo-lactic/oak treatment, the overwhelming natural quality of Chardonnay is tart apple--think Macon.

[robr]

Very interesting,

That explains a lot to me, as I recall years ago it always tasted much more like granny smith apple juice mixed with lemons than it does now.

[wondersofwine]

If the producer gets the malolactic fermentation and the wood treatment just right, and has good ripe but not overripe grapes to work with (a lot of ifs) Chardonnay can be a delightful white with just a touch of butterscotch or hazelnut to the taste. Sometimes Chassagne Montrachet, Puligny Montrachet or Meursault wines achieve this for me but at a cost in dollars or trial and error. Philippe Fichet, Jean-Marc Morey, and Benoit Ente are some producers who have hit the mark but their wines are not easy to find.