Cellar Stories: Chardonnay & Vintage Variation

Chardonnay: a grape that splits opinion; loved and loathed. A wine too often stereotyped by the unfortunate over-oaked New World examples popular in the 1980's and 1990's. Golden wines that displayed no Chardonnay characters at all, but instead had the weight, taste and finesse of an oak beam. 

Having said this, without a doubt Chardonnay can make some of the best wines in the world when grown in the correct climate, harvested at the right time and treated correctly in the winery. If it is to be oaked, the oak should match the power of the fruit rather than dictating. You may already be unknowingly drinking Chardonnay of course (not labelled as such) in the form of Champagne, Chablis and your classic Burgundies such as Meursault.

The problems with the 1980's and 90's styles of Chardonnay were pretty deep rooted. I am sure most thought they were going to try and emulate a great white burgundy, the biggest difference being in a climate far warmer and dryer. However, an early ripening variety, grown in too warm a climate, cropped too heavily and harvested too ripe can display so little varietal character it could be almost any neutral white grape. Chardonnay was chosen as it was a familiar name and easy to grow..and how did they give this neutral wine any character? Oak of course! Barrels, or more frequently to cut costs, adding oak chips.

Broadly speaking with all grapes, the right climate is needed to provide fruit characters. When the weather is too warm, aromas are lost and when it is too cool, the aromas and flavours are green and unripe. Chardonnay is well suited to the English climate, being close to the limit of what we can ripen here. A late ripening grape in England's cool climate, typically mid-October most years. Ripening late means good acidity, perfect for sparkling wine, but also abundant fruit characters.

In England a lot depends on each year's weather, as well as ripeness levels. We can’t produce a still Chardonnay every year, as we require the natural high acidity to drop enough for a still wine. In a cool autumn, flavours can lean towards green apple, with more lemon, peach and citrus expected in a warmer season.

Now the decision to oak or not. In general our rule of thumb at Knightor is nothing should detract from the natural fruit aromas and flavours. Oak is like seasoning, your salt and pepper, to enhance what is already there. We typically only put a proportion of the overall blend into oak and are careful how long it spends there, preferring fermenting in oak to help integration of the oak characters. Each year it differs how much oak a wine can tolerate. Generally, the cooler the year and the leaner the fruit, the less oak a wine can take, as the oak will start to dominate. A warmer year with riper, bolder fruit means that a little bit more oak can enhance the fruit. 

We currently have 3 different vintages of Chardonnay available, plus one still in the making. 
In 2018, our Chardonnay displayed fantastic purity and elegance without any bold flavours. We decided to put a small proportion into oak for just a short 4 month period, adding some body but very little in the way of oak characters. Perfect for those that like a steelier Chablis like style.

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In 2021, we were very selective which Chardonnay went to still wine and which to sparkling. A smaller proportion than usual went to still, selecting only the ripest parcels. Due to the high ripeness levels, we put almost all of the blend into third fill French oak barrels to ferment and age for just under a year, stylistically creating something a little closer to a Burgundy. This wine is richer, creamier and more fruit forward than the 2018 with greater texture due to the oak.

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​In 2022 the ripeness levels across the board were exceptional. The grapes could have tolerated a decent amount of oak, but we decided to show the purity and quality of the vintage. The 2022 vintage is for those that enjoy a fruity white; we often serve this blind without saying the varietal. It’s not your typical Chardonnay!  ​

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2023's Chardonnay is still in the making. A cool, wet year resulted in grapes that were not as fruit forward as 2022. Sugar and acidity levels were good, but intensity of flavour and body were lower. This has meant only a small part is going into oak, and we are using some of our oldest barrels for this. We are hoping to add just texture and a little body from the barrels rather than any aromas and flavours that could easily overwhelm such a delicate wine.    

Shop the different vintages here, or visit our winery shop to sample the collection.