The Thrilling Diversity of Chardonnay
by Tom Wolf
Chardonnay has continued to flourish in recent years to such an extent that you could drink nothing but wines from this grape all summer and still have an enlivened and curious palate in a few months’ time. While most closely associated with its home of Burgundy, sublime Chardonnay can now be found throughout the cooler climates of France and Italy, from the Pays Nantais, just south of Brittany, to the Adriatic’s Gulf of Trieste.
Take, for instance, Edi Kante’s uncommonly delicate rendition from the Carso in northeastern Italy. Whispers of sea breeze and lemon zest make this an ideal bottling for the next time you crack open a dozen oysters or sear scallops. Eric Chevalier’s pure and unfussy Val de Loire bottling offers a touch more generosity and orchard fruit, making it suitable for just about any ice bucket in close proximity to a grill or lobster bake. And from the Beaujolais, a source of increasingly serious and delicious Chardonnay, comes the Thévenets’ misleadingly named Terrain Rouge, a beautifully floral blanc showing that not just the region’s reds deliver intoxicating aromas.
Even within Burgundy, there are more beautiful and diverse expressions of the grape than ever. You no doubt know the briny, oyster-shell charms of Chablis like Costal’s Les Truffières. But there are outstanding relative newcomers, like Valentin Montanet’s crisp and joyous Vézelay or the Guillemot family’s Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, an elegant cuvée from one of the most exciting, up-and-coming appellations in the Côte d’Or.