Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is the great shape-shifter. On cool limestone it comes out lean, taut and mineral, smelling of oyster shell and lemon; grown warm and raised in oak it turns round, nutty and golden. Nothing else covers that much ground, which is why it is the white grape the world plants most.

Almost none of our Chardonnays say “Chardonnay” on the label

Of the 35 Chardonnays on this page, exactly two print the grape name on the bottle. This is the single most useful thing a beginner can learn about French wine, so here it is plainly:

Chablis is Chardonnay. Meursault is Chardonnay. Puligny-Montrachet is Chardonnay. Mâcon, Pouilly-Fuissé, Saint-Véran, Viré-Clessé — all Chardonnay. And a Champagne marked Blanc de Blancs is 100% Chardonnay too. The label names the vineyard because in France the vineyard is what changes; the grape is taken for granted.

• Chablis: the steel end — cold, saline, cut like a blade. Domaine Droin.
• The Mâconnais — where we would send you first: white Burgundy without the white-Burgundy price. Pouilly-Fuissé and Saint-Véran from Olivier Merlin; Mâcon-Milly-Lamartine and Viré-Clessé from the Héritiers du Comte Lafon, the biodynamic Mâconnais estate of Dominique Lafon.
• The Côte de Beaune: the summit — Meursault (Vincent Girardin, Pernot-Belicart), Puligny-Montrachet (Domaine Sauzet, Pernot-Belicart). Richer, deeper, built to age.
• Blanc de Blancs Champagne: Chardonnay with bubbles — Agrapart Extra Brut 7 Crus, Eric Rodez Blanc de Blancs, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne.
• And the two that do say it: Bourgogne Blanc Chardonnay from Domaine Pigneret, and Mâcon Chardonnay from the Héritiers du Comte Lafon.

If “Chardonnay” has meant something big and buttery

Start in the Mâconnais. A Pouilly-Fuissé from Olivier Merlin gives you the ripeness and the texture you already like, without the make-up — the fruit does the work instead of the oak. If you want the opposite pole, go straight to Chablis. Meursault and Puligny are worth the wait; they will still be there when you are ready.

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