Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to
make white wine. It believed to have originated in the Burgundy wine
region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced,
from England to New Zealand. For new and developing wine regions,
growing Chardonnay is seen as a "rite of passage" and an easy segue
into the international wine market.[1]
The Chardonnay grape itself is very neutral, with many of the flavors
commonly associated with the grape being derived from such influences
as terroir and oak.[2] It is vinified in many different styles, from
the elegant, "flinty" wines of Chablis to rich, buttery Meursaults and
New World wines with tropical fruit flavors.
Chardonnay is an important component of many sparkling wines around
the world, including Champagne. A peak in popularity in the late 1980s
gave way to a backlash among those wine drinkers who saw the grape as
a leading negative component of the globalization of wine.
Nonetheless, it remains one of the most widely-planted grape
varieties, with over 400,000 acres (175,000 hectares) worldwide,
second only to Airén among white wine grapes and planted in more wine
regions than any other grape – including Cabernet Sauvignon.[1]
History
For much of its history, a connection was assumed
between Chardonnay and Pinot noir or Pinot blanc. In addition to
being found in the same region of France for centuries, ampelographers
noted that the leaves of each plant have near-identical shape and
structure. Pierre Galet disagreed with this assessment, believing
that Chardonnay was not related to any other major grape variety.
Viticulturalists Maynard Amerine & Harold Olmo proposed a descendency
from a wild Vitis vinifera vine that was a step removed from white
Muscat. Chardonnay's true origins were further obscured by vineyard
owners in Lebanon and Syria, who claimed that the grape's ancestry
could be traced to the Middle East, from where it was introduced
to Europe by returning Crusaders, though there is little external
evidence to support that theory.[3]
Another
theory stated that it originated from an ancient indigenous vine
found in Cyprus.[4]
Modern DNA fingerprinting research at University of California,
Davis, now suggests that Chardonnay is the result of a cross between
the Pinot and Gouais Blanc (Heunisch) grape varieties.[2] It is
believed that the Romans brought Gouais Blanc from the Balkans,
where it was widely cultivated by peasants in Eastern France. The
Pinot of the French aristocracy grew in close proximity to the Gouais
Blanc, giving both grapes ample opportunity to interbreed. Since
the two parents were genetically distant, many of the crosses showed
hybrid vigour and were selected for further propagation. These "successful"
crosses included Chardonnay and siblings such as Aligoté, Aubin
Vert, Auxerrois, Bachet noir, Beaunoir, Franc Noir de la-Haute-Saône,
Gamay Blanc Gloriod, Gamay noir, Melon, Knipperlé, Peurion, Roublot,
Sacy[5] and Dameron.[6] |