Californian Chardonnay

Chardonnay from California fulfils all the stereotypes of the state itself: big, bold, brash, unabashed, and brazen. Subtlety goes out of the window, the wine is smothered in new oak, and given full-on malolactic fermentation. The resulting wine is all about the bravado of the winemaker rather than the primary flavours of the fruit, and feels like being smacked in the face by a buttered oak barrel.

Stereotypes do exist for a reason, but my trip to California has shown that many winemakers are determined to prove them wrong and make wine from Chardonnay in all sorts of styles that are as expressive of the grape as of the winemaking process. It's difficult to know whether this is due to consumer demand or the whims of winemakers, but I think it's clear that understanding of how to make good wine from Chardonnay has greatly increased in recent years. 

Of the wineries I visited, Ramey is the one which comes closest to conforming to the image of Californian Chardonnay. All the wines have 100% MLF, and the wines will be acidified after MLF if necessary. They're big, creamy, and smoky. However, the use of oak has decreased, and is contuining to do so. In 2002 (David Ramey started making wine on his own in the late 1990s), the single-vineyard Chardonnays were aged with 66% new oak; that's now down to 45%, and 30% is planned for the 2014 vintage. The AVA wines feature even less oak. 

There is a real commitment to place too. We tasted six Chardonnays back to back, and all of them were expressive of where they were from. Two - the Sonoma Coast and Russian River Valley 2011s - were "appellation wines," but the grapes were still taken from a small set of vineyards rather than from all over the AVAs. The other four, also from 2011, were single-vineyard wines, from Platt Vineyard near Bodega Bay in Sonoma Coast, Ritchie Vineyard from Russian River Valley, and Hyde and Hudson Vineyards in Carneros, Napa. The differences between each wine were subtle and nuanced, a reflection of terroir despite their power. The Hudson Vineyard, in particular, felt like an homage to Burgundy: slightly reductive, with a long, creamy finish, this wine will open up well with age.

Clos du Val, a Napa winery founded in 1972, has also cut back on the use of new oak and MLF, so that just 20% new oak is used in ageing. The Chardonnay Carneros 2012 has a light creaminess with stone fruits, a balanced wine designed to be drunk fairly young (within 3-5 years). Californian winemakers are open to experimenting with different clones of the grape to find the perfect California-Chardonnay match and to create more individual wines. The Lone Cypress Ranch 2012 uses the Dijon Musqué clone, which is more aromatic with more tropical fruit flavours, producing a bigger, but still balanced, and complex wine with more ageing potential. 

At Cakebread, another winery that's been going since the early 1970s, we tasted two Chardonnays, one the current release from 2012 and the other the same wine but from 2008. With 16% MLF and 8-9 months in 20% new oak, I found the 2012 a little subdued and in need of a bit more Californian oomph. However, the 2008 had already developed lots of complex, richer flavours, evidence of how a subtle, balanced wine can mature. 

Frog's Leap, whose first vintage was in 1981, is known for its very non-Californian approach to wine - biodynamic in all but name, lower-alcohol, and restrained flavours. The Chardonnay epitomises their approach, where the character of the grape is all-important. The wine is fermented in new oak barrels for seven days until it's almost dry, when it's transferred to concrete tanks. Newly fermented wine is continually added to these tanks, building up the temperature to 30°C, the yeasts and intense temperature creating new, complex aromas. The temperature gradually cools down, fermentation stops, and the wine is left on its lees, with no stirring, until Easter. The result is a lean and reserved wine, but with structure and body from the lees. 

Chardonnay California style: the driveway to Scribe Winery, Sonoma

All of these are long-established wineries whose wines are available in the UK. Scribe, on the other hand, dates back to just 2007, when it was established by two young brothers on land planted by German emigrants in the 1850s. Their philosophy mirrors Frog's Leap's in so many ways: all but biodynamic, alcohol as low as 11.2% (for their Sylvaner, made in tribute to the original German settlers), and wines restrained and lean, expressive of grape and place rather than winemaking techniques - "more work in the vineyard, less work in the cellar." The Estate Chardonnay, at around 12.5%, was a lean, crisp wine, with complexity from the cool, slow fermentation and structure from the long lees contact - no use of oak or MLF. The Skin Ferment Chardonnay 2013 was a different beast - left on its skins for 90 days in concrete eggs, it was very grapey, almost like a very good grappa. The wine was made as an experiment in 2010, but now it's made every year, yet another completely different, fascinating, and characterful expression of the Chardonnay grape. 

All of these are high-end producers, so it's impossible to say whether this focus on a new, more restrained form of Chardonnay is indicative of a change in taste in the general American palate. There's a feeling, though, that the American public are getting more educated about wine, hence the change in direction for some Californian winemakers. Moreover, everyone I spoke to was keen to stress how food-friendly their wines were, which reflects a definite trend for food and wine pairing. These winemakers seem less isolated and more open than they used to, looking towards Burgundy for inspiration and guidance, creating contemporary wines but happy to use hundreds of years of tradition for guidance.