I've been drinking Chardonnay for a while, mostly from California.
Recently I had occasion to taste a couple of French chardonnays. Both seemed drier than the California ones. Is that pretty much the rule?
Thanks,
Jay
Most California Chardonnay is fermented dry (although a few have some residual sugar) however the expression of he fruit gives it an impression of sweetness. California Chards tend towards tropical and pineapple flavors and French White Burgundy tends more towards citrus and minerals so your generalization is fairly accurate.
Thanks!
Jay
It is quite possible that the French Chardonnays were not put through Malo Lactic (ML) fermentation and or not aged in oak. ML will give the wine a buttery taste which could possible also be preceived as sweeter. Personally I do not like a buttery / oaky chardonnay. I prefer the dry, crisp taste.
or, alternatively, the higher acidity of non-ML chardonnays could be perceived by some as "drier." In my experience, many American white wine drinkers find highly acidic European whites "too dry," despite their stated preference for dry whites from the New World.
Mark Lipton
p.s. Your Followup-to header was badly munged, I assume unintentionally.
My daughter constantly complains about the acidity in the whites that I love! Girl just can't take Chablis! There is no accounting for taste.
Hey, it could be worse: she could demand nothing but Raveneau GCs. With the status quo, you can at least probably find a $10 NZ SB to fit the bill. The sell those in St. Augustine, don't they? :P
Mark Lipton
in article reGZh.2808$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe12.lga, J J Levin at snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net wrote on 5/1/07 5:18 AM:
The latest vintage of Groth Chardonnay (Napa Valley '04, I think) undergoes no malolactic fermentation at all and is only lightly oaked. VERY un-California like..... and really wonderful.
That's very good news. It seems to me, on a completely unscientific basis, that there is a move afoot in CA, albeit a slow one, back to less OTT Chardonnays. For years, it was Stony Hill, Ch. Montelena and Grgich-Hills holding down the contrarian fort, but I'm hearing more and more about "French"-styled Chardonnay that gets little or no ML and is less overtly oaked. I don't think that they're likely to displace Chablis from my affections any time soon, but it's still a welcome shift if real.
Mark Lipton
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