The Journey of the Chardonnay Grape from Old World to California

California Chardonnay has gone through a transformation over the years. It was the Judgement of Paris in 1976 that put it on the map as a serious wine that could rival Burgundy producers who’d been making wine for centuries.

But during the 1990’s, a lot of experimentation in the California wine market took place. The ideologies wanted to reflect American culture and aimed to create a bigger more flavorful wine.

Three major changes happened: 1) Winemakers started using a heavy hand in techniques like full Malolactic fermentation. This process changed the tart malic acid to a silky / buttery lactic acid. 2) They also let the grapes hang longer to create more sugars. 3) Lastly, they barrel fermented the wine for lengthy periods of time to create dominant baking spice flavors.

These wines began to take on a playful cocktail shape for social occasions rather than serious artistic statements for dinners. Whereas French Burgundy Chardonnay wines have focused on subtle fruit, rocky minerality and vibrant acidity that bring out the savoriness in food.

How do you pronounce this “Chardonnay” wine you talk about?

Do they come in different flavors?

The ideologies wanted to reflect American culture and aimed to create a bigger more flavorful wine.

Hey thanks for stopping in and sharing this valuable insight!

Those damned ideologies! What did they know anyway?

Yes. Flavor Flav are the best, including Domaine LeFlav and Olivier LeFlav.