Why is Chardonnay simultaneously adored and maligned? This is a question I wrestled with before founding LIOCO Wine Company back in 2005. One of my first realizations was that this was more of a “California wine” problem. In France there is no disdain for this grape. In fact you will find it planted and celebrated throughout the entire country reaching high heights in Champagne and in Burgundy. There may be no more celebrated wine worldwide than White Burgundy. But that same Chardonnay grape growing under California’s Mediterranean sun seems to yield wines that are a lot more polarizing.
So why do so many of the best wineries in Healdsburg and surrounding areas focus on Chardonnay? The short answer is: because Chardonnay is still King! There are really two camps. There is the camp that likes the big, oaky, cocktail-Chardonnays for which the variety in California wine became famous for. And there is the other camp that likes acid-driven, mineral-drenched, lemony white wines that happen to be made from Chardonnay grapes. LIOCO obviously wanted to champion the ladder style, and we have spent the last 20 years turning people around on this grape.
I like to say that “Chardonnay went through a fat Elvis phase.” It put on weight in all the wrong places and got a little loose and a little sloppy. LIOCO has long been in pursuit of “1950s rockabilly Elvis.” The svelte, swiveling crooner that made the ladies weak in the knees. The malleability of this grape allows both styles to be achieved here, but in our view the truly great versions come from vineyards with interesting soils and cooler temperature gradients. There is also something about older vines delivering a more soil-driven expression (deeper roots) and vineyards that are not irrigated a.k.a. dry-farmed producing smaller clusters and more concentrated, powerful wines. When it’s done right in California, there are few equals in the world. We have been dazzled by young, high-energy, low pH Chardonnay from the Santa Cruz Mountains. And we have been humbled by 40+ year old renderings from some local icons. Chardonnay: it’s California wine at its Apex!
