Chardonnay You Say? Hooray!
Sorry ‘bout that.
International Chardonnay Day
Imagine our excitement and surprise when we realized this week featured one of the best days of the year: International Chardonnay Day! We’ve gone through some personal growth in the last few years, from Caty saying she hated Chardonnay while literally drinking Chablis, to expanding our palettes, trying new things, and reconfirming: We love wine flavored wine.
Passing the pen over to Verity, where frankly it should always sit, to expound on the grape we know and love so well.
Preamble
Happy ICD! In the Medium story In Defence of Chardonnay (that nobody read, but I still stand by), I tried my best to make the case for drinking the most consumed white varietal in the world.
Sommeliers love nothing more than finding obscure, forgotten grapes made in shadowy secret layers with techniques that are too complex for you or me to understand. They are so special (both the wines and the people!). Sigh.
But thankfully, as far as we know, there isn’t a Biodynamic-organic-natty-fermented-dry-farmed-unfiltered-super-Vegan-orange-wine-with-whole-clusters-obviously-natural-fermented-pet-nat Day. Yet, at least.
Which brings us back to Chardonn-YAY! Here’s the thing: if you really press a somm, they will own up to Chardonnay being one of the most important, versatile, and expressive varietals that deserves to come in first. Yes, it’s classic but it’s far from common.
Drink This
Since Caty name dropped Chablis earlier (she’s so fancy, but also likes Spam?), let’s start with a wine from two hours outside of Paris that defines peak purity. A true crowd pleaser without being basic, scout’s honor. Grab a bottle of Domaine Pascal Bouchard Chablis Le Classique for a crisp, lively and complex wine with notes of golden apples and white flowers. The soil in the region is primarily Kimmeridgian, which is basically fossilized oyster beds. Since what grows together goes together, may we recommend seafood!
In the name of versatility, we’re also recommending a Chardonnay from California. If Chablis was Grace Kelly, we’re now in Marilyn territory. Which isn’t a bad thing! Yes, there are butter-and-oak-bombs from California, but that’s a trend of the past. And as Marilyn said, “Sometimes things fall apart, so that better things can fall together.” So look no further than The Calling Dutton Ranch Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley. This full-bodied wine is textured and weighty, showing vibrant and integrated acidity with flavors of pear, green apple and loads of minerality. There are exquisite Chardonnays coming out of California, but I’m sure Caty won’t mind picking up your tab if you tried it and it isn’t your thing.
As if we haven’t already blown yo mind (can you tell we don’t use ChatGPT to generate our emails yet?), most Champagne is made with… you guessed it. There are three grapes traditionally used to make Champagne, but we’re all about the Blanc de Blancs over here — 100% Chardonnay. If we still have trust issues and you don’t want to splurge on Chardonnay even with bubbles, try Schramsberg Blanc De Blancs which is the first commercial use of Chardonnay in American sparkling wine and is only two dollar signs. It’s dry, crisp, complex and tasty AF. Pairs well with food. Really, any food. Or even no food.
And Eat This
OK doing 2 here because one will offend Verity’s sense of decency (she had a visceral reaction to the suggestion of Reddi-wip and grocery store cake) and the other will speak to her sense of propriety! We suspect she’s the kinda gal who looks for the “best” recipes, rather than the “easy” ones.
Remember how much Caty hates chopping and mincing because OMG cooking is tedious as hell? Enter garlic salt. Chefs kiss. Get down with this incredibly easy alfredo recipe that is going to make your Chardonnay shine.
Separately, grilled salmon is very delicious and also very nice with Chardonnay. This recipe is simple, but beautiful, even if you do have to do some mincing (mega eye roll). Pairs well with a bag of instant rice.
What’s Up with Sipply
Our last survey got poor participation, sob. So we improved it… by adding a drawing for one of several free bottles of wine custom picked by our in-house Somm. Picked for you. Because you filled out our survey and we love that. Does that help? Fill this out please, thanks, we love you.
Cheers!
