Know Your Wines: Sonoma County chardonnay

Hands down, chardonnay is America's most popular wine, with cabernet sauvignon a distant second. But while it may be the wine that some people love to hate, chardonnay is, for nearly everyone else, the first choice when they reach for a glass of white wine.

Stylistically, chardonnay is broad enough to fit all occasions. A chilled glass of lightly oaked (or no oak) chardonnay is a good way to pass an afternoon on the patio or the beach. Add a little oak and chardonnay will enhance light alfresco meals or a multi-course dinner.

The origins of chardonnay can be traced back to Medieval France and the region of Burgundy. For years, there was confusion between chardonnay and pinot blanc, a white mutation of pinot noir. Eventually it was sorted out, chardonnay became the grape of white Burgundy, and modern DNA testing showed that chardonnay was related to the red Burgundy grape, pinot noir. However, chardonnay did not appear in California until the 1940s when Wente Bros. planted the grape in Livermore. By the 1950s, chardonnay was established at Stony Hill in Napa Valley and Hanzell in the eastern hills of Sonoma County.

Today, in California's north coast wine region, chardonnay is the most planted white grape, far ahead of the second place varietal, sauvignon blanc, followed by pinot gris, a varietal that is experiencing steady growth. According to the most recent state crop reports, chardonnay totaled more than 94,000 bearing acres, with sauvignon blanc accounting for 15,000 and pinot gris at 13,000.

Sonoma County has 16,000 acres of bearing chardonnay, with 6,700 acres in the Napa Valley.

Chardonnay thrives in cooler spots, such as the Carneros region that extends across the southern edges of Napa and Sonoma, where the counties meet San Pablo Bay. Additionally, the cooler parts of Napa Valley, between St. Helena and Oakville, are known for chardonnay.

In Sonoma's Russian River Valley, chardonnay does well thanks to the cooling fog and breezes moving inland through the Petaluma Gap. Other Sonoma areas of note for growing chardonnay include Alexander Valley, Sonoma-Green Valley and Knights Valley.

Partial lists always leave out something, and this is especially true for chardonnay, the ubiquitous white grape that has adapted to a wide range of growing conditions.

This ability to display character when grown in warm as well as cooler climates is what attracts wine drinkers to chardonnay.

When grown in warmer climates, chardonnay is more lush, leaning to tropical fruit tones, while cool-climate chardonnays are leaner, more citrus with a refreshing mineral undertone, a style that is gaining in favor.

Wine drinkers can capitalize on this diversity when pairing chardonnay with food.

And that's where style comes in. Pick a chardonnay grape off the vine, crush it between your fingers and then smell and taste the juice. It's shy and nondescript, in need of a boost.

More than any other wine, chardonnay needs help to develop a distinctive aroma and flavor. The influence of oak, specifically French oak, helps the development, with its sweet spice and vanilla notes.

California chardonnay, especially from warmer North Coast sites, is often in a richer style with more up front fruit and noticeable oak aromas and flavors.

For the whole California chardonnay package, couple the oak seasoning with the toasty character that comes from charring the interior of the barrel for a light, medium or heavy toast.

One style of California chardonnay that persists has a touch of residual sweetness that lifts the fruit and makes it more appealing to wine drinkers who often talk dry but prefer sweet.

It's only fair to note, though, that sweet chardonnay is losing its appeal, and the impression of oak is shifting from heavy to lighter, allowing the fruit to come through.

Cool climate chardonnay tends to be leaner, with less ripe fruit but more citrus (lemon, grapefruit) acidity and even traces of what is known in wine parlance as 'minerality.'

This style more closely approximates the leaner, higher acid style of French white Burgundy, which is made from chardonnay.

Although chardonnay has become the go-to white wine as an aperitif, like all wines it is meant to be enjoyed with food. For starters, try an oaky chardonnay with a garlicky guacamole.

Lighter, leaner chardonnays, like those with less oak and alcohol, are good choices with simple fish dishes.

Fuller, more robust California chardonnay calls for rich fish and seafood dishes, white meats such as chicken and veal and mildly spiced Asian dishes and smoked fish.

Finally, base your buying strategy on how you plan to drink chardonnay. More expensive cork-finished white Burgundy and California chardonnays may need some additional aging before reaching their best.

Store them in a cool dark spot (not the kitchen or bathroom), free of vibrations that may cause the wine to age prematurely. Inexpensive un-oaked chardonnay finished with a screw cap is best shortly after purchase and is not meant for aging.

Gerald D. Boyd is a Santa Rosa-based wine writer.