• Restaurant Reading Berkshire French Chardonnay

The Many Faces of Chardonnay


On its own Chardonnay can be a bit of a bland grape, but it is easily influenced which is why producers favour this grape over others.

Restaurant Reading Faces of Chardonnay at L’Ortolan Berkshire

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A phrase often heard from guests when asked if they would like any assistance in selecting a wine is “I’d like to have anything but Chardonnay”.

Restaurant Reading French Chardonnay

This is so commonly heard in restaurants these days that there is now an unofficial industry term describing these guests as ABC drinkers. For a Sommelier this can be particularly amusing as this is often backed up with the question “Do you have a nice Chablis on offer?” – Why does this make Sommeliers chuckle?

The reason is that Chablis is made from Chardonnay.

When you enquire a little deeper, what you inevitably find is it’s not the Chardonnay grape variety that displeases the guest, but the amount and styling of Oak contained within the wine. This goes back to the late 80’s/early 90’s when Chardonnay was the wine in Vogue at the time.

On its own Chardonnay can be a bit of a bland grape, but it is easily influenced which is why producers favour this grape over others, because they get to impart their own style and personality into their wine.

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Some of the finest examples of Chardonnay are found in France. Here they get, in part, their rich and toasty character from the long and gentle aging given to then in French Oak barrels. Due to the expense of French Oak these barrels are frightfully expensive to make and maintain, therefore in an attempt to lower costs many producers began using a cheaper American style Oak and an alternative method for getting the oak in contact with the wine. This resulted in an overpowering, cloying and quite often boring style of wine which had its peak of popularity but has now fallen out of favour. Unfortunately this style of wine has sullied the good name of Chardonnay all over.

If you again take the example of Chablis it’s easy to see that this is nothing to do with the variety and everything to do with the production method. Chardonnay remains one of the most widely-planted grape varieties, with over 400,000 acres worldwide, ranging from the most sublime, flinty and steely wines through to those that have a warm, toasted brioche base topped with ripe but tart pineapple.

Craig Steven, Sommelier

OPENING HOURS

LUNCH
Wednesday to Saturday
First arrival 12 midday to last sitting 1pm

DINNER
Tuesday to Saturday
First arrival 6.30pm to last sitting 8pm

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