Years ago (17 now) when I came to Hillside, I was told that we are an ABC winery—Anything But Chardonnay. New on the job and eager to please I nodded knowingly. I get it, Chardonnay definitely has some baggage.
Historically grown in the burgundy region of France, specifically Chablis, chardonnay is now grown wherever wine is produced. It is winter hardy and has a short growing season so can be grown in cool-climate regions like Ontario, Oregon’s Willamette Valley, Okanagan Lake Country and it also shines in warmer regions, Like Napa and Australia’s Adelaide Hills.
But why ABC? Chardonnay gained a dubious reputation during the heyday of big California wines, with overripe, heavily-oaked buttery bombs. The lovely fruit flavours of green plum, apple, pear, citrus, peach and melon were swamped by flavours of American oak—coconut, resin, plank, sawdust and the residual flavours left by malo-lactic fermentation.
Malo-lactic fermentation is a winemaking tool that is used in red winemaking and can be an option in white winemaking. Winegrapes contain tartaric acid, the primary acid in grapes, as well as malic acid, found primarily in apples. Malo-lactic fermentation is a fermentation carried out after the yeast-driven sugar fermentation by friendly bacteria which convert malic acid to the weaker lactic acid found in milk products. This softens the overall acidity, adds to complexity and mouthfeel.
In deft hands ML fermentation can greatly enhance the wine. Abused, it overpowers the fruit flavours, removes too much acid, and ends up a buttery mess, suitable only to pair with theatre popcorn!
For this reason, chardonnay tends to be polarizing. Many folks say they don’t like the flavour but then describe those flavours as oak and/or butter. We often pour it for folks in the wine shop without announcing the variety and have made many converts.
In my previous job, chardonnay was a large part of the portfolio that I oversaw. In fact, the 1992 vintage won the “Best Chardonnay” trophy in the London England International Wine and Spirits Competition—putting the Okanagan Valley on the world wine map. Coming to Hillside, my chardonnay skills were not put to the test for another 18 vintages.
That all changed with the Big Freeze Event (BFE) of January 2024. The only one of our growers to lose all their vines was not able to source clean Pinot Gris vines, our first choice, and instead planted Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. These will not be fully producing until the 2027 vintage.
That’s about when I said “ABC? WTF?”
In anticipation of adding Chardonnay to the portfolio I was able to purchase Chardonnay grapes from two blocks on the Naramata Bench, both young plantings. One block was co-fermented with Sauvignon Blanc from the same vineyard and became Chef’s Whites, while the other was used to create our first Hillside Un-Oaked Chardonnay. My intention is the future to create a Heritage Chardonnay with some barrel fermentation and extended lees contact for a creamy texture, and then maybe (big tease—drumroll please) a Single Vineyard Chardonnay.
Chardonnay is also often used in production of sparkling wines, usually traditional “Champagne” method, on its own or blended with Pinot Noir and sometimes Pinot Meunier, so who knows what the future holds?
