The world's most famous white grape and Australia's most planted white, made in every style from lean and mineral to rich and oaky, and a key grape for sparkling wine.
History
Chardonnay comes from Burgundy, where it makes Chablis and the great white wines of the Côte d'Or such as Meursault and Montrachet. DNA research shows it is a cross of Pinot and the old peasant grape Gouais Blanc. It is also one of the three main grapes of Champagne.
Its adaptability made it a global success from the 1970s onwards, grown in almost every wine country.
Chardonnay in Australia
Chardonnay arrived with James Busby's collection in 1832, but it only became prominent in the early 1970s, when the Hunter Valley's Tyrrell's released one of the first varietal Chardonnays.
The rich, oaky, buttery styles of the 1980s and 90s made Australian Chardonnay famous worldwide; since the 2000s winemakers have moved to more restrained, mineral styles. Margaret River, the Yarra Valley, the Adelaide Hills, Tasmania, Mornington Peninsula and Tumbarumba are among its finest regions, and it is essential to Australian sparkling wine.
Tasting notes
Cool-climate and unoaked styles show green apple, citrus, white peach and pear with crisp acidity and a mineral, flinty edge. Warmer regions give stone fruit, melon and tropical fruit. Oak and malolactic fermentation add vanilla, butter, toast, cashew and a creamy texture.