WineBabe Toronto

About Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a small-size and thin-skinned green grape variety that originated in Burgundy, France.  It is versatile enough to be grown in hot and cool regions all over the world and is planted and used in wine production in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Canada and a number of other countries.  

Factors Impacting Chardonnay Wine Flavour
Chardonnay is adaptable and reflects the terroir (geography) of where it’s grown – this includes the soils, the climate and the location of the vineyard.  

Climate has a significant impact on the flavours delivered in the wine.  

Cool climate Chardonnays (Chablis in Burgundy France, New Zealand, Canada, Argentina, Chile, and parts of California) can be more fresh, zesty and minerally with flavours of green fruit – green apples and citrus.  

Warm or Hot Climate Chardonnay grapes (Napa Valley, Australia, Italy) are generally riper fruit with higher sugar than the cool climate Chardonnays.  Flavours include pears, peaches, pineapple, banana and mango.  

Beyond the grape itself, and the climate in which it’s grown, many of the aromas and flavours we love in a Chardonnay actually come from the winemaking technique used.

Winemaking Techniques

The winemaker creates a particular style of Chardonnay wine based on:

·      When the grapes are picked and the level of sugar in the grapes.  A less ripe Chardonnay grape will give flavours of green apple and lemon.  While a riper Chardonnay grape will have flavours of peach, pineapple, and mango. 

·      The length of time the grapes are exposed to the fermentation process, and whether malolactic fermentation and/or stirring the lees (lees are the dead yeast cells left after fermentation has finished and stirring them through the wine creates a creamy texture) is incorporated (see my blog on winemaking methods) and how the eventual wine is aged.

·      For example, rich, creamy Chardonnay flavours evolve from grapes aged and fermented in French oak barrels. Whereas the more minerally, crisp styles of Chardonnay usually come from grapes that were aged in stainless steel.

About Sauvignon Blanc

Sauvignon Blanc is a green grape variety that originated in Bordeaux, France. Sauvignon Blanc prefers a cool climate in which to ripen. It’s the cool climate and gentle ripening period that creates the beautiful aromatic (a wine term for noticeable perfumed, fruit, floral aromas that the wine creates) and herbaceous (a wine term for describing any herb-like aromas a wine creates including grass, lavender, rosemary etc) character of the wine. It is grown and produced in France, Spain, Italy, California, Washington, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Canada and South Africa.

Sauvignon Blanc wine is recognized for its fresh, crisp flavours of grapefruit, lime, peach and gooseberry. The wine is generally aged in stainless steel tanks, not in oak barrels – this is to ensure that the fruit qualities prevail in the wine rather than softening them through contact with oak.

Factors Impacting Sauvignon Blanc Wine Flavour

As with most grapes, climate has a significant impact on the flavours delivered in Sauvignon Blanc wine. 

When cultivated in cooler climates including regions of Marlborough in New Zealand, Bordeaux or the Loire Valley in France, Casablanca and San Antonio in Chile and in Washington, the grape produces wines with higher acidity and more tart, crisp flavours of gooseberry, grapefruits and aromas of cut grass, and even green peppers. 

Coming from warmer climates, Sauvignon Blanc wines have more tropical peachy flavours and can sometimes lose the aromatic qualities of the wine.

Differences in Old World versus New World Sauvignon Blanc Wines:

The wine industry has created terms to distinguish between the traditional grape-growing and wine producing techniques of Europe: Old World Wines; and the newer wine production in the U.S.A, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Canada etc, known as New World Wines. 

Sauvignon Blanc produced in France in Bordeaux or in Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé has a higher acidity and can be drier with more subtle aromas than the Sauvignon Blanc wines from New Zealand or Australia. The Sauvignon Blanc from the Sancerre or Pouilly-Fumé regions can also have a hint of smokiness that comes from the soil where the vines are planted.

You’ll find in general that the New World Wines can be more fruit-forward and juicy than the more subtle and nuanced Old World Wines. This can be due to climate, geography and wine-making techniques.

Pair Sauvignon Blanc with goat cheese, green salads, vegetable dishes or fish.  You could try it with sushi too if you’re not into Sake.

About Vouvray and Chenin Blanc

Vouvray is another wine-producing region located on the right bank of the Loire River and situated east of the city of Tours. Vouvray is the home of the Chenin Blanc grape – a green-skinned grape used to make Chenin Blanc wine. Chenin Blanc wine is characterized by its aromas of white flowers and flavours of honey, pear, apples, fig and even ginger. It is a crisp and naturally acidic wine and is produced beyond France in many New World wine regions, particularly in South Africa.

Like other crisp white wines, Chenin Blanc from the Vouvray region is fermented in stainless steel tanks and is not exposed to oak.  The wines in Vouvray are usually bottled quickly and are expected to age in bottle. Because of its naturally high acidity, Chenin Blanc is often used to make sparkling wines including Crémant de Loire and the still wine can age very well in the bottle given the right cellar conditions. 

When buying Vouvray or Chenin Blanc, look for Sec or Dry on the label. Chenin Blanc is categorized from the driest wines, labeled Sec with high acidity offering a little residual sweetness, to Demi-Sec or Sec-Tendre wines which are riper and definitely sweeter, to the sweetest wines labeled Moelleux. 

What is Viognier?

Viognier wine is quite different to Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, in fact, it’s more like full-bodied Chardonnay but with more fragrant, floral and herbal aromas. Viognier is known for its aromas of chamomile, honeysuckle, apricot and flavours of peach and pear.

Viognier is a green-skinned grape that grows in the Condrieu region of the northern Rhône Valley in France. It’s also grown and produced in California, Australia, Spain, Italy and Argentina. You can enjoy Viognier with a number of different foods from Thai food and spicy Asian dishes to salads, seafood, chicken and cheese.

Good Viognier can be expensive because of the particularities with growing and harvesting the grapes. The grape needs a long, warm ripening season with just the right amount of sun and warmth – a climate that’s too hot will elevate the sugars in the grape and cancel out the fragrant, aromatic qualities of the wine.

On her web site, Jancis Robinson says: “Cheap Viogniers, especially but not exclusively basic Pays d'Oc wines, have such strangely cosmetic aromas, more reminiscent of air freshener than anything that grows in the ground, that I have been tempted to think that an artificial flavouring has been used. “ I love the way she describes wine!

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