Let’s already put our cards on the table: there is only Chardonnay in Chablis. Well, come on, the Montrachet will also do the trick. “But how snobbish, elitist, conventional and presumptuous you are, Jean Aubry”, you are already swinging from the top of the stairs while I am in the wine cellar uncorking a bottle of Chablis 1er Cru Montmains 2014 from Maison William Fèvre which, according to my weather predictions and their invisible corollary wind factor, has reached its plateau of maturity. I was going to offer you a drink, but since I’m a snob, elitist, etc., I’ll just spit it out for you.
This, without resentment, of course. A detour in fact to ask you about your good resolutions for 2023 in terms of Chardonnay. Which one will you pamper among the 41 countries where it was, at least in 2015, planted on an area of some 210,000 hectares? I know, you could have been satisfied with a glass of very dry airén which surpasses it in terms of planting (nearly 285,000 ha, mainly in Spain), but let’s say that it does not “thistle” very much here, the latter being boringly neutral.
According to the priceless Wine grapes, by authors Robinson, Harding and Vouillamoz (Ecco) — a masterful encyclopedia, by the way, to offer to your teenager who still clings to these execrable hard cooler hyperglycaemic — the Chardonnay grape variety should not be confused with Aligoté, Savagnin Blanc, Sacy, Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois or even Melon, with which it nevertheless has some similarities. Besides, I wouldn’t blame you for making a mistake, because a great Muscadet is well worth a Beaunois who plays it or who goes crazy, as we say so well in Paris.
At the very end of the 1970s, you no doubt remember the Californian Chardonnay Jekel Vineyards sold at the SAQ. A veritable golden calf of pretension, so warm in color that its fat, powerful, creamy, overweight flavors of rich, woody butterscotch sent you to bed like a California sun retreating for the night. Not restful, the chardo! Fortunately, the balance is restored in 2023 with two beautiful cuvées from the Napa Valley. Fruity underlined with accuracy and the vivacity of a Meyer lemon for this Feather 2019 ($29.15 – 12485754) a bit woody, but perfectly integrated (5) ★★★ and a more detailed and deep sap for this Stages’ Leap 2021 ($39.75 – 747444), whose sustained texture immediately convinces (5) © ★★★ 1/2. Two joyful faces for the same grape variety that is as cheerful as it is generous.
We obviously pull ourselves together with the Mâcon-Fuissé 2021 from Domaine de Fussiacus ($27.30 – 12793124) from the delimited area located inside the village of Fuissé with a more assertive notion of terroir, sharing here a fruity apricot kernel with barely vanilla on a barely more woody background again (5) © ★★★. But the profile is refined with this pearl of lucidity from the sympathetic winemaker Valentin Montanet and his cuvée The aceyounger sister 2021 ($27.15 – 11460660) from Vézelay, with the chiseled and dazzling profile of an organic Chardonnay that feels very good in its own skin (5) ★★★. Do we make our bed with Chardonnay in Burgundy? It would be inappropriate here to have a separate room!
These proposals illustrate the versatility of a constantly moving grape variety, like a real chameleon. Its personality evolves according to its environment, its terroir, its method of vinification. One could generally admit that it offers more volume and breadth on the southern side and that it is more slender, often vertical and tense on the northern side. In the latter case, opt for Purity 2021 of the brilliant Quebec winemaker Thomas Bachelder, who works in Niagara ($20.80 – 14558937 – (5) ★★★), or even, make hear the pop! of this jubilation Champagne “Horizon” Blanc de Blancs Brut by Pascal Doquet ($57.00 – 11528046), a malic and lemony organic bubble, lightly dosed, which cheerfully surfs on this chalky impression linked to its terroir (5) ★★★ 1/2. A crush at the end? This Limoux very dry from Domain of Mouscaillo 2019 ($27.25 – 10897851) from scholarly Professor Thomas Fort, a sunny southern Chardonnay whose terroir gives it remarkable liveliness and energy. Great art! (5) © ★★★ 1/2