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Chardonnay

Chardonnay Wine Details
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Description: This grape is the best-known white wine grape grown in France and is more correctly known as the same Pinot Chardonnay grape widely grown in the Champagne region. The Chardonnay is also widely planted in the Burgundy and Chablis regions. There, as in the cooler regions of North America and California, the wine made from it is often aged in small oak barrels to produce strong flavors and aromas. Possessing a fruity character - (e.g: Apple, lemon, citrus), subsequent barrel-influenced flavors include "oak", "vanilla", and malo-lactic fermentation imparted "creamy- buttery" components. Australia and New Zealand have succeeded in producing world-class wines from this grape in recent years by using cold fermentation methods that result in a desired "flinty" taste in the dry versions.

Varietal Definition
Chardonnay:
Chardonnay is by far the most widely planted grape crop in California and dominates California’s cooler, coastal, quality wine regions. The natural varietal ‘taste and smell’ of Chardonnay is surprisingly unfamiliar to many wine drinkers, as its true character is often guised with dominating winemaking signatures. Chardonnay’s rather subdued primary fruit characteristics lean toward the crisp fruitiness of apples, pears and lemon, but the variety’s full body is capable of supporting a host of complementary characteristics, such as oak, butter and vanilla. Regardless of what is the appropriate style for Chardonnay, the varietal continues to dominate vineyard plantings in every corner of the world. Close attention to clonal selection has made this broad geographic and climactic range of Chardonnay viable in thoughtful viticultural hands.


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