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Chardonnay

A New Oregon Variety

By Harry Peterson-Nedry

Clusters of ripe Dijon clone Chardonnay.

Oregon has a tendency to take on challenges, pull for the underdog, and abuse itself for the sake of principle. The Oregon wine industry has a case in point with, of all things unlikely, Chardonnay.

Oh, you remember Chardonnay. It's that variety that floats California's boat in a sea of heavily wooded and sometimes slightly sweet wine that for many consumers defines white wine. It is seriously and well done by some, but in general has been American-ized or Australian-ized, losing spirit and uniqueness to gain commercial acceptance. And what a shame for those who do it well, both domestically and, especially, where it originated and where the standard for the variety still resides, Burgundy.

The Grape

Chardonnay, a cross between Pinot Noir and an almost extinct Croatian variety named Gouais Blanc, is likely named for the town in the Maconnais region of France. The white wines of the Maconnais, Chablis, and Côte d'Or range from steely and mineral-like to richly emollient with wood-fermented counterparts. The latter extreme prompted New World wines to emulate the process, especially when the fruit was noticeably lacking in pedigree—oak as a substitute for rich flavors, malolactic fermentation (ML) to add complexity, and, a New World invention for Chardonnay, residual sugar to round the palate.

Unlike the centuries-long selection of plant materials that took place in Europe, the New World regions planted what the Europeans gave them, sometimes in places appropriate, but many times not. Chardonnay is an agreeable grape, socializing freely in many places where it shouldn't be grown, losing brightness, losing things to say that are intelligent, and losing the energy to work well, as high temperatures turn snappy to languid, stimulating to cocktail posing.

Chardonnay is indeed one of the noble grape varieties, with many contending it to be the noblest of the whites (I might bump Riesling one rung above). But to be ultimately noble, rather than a pretender to nobility, plant, place, and process need to be matched. The right variety and clones in the wrong place miss ascendancy, as do oak barrels and ML with poorly grown fruit.

Oregon and Its Chardonnay History

Raymond Bernard (of the French institute in Dijon) at the Peterson-Nedrys in 1986.

We have grown Chardonnay since initial plantings in the sixties in the Willamette Valley. However, we missed at first. We had the wrong clones in the right place, and it took a couple of decades to identify and correct the problem. We found that the California clones, selected for warmer sites, were 180 degrees away from what we needed. The grapes we grew rarely got ripe, retained too much acidity, and were harvested later than Pinot Noir, in the rains. We didn't need longer growing seasons and higher acid levels, we needed to grow Chardonnay that ripened predictably with richness and softness, and before the rains.

David Adelsheim is largely considered responsible for prodding the industry to investigate new clones. He was struck by the synchronous timing in Burgundy of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay harvests, as compared to Oregon's, two weeks after Pinot Noir. With David Heatherbell of Oregon State University, Adelsheim used a strong relationship with Raymond Bernard of the French viticultural research institute in Dijon to bring optimal plant material to Oregon for both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Bernard led an extensive program to identify selections appropriate for replanting Burgundian vineyards. These same selections were well suited to Oregon as well. They are still known as Dijon clones and have been available for extensive planting in Oregon since the mid-nineties.

Whereas Pinot Noir benefits from a richer variety of fruit colors on its palette, Chardonnay is utterly transformed by Dijon clones, making wines that are rich without oak, complex with or without ML, and a travesty to leave sweet.

Oregon's legacy of lackluster wines from the older Chardonnay clones has taken time to live down. Chardonnay acreage is greatly reduced now, as people either abandon it entirely or replant Dijon clones. Chardonnay acreage in 2005 was only 56% of 1995's Chardonnay acreage, as total acreage for all varieties has doubled. Chardonnay's little sister Pinot Gris is now Oregon's largest white variety, at 224% of Chardonnay. And today, Chardonnay constitutes only 6% of Oregon's grape acreage, whereas it was 21% of total acreage in 1995. (Graph showing Oregon Winegrape Acreage by Key Variety -- as a PDF)

So why be excited by Chardonnay when so many are abandoning the variety, when the longstanding king of whites is being “dissed,” and Pinot Gris is challenging the throne nationally as the second best-selling white variety?

Those not willing to invest energy and money in Dijon clones are just getting out of Chardonnay, leaving the serious and committed. Acreage is dropping, but that includes yankouts less new plantings, i.e. less and less old clone and more Dijon clone. In 2005, 24 acres of Chardonnay were lost, including 44 acres of old clones pulled and 20 new Dijon acres planted.

The excellence of new fruit sources isn't the only development to benefit Oregon Chardonnay. Modern knowledge of rootstock as well as site and soil strengths and limitations have also played a role. For example, recognizing the irrigation benefits on certain soils to maximize fruit characters has helped us limit “untypical aging” (UTA), a fault identified in dry-farmed white wines in the last few decades. Even the viticultural practices used in our search for Pinot Noir's Holy Grail have been adopted for Chardonnay, such as crop-thinning, dense plantings, fruit exposure, and organic farming.

Styles of Chardonnay

As with Chardonnay from the Old World, several styles can legitimately be made from high-quality Chardonnay fruit without making it a trick pony. Dijon clones are rich and complex enough to stand and walk without wood, yet are firmly structured and balanced enough to support moderate use of new oak. It's within this range that most of us in Oregon play.

Chehalem makes INOX™, a bone-dry, stainless-steel fermented Chardonnay without a whisper of oak and no buttering with ML. This wine is the pure expression of Chardonnay fruit, which few of us have ever tasted and which many winemakers in the past were afraid to taste, afraid we wouldn't find anything there. Dijon clones provide the flavors that gimmicks such as oak, ML, and sugar tried to imitate in warmer regions and in Oregon's old days.

We continue our appreciation of fully French oak barrel–fermented Chardonnay with Ian's Reserve. This wine sees one-third new oak and partial to full ML. The Ian's Reserve and its counterparts in our sister wineries have helped establish a valid middle ground between White Burgundy and Californian and Australian Chardonnay. Recently recognized by critics as its own category, Oregon Chardonnay provides richness and complexity, but is strung on a nervy structure of acid and fruit freshness. Balanced, it keeps interest suspended with vibrant white fruits, minerality, bright acids, and moderate alcohols.

ORCA

The winemakers of ORCA (from left to right): Eric, Luisa, Dave, Veronique, Rollin, Tony, and Harry.

As Oregonian as the cool climate that makes the Willamette Valley the perfect place for varietals such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling, collaboration seems to follow us, less a strategy and more a principle—a mantra. It might be the same gravitational pull of bodies together that Minnesotans find around a heater in the deadening white of winter, or that draws South Dakotans to shut down family-planning clinics when they're feeling especially mean-spirited.

Several of your favorite Oregon wineries have joined together in a sense of passion and joint will to form ORCA, the ORegon Chardonnay Alliance. This group began to improve the breed of Chardonnay first in the vineyard, then in the winery, next in the press, and finally in the marketing of our wines. Besides Chehalem, it includes Adelsheim, Argyle, Domaine Drouhin, Domaine Serene, Hamacher, and Ponzi. Others will join us in this group of friends creating uniquely Oregon Chardonnay.

It must be admitted that Chardonnay seemed like an especially good target for a resolute and stubborn effort, with people not respecting it anymore. Nobility comes from a core of purity, not a minstrel face paint applied to please the crowds.

Oregon Winegrape Acreage by Key Variety