| Chardonnay grapes are one of the most popular | | | | northern Italy. |
| grapes for producing dry white wines. The two | | | | So what flavours should you look for a |
| largest regions of chardonnay production in the | | | | Chardonnay? Most people when tasting a |
| world are Burgundy in France and California in the | | | | chardonnay will say it is very toasty, vanilla or |
| United States. Having said that however, | | | | butterscotch. Some say it is even smoky or |
| Chardonnay is an extremely versatile grape and it | | | | spicy. Well, unfortunately, they are not tasting the |
| grows almost anywhere in the world. | | | | Chardonnay in that case, but the oak itself. |
| Since Chardonnay flavours are very alike those of | | | | A true Chardonnay without any oak in it should |
| oak, it is oaked most of the time. Most | | | | be fruity and have flavours of the fruits in the |
| chardonnay wines will have some kind of oak | | | | region. These will be pear-like or water-melon like |
| treatment before or after the process of | | | | to even more tropical and exotic fruit tastes like |
| fermenting. The high quality oaked chardonnays | | | | pineapples. Chardonnay can also be earthy if it is |
| use real barrels of French oak. The cheaper end | | | | grown in a soil with a lot of minerals. A true |
| wines will simply use a liquid oak flavour. | | | | Chardonnay is slightly expensive, so to be able to |
| The majority of the time, if a Chardonnay does | | | | sell the bottles for under $10, most wine makers |
| not say if it is oaked or not, you can assume it is | | | | at that price range put other grapes in them as |
| oaked. The only exception is Chardonnays from | | | | well. |