Cool white that’s still got plenty going for it

Apr 4 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

HAS Chardonnay had its place in the sun? Around the world, its stock has fallen so low that some wine lovers delight in asking for ABC – anything but Chardonnay.

Its slip from grace is less to do with Footballers’ Wives than with a weariness with the fat, oily, clumsy wines that Chardonnay can produce when grown in very hot places. Add to that a heavy-handed use of oak-ageing by some winemakers and it’s little wonder that the appeal of such wines has been short-lived.

And yet Chardonnay is still far and away the world’s most widely-planted quality white grape and in Burgundy makes wines that even the most dyed-in-the-wool members of the ABC brigade would give their right arms for. It helps, perhaps, that most of the great white wines of Burgundy, made from 100% Chardonnay, don’t actually mention the grape on the label.

Every two years the growers’ organisation in Burgundy invites the world’s trade for a week-long series of tastings at which hundreds of producers show their wares. It’s an extraordinary and privileged chance to get a detailed overview of the region’s remarkable wines.

We began in the north, in Chablis, in the teeth of an icy gale and driving rain. Chablis is sometimes said to be the purest expression of Chardonnay, especially when it is in unoaked. The last three vintages in very different ways are all very good. Ten years ago, my tasting notes were peppered by descriptions of crisp, even slightly tart, fruit that reminded me of green apples and lemon.

The apple and lemon remain, but they now seem much riper and the wines have a much more pronounced mineral salts character that previously only used to develop after the wines had been aged in the bottle for a few years. It was often necessary 10 years ago to add sugar to the juice to ensure that the wine was sufficiently strong in alcohol. It’s very rarely done now.

Although global warming has made Chablis a richer drink, I was very impressed by the elegance of the best wines, and not just from the leading small estates. We were treated to a tasting of the full range of 15 wines sold in lots of good British restaurants by La Chablisienne, the dynamic co-operative cellar that makes around a quarter of all Chablis wines.

They supply many supermarkets with own-label wines (Marks & Spencer have had a particularly long and happy association with them) as well as Chablis for the very good Blason de Bourgogne range also available in most supermarkets.

Winemaking is in the modest and very safe hands of Bertrand Cherel, who was previously responsible for making one of the sexiest champagnes – Laurent Perrier Rosé. The expensive wines from La Chablisienne are brilliant, but the humblest straight Chablis or even Petit Chablis are great examples of a pure, clean, slightly bracing style of Chardonnay.

Further south in Burgundy 2006 is a slightly more mixed bag. There are some fabulous wines that beautifully express the infinite variety of great Burgundy, the interplay of each site, winemaker and vintage, but there are also a few that seem just a shade heavy-handed.

The best 2007s have not completed their ageing in oak casks, but I sampled some very promising and unusually aromatic young wines.

Few wines made by smaller producers ever grace the supermarket shelves. You’ll need to go to smaller specialist shops to pick the best. Richard Granger in Jesmond, Newcastle, stock a brilliant wine from one of my favourite younger producers, Denis Jeandeau. His Pouilly-Fuissé Vieilles Vignes 2005 (£17.80) is a glorious mouthful, big and rich but balanced by lovely citrus fruit.

His 2006 (not yet in stock) needs a wee bit more time for the flavours to knit together, but will be fantastic.

A little less exciting, but still very fine, the Domaine des Deux Roches show a very steady hand in their winemaking. The 2006 St Véran Tradition is citrussy and quite fat. The 2005 – the vintage stocked by Richard Granger – is better and good value for £10.11, as is the Macon-Davayé 2005 (£9.11).

Remember, none of these wines say Chardonnay on the label. Your guests won’t shy away from them and they might just re-discover that Chardonnay really is capable of producing some intriguing and exquisite dry white wines.

Wine of the week

Chablis 2006 Blason de Bourgogne, Somerfield, £6.99 (special offer)

Textbook Chablis – a fresh, clean, dry white with lemony fruit that seems to grow and become quite rich in the mouth and then finishes with a twist of mineral salts. The perfect partner for seafood.

Wine bites

NO supermarket has shown a greater commitment to English wine than Waitrose. On the back of a huge growth in sales, they’ve decided to meet the demand for English wine by making their own, and are planting vines at their Hampshire farm.

As it takes at least three years for most grape vines to mature enough to produce a commercial crop of decent quality, and because the plan is to make fizz which will require an extra two years maturation in the bottle once it’s made, the wine won’t reach the shelves until 2014. Local branches of Waitrose stock a few very good English wines with 28 more available from their online shop at www.waitrose.com/wine

If you’re still not convinced by English wine, try the excellent Ridgeview Cuvée Merret Bloomsbury 2004 – a classy bubbly from East Sussex (£18.99) – available in all branches. The recent decision of the European Union to give the UK exception from restrictions on planting new vineyards might mean that we’ll see some other big projects soon.