Food & Wine

The History of Chardonnay

Ramey Wine Cellars in Healdsburg, California

Excellent Chardonnay is abundant in Sonoma County, where you’ll find some of the most coveted and expensive bottles as well as affordable, everyday wines produced in this ideal region.

Chardonnay Key Facts

Rows of grape vines in the fall have orange leaves on the vines — Ramey Wine Cellars, Healdsburg

Chardonnay grape clusters are small to medium-sized with round berries that turn yellow, green, and brown by harvest. Some Chardonnay bunches are prized for producing a “hens and chicks” pattern of alternately large and tiny berries.

In its ancestral home in the Burgundy region of France, Chardonnay labels are traditionally identified not with this varietal but instead by the appellation name, such as Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault.

In the 1990s, Chardonnay was discovered to be the product of Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc, a white grape from Roman times. Long ago, Chardonnay was also known by other names, like White Pinot or Pinot Chardonnay.

Chardonnay Style

Primary fruit aromas and flavors in Chardonnay run the gamut of citrus, apple, and sometimes mango or pineapple. Oak barrels lend to wine aromas ranging from campfire smoke to roasted almond or coconut.

The “buttery Chardonnay” profile is the product of winemaking techniques. Butter or cream characteristics come from malolactic (or ML) fermentation, in which malic acid (tart) is transformed into lactic acid (creamy). A buttery mouthfeel may also be shaped by batonnage, the French term for using a metal rod to stir the yeast slurry during fermentation.

“Un-oaked Chardonnay” is a style generally made in stainless steel tanks without ML to produce a crisp, refreshing, and slightly floral wine.

Chardonnay in Sonoma County

Women sort through freshly sorted white grapes — Bacigalupi Vineyards, Healdsburg, California

In the late 1880s, grapegrower John H. Drummond began to import some of the county’s first Chardonnay for his Kenwood vineyard, now part of the Kunde Family Winery.

In Sonoma Wine Country, the grape remained on the fringes until about 1976, when experts judged a local Chardonnay (Chateau Montelena 1973 Chardonnay) better than French bottles. The grapes from that prized Chardonnay came from Sonoma County’s Bacigalupi Vineyards.

As of 2021, Chardonnay was the top white wine grape planted in Sonoma County. Chardonnay is also important in the production of Sonoma County’s exceptional sparkling wine, which can display fruit flavors and produce vibrant brut and blanc de blanc bubbly.

Sonoma County’s Key Chardonnay Regions

Russian River Valley

Within this prime growing region, there is a cool, foggy pocket where Chardonnay retains higher acidity for excellent méthode champenoise sparkling wine.

The winery barn is surrounded by vineyards — Bacigalupi Vineyards, Healdsburg, California

Notable wineries for Chardonnay in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley:

Bacigalupi Vineyards, Healdsburg
Ramey Wine Cellars, Healdsburg
Rochioli Vineyards and Winery, Healdsburg
Dutton-Goldfield Winery, Sebastopol
Taft Street Winery, Sebastopol
Iron Horse Vineyards, Sebastopol
Martinelli Winery & Vineyards, Windsor
Korbel Champagne Cellars, Guerneville

Sonoma Coast

Chardonnay grown in this cool, coastal zone often develops the acidity and structure needed to wear new French oak with grace.

A bottle of wine and dinner on a table adorned with a vase of flowers — La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard, located in Windsor, California

Notable wineries for Chardonnay in the Sonoma Coast Wine Region of Sonoma County:

La Crema Estate at Saralee’s Vineyard, Windsor
Marimar Estate, Sebastopol
Fort Ross Vineyard, Winery & Tasting Room, Jenner

Sonoma Valley and Bennett Valley

These regions are the sites of several pioneering firsts in Chardonnay, including temperature-controlled fermentation, the use of small oak barrels, and the famous buttery-style results.

A glass of white wine on a table with a mountain in the background — Landmark Vineyards, Kenwood, California

Notable wineries for Chardonnay in Sonoma County’s Bennett Valley and Sonoma Valley Wine Regions:

Carneros

Here, the temperatures are influenced by breezes from San Pablo Bay, making for a cool, yet stable growing season ideal for Chardonnay and sparkling wine.