Good okay so we should be recording now And hopefully we have lots of you all Joined in so welcome everybody thank you So much for joining me from all around The world for my talk on Chardonnay my Name is Lydia Harrison I became a master Of wine last year right at the end of August I got the courts air path so I’ve Had a very busy few months since lots of Celebrations etc and yes I this is one Of my favorite way varieties I’m not Just saying that I generally in the Final paper of my four days of hell Really doing what the exams for the MW One of the questions was if you could Save some grape varieties you can only Pick two to save if they won’t you know Bones were going extinct and I showed me Because I absolutely loved it so Hopefully you’ll you will feel some of That passion for the grape variety this Evening and I’m an educator at the Diversity school in London so obviously We’re hosting all these seminars for you Just to keep people entertained to Hopefully bring some wine education During this strange time and well you Can see our details at the end but you Obviously there’s a school Instagram if You’d like to sort of comment or Anything on there you can or my own Personal Instagram is Lydia Harrison Emblem you can say hello I’m s if you’d Like as well but please them let us know
If you enjoy it on there the school Account okay and obviously as well I Can’t cover every single Chardonnay Producer or region this evening we only Have an hour so and someone please stop Drawing on my screen you see these crazy Annotations coming up okay but yes and As I was saying we can’t cover Everything on Paula G’s if you asked the Question I don’t know that particular Region or why make our producer there’s Hundreds thousands I’m sure making sure Denis out there but what Want to do is talk to you about some of The key characteristics of the great Variety why it’s so interesting or I Think it’s so interesting and then we’re Going to look at some of those key areas And I’m going to choose some there where I’ve been to but also quite different Styles of Chardonnay just to kind of Show you some of the four variety it can Produce and some of the places where Chardonnay is the biggest or only grape Growing as well but obviously there’s Lots of areas to look at so equally Please pop some questions in the chat or Try and keep an eye on it but if not my Colleague Julia will keep an eye on and Can repeat any at the end if I miss them Because I’m not quite so good at doing Everything at once okay right let me Move on right here we go so this is the First slide just looking a little bit
About the history of Chardonnay this is A lovely picture that I took myself in Chablis and chilly of the Maine long Deck packing she’s a property of be sure And just I thought kind of showed the Grandeur or some of the history of it And obviously Bowman’s brought the vines Through to to France and then the Cistercian monks particularly in Chardonnay were really important for you Know growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Obviously and and developing the best Sites and the best vineyards for it but It’s really interesting to note that Until relatively recently there wasn’t Really much sure thing outside of Champagne and burgundy that was really The home of this grape that was what You’d see on the label you know the Regions the villages of Burgundy and That was what was more known more widely Around the world you know they were the Brand names and and then it’s actually Only been relatively recently in wine Times that it sort of exploded onto the Global scene and if you think about some Of the countries where chardonnays grown You know New Zealand only really had Commercial Venice from kind of 1980s Really and even some of the parts of you Know Australia they were going to let Counts of Yarra it’s only really in the Kind of last 50 years that vertical Has really blossomed and Shan Mei has
Suddenly you know is so now so widely Spread and so it’s really sort of more Recent learning phenomenon that this Great variety has just kind of exploded In popularity around the world exploded In terms of vineyard area planted and Part of that came in with obviously all These new commercial vineyards in the New world and what they did was put the Grape variety on the label so much more Simple isn’t it rather than learning the Six hundred Appalachians of Burgundy it Just tells you California chardonnay or Yarra Valley Chardonnay so people then Began to know the grape variety and and Even now you start to see it on some Bulgor wines usually more than regional Level like back on a bog one will Actually put Chardonnay on the label Because they want consumers that perhaps Don’t know that that is what the grape Variety they have in that region they Want to gain some popularity from the Fact that you know Chardonnay is such a Well-known variety now and there was Because people started putting it on the Label and there was explosion in Plantings in the new world that people Are now you know so familiar with it It’s such a household name and obviously Plantings boomed in the 1990s it became The most planting great variety in Australia and California obviously there Has been some sort of might slight
Decrease since that because it’s always Like supply and demand and and sort of Oversupply and then there’s a shortage And then etc and obviously you can’t Just replant vines are very quickly but It’s down sort of at steady levels and And it is now the most widely Distributed variety in the world not Most widely planted there was more Hectare each of some way varieties like Tribuna in Italy or Aran in Spain but in Terms of kind of how widely planted it Is across the globe and as you saw by All the different showing these you’re Drinking tonight from all around the Globe it’s definitely the most widely Distributed white grape and the other Thing that I think’s incredible with Chardonnay is it just Kind of because it can change its style It warrants these different changes of Fashion equally says the why making has Changed quite a bit in the 90s it was Known for being these really kind of Ripe heavily oKed stars now it’s kind of Swung back a little bit and people are Going less open convener stars in some Places and equally it can fall out of Fashion I’m not sure if anyone obviously No one here you might have heard the Term ABC anything but Chardonnay and a Lot of people don’t like it a lot of People will go for a slope not perhaps Or a Pinot Grigio and but I think that’s
Unfair because a lot of people will say And you’ve probably heard the classic Line you know I don’t like showing there But I like Chablis and it’s just because It they would associate shine in that Great with a particular style perhaps a Heavily oak star whereas obviously you Can also make champagne you can also Have a Chablis star wine from Shauna so It’s so versatile and therefore because Of that it’s able to kind of weather These changes of fashion but also adapt To it as well and you can change the way Making change the picking or whatever You want to make completely different Styles of wine okay so that’s just a Little bit about the kind of recent Explosion in popularity now we’re going To have a little look at some of the Characteristics of the grape and the Reason why it is so widely planted Basically is because it will grow Practically anywhere you can have been Yawns chardonnay is so versatile and it Is early budding and that can be a Problem particularly in your cooler Climate regions okay so when we go to a Cat Chablis for example that is a real Risk there it’s a real risk in champagne So real risk in the UK for our sparkling Wines okay but it’s kind of worth the Risk because obviously when you try These ones they make some fabulous wines So obviously but safer in warmer places
Where they don’t have the risk for Spring fox because it will bud and he Just after a pinot noir and then it’s Going to ripen early so actually you can Ripen Chardonnay in any And it is sufficient to ripen and con Continents or inland areas that have Shorter growing seasons and cooler Temperatures if it’s a cooler climate But equally it can ripen in a very warm Time and you’ll just pick it relatively Early so that’s also quite good if You’re going lots of different gray Varieties as you spread out the time That you’re trying to harvest or your Grape so this can be one of the first Things that you bring into the winery It’s a descendant of Pinot Noir Blanc so They worked how they did some DNA Testing and where it derives from a Gooey bran not so obviously well known Now but obviously you all attended Julia’s pinot noir seminar hopefully so Hopefully and the other good thing about Charlene another reason why it’s so Widely grown is that it gives you pretty Good yields it can be quite high Yielding but it can still retain some Quality with that unlike kind of Pinot Noir which is really sickle and so you Can use it for these just you know Really easy drinking relatively high Yielding wines that are just you know Everyday drinking like a just a basic
California chardonnay or an easy Drinking makan style so it gives you Return on investment it’s going to give You sufficient yields of volume equally You can restrict those yields and only Get a tiny crop and make some of the Most you know sought-after and really High quality wines as well so really Versatile in terms of volumes and Production ranges as well and it will Grow on put kind of any soil as well We’re going to look at some the key Soils it does particularly well in Limestone for example but equally on Clay or sand you can find it on lots of Different soil types and all the Different climates from cool champagne As we said to really hot parts of inland California so you can pretty much grow This great variety wherever you can have A vineyard so that makes it really easy And another reason why it’s so widely Grown you can put on any soil ripen in Any climate you can make different Quality levels and you can also make Different styles and we will talk about Those as we go through as well acidity I’ve pet Because again that will depend on the Climate okay but obviously in a cooler Climate or moderate climate it tends to Retain that acidity and give you nice And higher seed wines with lovely Freshness if it is hot though and
Towards the end of its ripeness it does Tend to lose that acidity relatively Quickly and so obviously that’s why Winemakers can certify they could add Some acid to kind of offset that or Equally you can decide when you want to Pick as well to preserve some of that Acidity it’s a non aromatic grape Variety so I always think wine lovers Kind of fall into two camps whether you Love Riesling on the one hand or whether You love chardonnay maybe that’s not True I do still enjoy Riesling but if I Had to choose you know one white grape Variety for my desert island it would be Chardonnay I’m hoping some of your with Me here but yes it’s a non aromatic Grape variety so it’s not particularly Perfumed but that’s what for me what Makes it interesting it has a lot of Fruit character but it also will take on All of these other winemaking techniques That you can throw at it so everything From you know we’ll look through the Winemaking techniques so it’s really Malleable it’s basically a winemakers Dream and that’s almost the kind of you Know rite of passage to group produce a Great Chardonnay in your region and it’s The one that wine makers can really have Fun with an experiment and shape the Style of the wine that they want to Create I’m sorry if some of you are Having trouble hearing I am speaking
Very close to my laptop and I’m hoping Some of you can hear me okay but yes It’s also like Pinot Noir that Julia Looked at a couple of weeks ago it also It can express its place as well as the Winemaking techniques so it will adjust To climate and soul and give you quite Different flavors and characteristics as Well and the other thing obviously Perhaps not as long as age of some of Your top Rieslings but it can also obviously your Top quality shiners can age really Really well and develop those lovely Kind of tertiary nutty sort of almost Sort of more biscuits meal honey Characteristics with age as well so Really really versatile and we’ll just Have a quick look my next couple of Slides just show what you can sort of Some of the flavors you can get rich on Then again you can see a real range on My sort of flavor scale here from green Fruits to to tropical and again Obviously this is going to depend well Climate your growing your Chardonnay in But also what stage you pick as well Ripe those grapes are and it can have Everything from these very kind of lean Citrus green fruit green pair grapefruit Lemon juice kind of character more to Sort of lemon peach a more moderate Climates usually and then warmer places Or where you can have a long hand time
Of your Chardonnay grapes so Particularly in kind of warm climates Where you can leave the grapes on the Vine and you can even get these a melon Pineapple tropical so a range of flavors And usually linked to obviously how warm It is picking stage climates but also From different clones as well and There’s lots of different clones some of The burgundy are also known as dijon Clones They widely grown equally there’s the Mendoza clone which if you look at John Sis Robinson’s but she’s quite Dismissive about it and says it’s not Good quality but I’ve met lots of new Oil producers that say they have some Understood clone and they highly Recommend it some say it gives tropical Fruit sunsets gives a more linear style There’s difference of opinions and then There’s others like the jinjing clone Which is what luan estate very missing News in Margaret River in Western Australia so I’m not going to get into Too much detail hanging Into clones and there’s loads of Different numbers in there often Confusingly called different things in Different places but it’s just another Of those complexity things why shine They can taste different or different Vineyards next door might taste Different it might be the clone it could
Be the soil it could be why making it Could be a picking time there’s so many Variables not wine grapes no it’s her The Oxford Companion but I’m sure she Has some more information in one grapes As well yes where I’m just sorry I’m Just thinking back a couple of questions Aromatic isn’t one of those really Perfumed grape varieties like about you Know reasoning Chardonnay is non Aromatic it doesn’t have that really Perfumed fruit character okay I’m going To have to catch up with any questions Other questions at the end Julia can Remind me all right and then if the Other the next slide is obviously how You can shape Chardonnay so this is one Of the key things with this grape Variety is why you know show names from All over the world can taste completely Different even show names within France Can take so different and it’s to do With what the winemaker does and you Haven’t so many choices with why making One of the key things is your Fermentation temperature so you could Easily just do a temperature controlled Relatively full for cool fermentation Which are land it would preserve a lot Of the kind of aromas that sort of apple Or peach depending on how ripe your Grapes are and you could then do some Inert vessels and stainless steel and Just have a very sort of sort of
Slightly fruity easy drinking white wine Equally if you’re going to ferment in Barrel for example those temperatures Are naturally going to get higher They’re going to creep up and you’re Going to have a warmer fermentation Because you’re not controlling the Temperature in a barrel and so it maybe Is more like sort of 18 degrees 20 Degrees and that’s going to burn off Some of the more delicate aromas but you Can get some real savory characters as Well as the oxygen impact of that So obviously that’s the very first thing Is if you’re going to control the Fermentation of the temperature and even Even just you know using particular Yeast strains can release different Flavors from from your grape malolactic Conversion or you might have had a kool Moe lactic fermentation obviously is Another thing that can really influence And the flavor of your Chardonnay and This will create basically can add Flavors what we call dairy kind of Flavor characteristics so things like Yogurt cream butter and our flavors and That we attribute to my lactic Conversion but it’s also is a process That softens the acidity so again this Is why you can have so many different Styles of Chardonnay whether you lock my Lactic and leave this really sort of High race acidity whether you will bring
It down and it can still be high in cold Climates so for example in Chablis Malolactic commercial is undergone 100% Because you’ve got such high acidity and They want to soften it a little bit the Same way of sparkling wine in in Champagne or the UK but they feel Somewhere really warm maybe you are Going to prevent this because you want To keep some some freshness or perhaps You want to make a really creamy soft Style and you will still let this happen In a warm climate okay so you can change Their kind of perception or the Mouthfeel of the acidity and the flavors Along with that if you want to or not or You could do partial okay so many Choices with certainly another key Consideration is your lease aging so This is aging the wine on the dead yeast Cells we often tend to think of that is Happening in barrel and often they will You know happen maybe you’re leaving the Wine to mature no and the fine leaves Are in there as well but equally you Could do this in tank equally this Happens in bottle everything about your Bottle fermented sparkling wines like Champagne and your aging the wine on the Leaves and Chardonnay has this great Ability to absorb these yeast Characteristics that bready biscuity Toasty paste Kind of flavors that you get and it
Really takes these on quite strongly a Lot better than other grape varieties Which is why it’s so suited to making Sparkling wine you can use inner vessels As I said you don’t have to let any any Flavors in part on your Chardonnay or You can do the complete opposite and Really add flavors through the use of Oak as well but again so many decisions To be made with shining oak what kind of Oak are using are using chips or States Okay and these will add flavors very Quickly because you’ve got a lot of Surface area of the wine to wood and you Can easily add some quite sort of Vanilla hints smoky flavors barrels and Again numerous differences numerous kind Of options here that are going to impact On the flavor what about the origin of The oak ok French oak will tend to give You a more conceding toasty character Because it has a tighter grain a Different origin to American oak that Tends to give you a sweeter profile more Kind of coconut vanilla flavor Characteristics ok have any other words Another note yes Oak is the most common mainly because it Has the ability to a give good flavors I Can’t be and allow oxygen in but keep Liquids in as well okay so the oxygen Can transfer but liquids won’t fall out And but there are some others cherry Wood has been used particularly in the
Vanity of Amarone a case your word is Sometimes used but yeah ok still by far And the most typical words to be used Yes you can it’s just usually the Benefits of using barrel is not just That you get flavors ok but you also get Oxygen transfer so it’s also going to Involve the flavors of your wine to some Of those more kind of savory nutty Characters so usually if you’re making Premium shown then you would tend to use A barrel but you can still get if you’ve Got good quality fruit and you want some Own characters you can still make good Chardonnay by using Tripp ship Trips chips I’m just going back to okay So come out the different origin so Obviously you’ve got American French and Even you can drill it down into the Different types of French forests and They’ll give you slightly different Flavors but equally and the age of the Woods and will also have a massive Impact and you can vary that you can Some you know it’s quite comments you Some news some one-year-old some Two-year old words at the time so Obviously how long you leave the wine in The oak barrel and I forgot to write Size in him how big the barrel is you Know small brewery it’s going to give You a much more impact than a large one And and then the toast as well so Obviously to make a barrel you have to
Heat the words to bend it and Interstates and if you do a high toast That would I think of your quote sort of Really almost caramel strongly some Smoky vanilla if it’s a delicate toast That impact and flavor will be more Subtle so so many variables with words So you can see why winemakers really Love to play with this great variety They can really shape it they can make Completely different wines depending on All these decisions that they make okay All right and then the other thing is Obviously the types of wine so I’m going To focus mainly on white you know still White wines this evening and but Obviously you can make sparkling wines From Chardonnay you can make it from Blends so made typically Chardonnay Pinot Noir Monet or your champagne Varietals Equally you could have blends of Chardonnay Chenin Blanc in South Africa Okay Different or Chardonnay and mosaic if You’re looking at criminal dilemma in in France so very versatile equally you Could have a hundred percent Charlie wines like your Blanc de Blanc And champagne it’s permitted in the car Video now it’s used in English So such a versatile grape and the reason It issues usually for these traditional Methods sparkling wines as it just gives
You these lovely Takes on those autolytic flavors really Really well equally you can just make Your easy drinking wine so one of the Reasons why it’s so popular but like you Know Pinot Grigio is just if you just Want an easy drinking wine not expensive Little bit of fruit kind of nice round Mouthfeel you can buy Chardonnay easy Drinking inexpensive okay oh and again You could have that as a single varietal Or you could blend it with what are the Local grapes you have maybe semi or if You are in some parts of Australia or Column bar or catarata In Sicily and southern Italy okay you Can mix it with whatever you like oh You’ve got your more complex wines and Again that doesn’t mean they have to be Out if you think about some top shadley It’s not necessarily using new oak they Use some very old oak it’s more for Oxygen than flavors but just such a Range of different premium wines and Some and I think Australia what makes The wines suitable for ageing and that’s When you have real flavor concentration Okay it doesn’t have to just have our Oak or acid but it needs to have really Good flavor concentration and those Flavors will then flavors that will Evolve positively okay over time in Bottle and then obviously it will be Supported by acidity more tannins or
Sugar whatever else so you really need You know flavor concentration and then You can add to that if you want with oak On some of those winemaking techniques As well Definitely yes French French oak is Definitely more is more expensive sweet Wines we’re not really going to talk About these too much but it is possible Just to know they exist you can Sometimes it’s a relatively thin great Sharmee so it is susceptible to botrytis In some regions it is possible to find Some botrytis wines in in parts of Burgundy even in New Zealand they’ve Experiment in a few other places as well So seek those out as well even ice wine There you go so pretty pretty versatile Right we’re going to get onto the Regions now so we’re already halfway Through so as I say we’re not going Everywhere we’d never finish I’m just Gonna highlight some of the places I’ve Been and wine stars that I love but There’s so many and obviously you know You can literally grow Chardonnay anyway So Canada in the u.s. up here South America Argentina Chile South Africa Australia New Zealand going back to the Northern hemisphere I’m loads of Europe so there’s as widely Grown in Spain but it does feature there As I said it’s permitted in carving out The UK France obviously the most widely
Planted white grape and Italy even Particularly in the north and Trentino They make a lot of sparkling wine Alto adige and freely down in the south As well and even a little bit in Germany Reluctantly yeah they were sort of one Of the last places to adopt it but yeah Francha quarter – yeah absolutely so There’s so many places it will literally Grow anywhere you can make make wine but We’re going to zoom in and just Obviously highlight France festival Because obviously throughout France in All of your different climates from the North here up in Champagne way it’s Really cool down through you obviously This is Chablis here this little orange Dot the rest of Burgundy we’re going to Look at – the van der P dock down here In the South you have Chardonnay And it features in a region you still Having in the Loire and you can find it In some of the regions send them up Towards the outs but you know and just Even within France within one country You can get all the different styles From sparkling to you know big oaky Versions to riper more tropical come Down here in the south so there’s so Much rest to just within one country and And we’re going to start off by looking At on my favorite regions which is Chablis and the reason I love this is I Just think it’s such a individual style
Of Chardonnay it’s hard to find wines From other places that taste quite like Chablis I used to love it when it came Up in blind tasting because I could pick It out if it’s particularly kind of true To form it’s very cool climate obviously You saw in that previous slide the shut Chablis vineyards are really close to Champagne okay so it’s gonna give you That really kind of happily steely Citrus character high acid wines it’s 100% Chardonnay it’s an appellation Purely for Shona so always white or Chardonnay that’s the simple bit and It’s grown here specifically on this Type of limestone soil sometimes it’s Called Combe origin clay there is some Clay in it but it has a lot of limestone And the Kim originally which is in the Better areas also contains these little Fossils this is moister Shone’s which is Really really interesting And limestone is great for Chardonnay Because it’s quite a cool soil it’s White it’s a reflects heat and that will Slow the ripening so it allows the Grapes to to build up flavor and the a/o Season Chablis were established in 1938 There’s a little bit of facts and Figures for you there that I found out But obviously the key thing here is you Obviously have the region on the name And then you have for clear distinct Appalachians for sort of how how good
Your Sharmila is pretty Chablis isn’t Planted and some of the nut best sites And on some of the Portlandia in clay Which isn’t as good Chablis then you Have your Premier Cru vineyards and your Grown crew vineyards I don’t have time To explain all the intricacies of Teabagging the appellation system but I Just thought I’d highlight some of the Different labels that you can you will See there from Chablis But the real reason this makes such a Distinct style is the cool climate casa St. giving you that really particular High acidity to really citrusy fruit Flavors of chardonnay so very kind of Tarts and a green apple green pair Grapefruit and lemon juice okay And those yes so this sort of really Lean star that really high acidity so It’s a very sort of less ripe star of Chardonnay they need often find in in Warmer climates and the soil obviously Contributes to that Summers are syczyk also cool yes it also Kim origin and Portland both contain Lines stay in Portland Ian actually more Whereas that came region has more of the Oyster oyster shells right just going on Here you can see hopefully here you can See here in this picture this is me Standing on the Grand Cru venue and if I Point out in the map I’m sort of Somewhere around here between the press
And voters dia there’s what’s known as The 8th Arab League grand cru vineyard Now you might say there’s only 7 and ver Technically there is as you can see here This one Grand Cru vineyard Stretches all the way here that has the Best sites for ripening your Chardonnay Here and nice steep slopes to avoid the Frost risk that we talked about in a Cool climate good exposure to sunlight And warmth and also you’ve got the river Here but even within these Grand Cru Sites you can see this completely Different exposures and expositions of The vineyards depending where you are And actually there’s one little plot Called lemuel which I’ve lost my arrow Kind of sits here mainly over does a bit Until approach so it’s known as the Unofficial eighth gone crew of Cher These are the seven different keema that You can see on labels and you can see Here the steepness hope was out of Breath walking up this vineyards here And you can also see the sewer type and I’m holding a fossil waste of shower Fossils so this really white rocky Well-drained soil the slope is where the Cold air is gonna sink down so you avoid The frost risk here but equally because The vines save us so valuable and they Can get so much more money for chablis Guan qu this particular vineyard Actually has some some wires some
Electrical wires on the vine so frost Was an issue they could heat them up and Prevent the frost from forming yeah Pretty much you can drive around the Vineyards of Chablis if you’d like to Obviously if you want to and speak to a Particular producer phone them up or Make an appointment they was a more Welcoming if you do that by then yeah The bioprinter visits no you cannot you Wouldn’t be able to mechanical harvest On this steep slope in but some in the Flat sites you might be able to and Someone’s asked how long can you keep a Chablis premier cru it really depends But if it’s a good vintage definitely a Decade or so and people tend to drink it Younger they like the freshness and you Definitely can but particularly some of The top more like this little Guan crews Are a really good premiere crew from Some of the top producers can easily Easily aged decade or more and they you Know develop these lovely sort of quote Merely biscuity sort of citrus peel Flavor characteristics and yet the other Reason why I love Chablis is just the Variety of it so even within the Grand Cru vineyards okay if you’re looking at Here where’s my arrow gun here we go Look clone this is the sort of warmest You’re facing almost juice south lovely Sun exposure all day and can be some of The richest ounce of Chablis where as
Blue show here just next door but on This side it is a little bit in the Shade there’s another hill here it’s Sort of in the shade until a little bit Later so it doesn’t kind of much more Leaner stuff And and I just love those flavors you Get in show me the citrusy through the Green fruits that kind of stony steely Character that people talk about and the Malolactic here I always think it’s Quite different to other places I tend To get more yoga character it’s more Like fresh natural yogurt rather than Butters and cream Mina butter and cream It’s their kind of more yoga character And then with age this lovely sort of Opening notes so yes that sadly I Probably need to move on I’m talking About traveling and we’re just going to Go a little bit further south to the Coat dawn obviously not time to go Through all of the key regions here There’s tons but just a highlight you Know with in Burgundy how Chardonnay can Express itself so differently from Chardonnay up in the north in the cool Climate to down here in the cote de Beaune particularly going to highlight Myrrh so as a kind of contrasting style But you can look at proof we say for Example down in the maknae I have just You know completely different we’ve got A warmer climate here more moderate
Climate so you tend to have much more Stone fruit peaches lemons less of that Green fruit character still high acidity But perhaps a little less and then Obviously all of those winemaking Techniques they would do here so you can Get a lot of barrel fermentation and Barrel maturation which they can also do In some of your top Shapley’s but Usually old oak is used whereas here You’re top wines definitely your mer so Premier crews are going to go through Some new oak to really give a much more Kind of impact of vanilla and cloves and Toast characteristics and the malolactic Can give a kind of creamier texture You’ll probably get more body and Alcohol here from thinning Shadley Mouthfeel a kind of broader expression And and then again with bottle a Justin Lovely can Hays It’s rich kind of characteristics I’m just watching your debates in the Chat revenue is one of yes and a Delicious producer up there with dummies That people would debate those those two And try them out if ever you can amazing Producers yes I know it supposed to be Unbiased but I’m completely biased so This is actually time for a drink if you Haven’t had one already Jesus what have you been doing but then This is what I have this is actually the Picture I took of this barrel when I
Visited be sure this is Miss OH so Premier cru LaShawn obviously there’s Lots of other premier cru vineyards and This is a 2016 vintage which is a pretty Small vintage if you follow they have a Lot of issues with hail makes made some Terrible frost problems in Burgundy and So it’s a tiny crop but those grapes That they did pick were really Concentrated so it’s a beautiful white Burgundy vintage real flavor Concentration so I’m just going to wet My palate hope you’re all having a slurp Something with me even if it’s just tea Or water And although it’s young and it could Obviously age a lot longer with all this Flavor it is just delicious and I always Love the integration in Cote d’Or wines The top ones where you can taste Everything okay you’ve got the fruits That lovely lamb and peach character You’ve got the winemaking the mallow Leaves the oak all kind of happily Married together and then with time as Well some savory nutty characters coming Through as well Still nobly freshness even in a warm Year you still have that acidity and Again not massive alcohol What are we thirteen point five so Obviously it was a warmer vintage more So than your typical in ensure belly but Just a really nice body and mouthfeel as
Well and as I said we’d love to do a Tasting just you know comparing all the Grand Cru of the coke de Beaune but we Haven’t got time but just as a kind of Comparison there of Chablis and myrrh so To both top villages in Burgundy in Bogor I should say but giving him Completely different styles of sherilee Just from with one within one area of France alright time to go to the New World and we’re going to go to Australia And then America so no one can come Accuse me of bias we’re going global With our tour to different ends of the World and I first went to Australia for My MW seminar back in 2017 now it was The end of seventeen and it was glorious It was November it was beautiful time to Visit lovely weather and we did a little Bit of a road trip and we stayed him in Melbourne and we did Yahara valium and Mornington Peninsula and then carried on Driving up to to Adelaide Through various wine regions but just to Show you where Yarra Valley is okay here And I’m going to focus on so you’re in And you’re in Victoria state of Victoria Doing here near Melbourne And here’s the the Yarra Valley and you Can see on this map as well you can see The end of the sacona flims range the Great Dividing range sorry the chats Covering the map here so some of the Upper yarra here you really got high
Altitude okay and some down here it’s a Lot warmer flatter but what you also Have is this coastal influence that’s Really really important for the Vineyards here so just moving on again Just I highlighted at the beginning but Really only really recently that you Started to see you know real scope in Vineyards in the Yarra Valley and They’ve just been doing brilliant more More better things ever since it’s 27 Percent so almost 1/3 of the crop is Chardonnay here Pinot Noir is more Popular but Chardonnay is the most Important White grape variety of the region by a Mile there’s only about 4% Sauvignon Blanc is the next planted white grape so Shanlee really important to the region And it can even here it can come in Varying stars we’ve got what is Described as a cool to moderate maritime Climate now I will say when I visited I Thought it was far woman and cool if we Were having some glorious way there it Was lovely sort of early start to the Summer I’d also just got off a flight 24 Hours or whatever so it was rather Jet-lagged and we were standing in the Vineyard it kind of mid day and the Sun Was beating on my head and I didn’t feel Very well too and I thought this is not Cool climate is telling you it’s cool Climate and I felt faint but obviously
Depends where you are obviously that was A particularly sunny day it does cool Right down at night here and that’s Really really important for just Preserving the acidity in the grapes Giving the vines a chance to reset and Then ripen again during the day so again Your quality Chardonnay here is enabled From that cooling coastal influence that Cooling down at nights internal range And then also altitude so and the upper Yarra vineyards as I pointed out it goes Up to 400 meters and some of them a bit Higher up okay so that’s obviously going To make it cooler and it’s not going to Be as warm Right and they’ll produce often leaner Stars of Chardonnay then down in the Lower Yarra so for example we visited a Producer called Mack Forbes he might Know they did some brilliant Chardonnay One of them was only about eleven Percent alcohol not what perhaps you’d Associated with that 90’s vision of Australian Chardonnay very sort of lean Picked early really citrusy steely star Equally this beautiful picture here is Oak Ridge Estates I’m sitting this is Sorta where that tasting room is looking Across gonna be some of the most Magnificently kept vineyards and you’ve Seen with these beautiful puffy clouds Which is a little bit warmer and they’re Sort of slightly riper style we’re
Different why making okay so completely Different And then you’ve got different soils from Clay rock to volcanic so we’ll all Contributing different different things And then lastly just to wrap up any Questions about the Yarra let me know But some really good chardonnays oh and And the other thing I wanted to mention About the Yarra is you know why making We talked about fashion earlier and Previously people thought of Australian Chardonnays a lot of you know the big Boat producers and folk chips and write Heavily out wines there’s now a general Trend away from that so people picking a Little bit early keeping that freshness Particularly down here and in Mornington Still using oak but perhaps less new oak So it’s not quite so obvious flavours a Lot of least owing there’s a lot of Quite sort of reductive Styles where you Get that sort of play on just sort of Verging on reduction and we’re kind of Struck match slightly smoky element Which which I really like as well Alright And then lastly couldn’t do Chardonnay And webinar without talking about California ok the Americans absolutely Love and Chardonnay it is by far the Most planted white grape I think it Still is the most widely planted grape And Cabernet is pushing and but what the
Last figures I checked shall name was Just ahead But definitely by far the most planted White gray quite different really when You think about perhaps consumer Preferences in the UK you know where Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc I’m Racing ahead you have to have all global Approach and Chardonnay is consumed Really widely in the States absolutely Love it it’s almost kind of synonymous With white wine and again it’s growing Throughout so you have everything from Your easy drinking coffees from inland To your really premium top-quality and Coastal areas and again they can come in A whole range of styles so it is a Little bit difficult to generalise and Obviously all those different winemaking Options harvesting options and but Generally because you have such lovely Sunshine in California you know Rightness is not an issue it’s generally Pretty warm this is a maritime climate So we’ve looked at continental climates In Burgundy we looked at maritime in Yaron this is Mediterranean sorry I Think I said maritime Mediterranean so Lovely dry summers really warm summers So and often they leave them shining to Hang so you get more into some of that Tropical fruit spectrum in some of the Warmer places and later picked styles They tend to do a lot of Malan so again
You get that really kind of creamy Buttery characteristics and again all Those options with oak leaves stowing Etc and then definitely your premiums Like Napa Valley Shoney’s or Sonoma Chardonnays are often known for some Fuji stars as being quite buttery quite Creamy and lactic oaky Obviously they pick later it’s warmer a Bit more alcohol as well really sort of Can be quite plush and full-bodied and I Will love all of these different styles Of Chardonnay from the Chablis through Sort of the Burgundy to here and and I’m Not over generalizing there are some Very different stars if you’re in the Cooler Canaris or coastal sites or People doing all sorts of different Things with their Chardonnay but just as A kind of what some of the stars you Might be familiar with and this picture Here this is Bérenger estates which is one of the Oldest Napa Valley produces the settled Moved over from Germany in the late 1800s right in the kind of central part Of the Napa Valley still making some Amazing Chardonnay but equally as we talked About fashion earlier it’s interesting To note and that they you know openly Said when we visited that if they had to Be plant their Chardonnay vineyard it Would be hard not to replumb a Cabernet
If you’re arguing because obviously Cabernet and Napa fetch is such you know Such a higher price point okay can reach You know the most coveted crop where Shawn is going everywhere but they were Making a lovely shine they there that Really sort of Chris move creamy Chardonnay from from behringer States And that’s not a picture of their Vineyards but just the the Rhine house So going but ever not today they’re German heritage there and but equally Obviously you can get sparkling wines up In Anderson Valley things like rodeo States have their quartet here you’ve Got loads of producers in Sonoma Someone’s mentioned ABC o Bancomer Absolutely down here in Santa Barbara so You know experiment with your Californian chardonnays as well this you Know so much diversity behind from Everything your dark horse Tony up to Your you know super super premium Expensive and everything in between so There really is you know has shown there Every price point for everyone And and so yeah just to sum up and then I’ll answer all your questions hopefully If I have to and it’s just you know it’s Huge I fit this 2015 survey of American Wine consumers and Shauna was by far the Most popular variety well ahead of Pinot Grigio so it might not be missed own in Every country but as as wines go its
Massive Woodbridge estate that I visited one of The big producers in California they do Ten million cases of Chardonnay a year This is huge Ok so people like it’s just excessive Easily priced very open enjoyable styles Obviously then you also have your really Premium age where these times you can Buy more shame if you want you can buy a Share oblique one cruelly price or Whatever and you’ve got everything every Different price point I know to really Heavily out everything in between Sparkling wines even sweet wines you Know there really is hopefully something For everyone different quality levels And the ability to adapt the wine making Picking to changes in in fashion as well So you know I’m that’s my eyelash only I’m never grow tired of drinking it I Might have consumed quite a lot since I’ve been in isolation I lock down so Yeah feel free to bring some questions I Mean he was sayin drunko white oak isn’t It cool that was shown there sunny time That’s true I mean it could be maybe Slightly under ripe or it could just be A specific clone remember as well it Could be labeled as Chardonnay and they Can always if you’re in the EU they Could blend in other grapes 15% it could Be something else that perhaps has a Little bit of us so then your edge to em
Will I ever go off showing hopefully not No I don’t think so I still drink it’s Not like it I only drink shown it I love All different ones and but I absolutely Just I don’t think you could get bored Of it I’m never tired of champagne when They off trade it really depends it I Think it depends what your what the Occasion is and what your budget is and So yeah sorry so the questions flagged a Little bit too quickly obviously yeah my Budgets not limitless but equally Sometimes you know top top wines I think I’m worth it Why my convenient offensive yeah I think It’s everything Michonne Lee it’s the Everything in the vineyard and then Choices that you do in the vineyard to You know it’s Hawaiian Kumbha Singh why Making soil climate of that particular Yeah it really is so very good value for Money when it comes to touch shine they Are you looking for particular Recommendation or gracias so many I Would say go to some of the obscure Places southern France great for value For money Southern Italy you know some of those Places that people just don’t know about Chile’s always great value some great Art and time wines out there and special Need ever had aa really tough I mean but I would say so Revenue show me definitely one most one
Of my favorite bottles I’ve ever enjoyed In Chablis where the lobster tasting Menu I mean what more could you possibly Want and I’m not sure about the pin in The wild women now if you just email Julia and she’ll be able to help you With that Oh nice they were just so showing off Now of what they drank any questions That I’ve missed I dunno Chablis I’m not gonna lie yeah I Think there’s different things that Could be out fashion but as you say I Mean a lot of people don’t know some Wines a Chardonnay so I can do has a Benefit in that respect that people just Buy a Mac on don’t so you know what it Is I think we’re more worried about the Younger generation just going off wine At all rather than surely I think people Will still like it because it doesn’t Have any really particularly strong Flavors that people might not like you Know it’s just very easy and versatile How do you initiate MLF warm conditions Okay it’s a bacteria so you need sort of Some warmth and don’t apply any sulfur And then the lactic acid bacteria will Convert the malic acids into lactic acid And can we get the pin hot glass again I’m sorry no you have to listen to Chardonnay no I’m joking I’m emo Julia Its Jay Lambeth at WT global calm Acidity is just naturally in the grapes
So when the grapes are under right there Very sour Think about biting into a lemon that Would be like an under right great and Then as it ripens that acidity decreases Any secret tips no just taste lot Stephan so it’s a tough job Sometimes if they are if there’s a lot About get is harder to pick up some sand Fruit underneath but we practiced and Sometimes you taste more than on the Nose and vice versa Yes shiny and sadly is it can be can be Tricky and but I always think actually Compared to other parts of bindi it’s More it’s better price than some of your You know coat dog whines yeah Moo yeol Mo you’ve shown me they have some great Wines to them down there and then Southern France it just because Shona Doesn’t have lots of particularly strong Flavours it just takes it takes on the Absorbs the old flavors very well and Just it just tends to marry very well And a bit of subtle fruit bit of UNK Flavors rather than a great variety that Would have a lot of strong fruit Flavours that perhaps they might clash a Little bit with the oak okay if I’ve Missed any more questions well I can’t Actually keep up sorry this so many so I’m just gonna look out for any messages From Julia and then I shall answered Those it’s finely blended yes it can be
It talked about some areas where they Blend it with like Colin bard Chenin Blanc etc but often it’s a single Varietal can you explain that and you What happens in Champaign watch it mean Amount v UK shiny and Bonnie estates do Some and also chuckle down that I’ve Tasted yes climate change will and That’s why you know the UK for example Can start to produce sparkling wines From Chardonnay because we can now ripen The grapes not every year 2012 they Didn’t pick any in a lot of places Because it wasn’t warm enough and Remember climate change isn’t just about Warming temperatures it’s also about Unpredictability and that can be a real Danger actually if there’s sunny hail or Really obscure weather conditions that’s That’s a threat as well Thank you and I hope you’re awake now Crystal okay I think I’ve answered most Of them great they my slides I put Together um I just need to check but Peter Wagstaff I’ll see if I can if you Could send me an email and I’ll get back To you now you’ve got an email on there In the confirmation thank you everybody Right I’m just going to stop recording [Music]