Northern California wine country got its first Chardonnay vines back in the thirties, but it wasn’t considered much of a product then. In fact, it was mostly a supplemental grape of “miscellaneous” classification, and remained at that stage and remained unheralded well into the sixties. Sometime in the mid-fifties though, the Sonoma Valley Hanzell Vineyards’ James Zellerbach made the decision to import French Oak barrels, and that was the key that would see the grape’s stock begin to rise. He enjoyed the wines of the Burgundy region, and thought that he could mimic the production techniques of the French Chardonnay, back in Northern California wine country . Hs efforts laid the foundation for the Chardonnay product that came to be, with the toasted oak flavored and buttery flavors most associated with the varietal. In 1976 those techniques were raised to perfection with the Napa Valley vineyard, Chateau Montelena, taking the top prize for its 1973 California Chardonnay at The Judgment of Paris wine competition, by the hand of vintner, Miljenko “Mike” Grgich who in the year following his new found recognition, established the Grgich Hills Cellar . By the eighties, there were more Chardonnay vines in California State than in the Country of France.
But, with demand driving volume production so high at California vineyards, climate conditions were compromised, technique suffered, and discipline was lacking for a grape which is sensitive to timing and cultivation discipline. If allowed to remain on the vine too long, it suffers a loss of acidity rapidly, gaining sugar and alcohol, and losing its complexity. Pruning for well managed air and light is also crucial for an even ripening process, yet with demand becoming so high for California vineyards’ Chardonnay, so much of the proper process suffered, resulting in weak wines with no personality. But in the trendy nineties we were caught up drinking what we thought was a wine purportedly made the proper way, using French techniques, so people suffered through all that California vineyards could produce, even though they were overly toasty, alcohol heavy, oak latent, and simply, bad Chardonnays. As Americans’ palettes matured, Chardonnays fell from favor and people began to say and drink, “anything but Chardonnay.” With the passing of time and some breathing room though, Chardonnays now have a chance to come back in favor with a return to smaller, more disciplined productions, and many are opting to avoid the oak barrels, referring to them as “no-Oak” Chardonnays. Without the overwhelming Oak to contend with, there are wonderful mineral and citrus flavors to discover and with that, California wine country Chardonnays may be on a slower, more sustainable upswing, rather than burning out while riding another trend.
