Types of Wine: Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a versatile, adaptable white wine grape that shows different sides of itself depending on where it's grown and how it's handled in the cellar.

When barreled in oak, Chardonnay takes on a richness characterized by honey and butter flavors. When barreled in stainless steel, it reveals its lighter side, coming across as fresh, bright and lean, and full of mineral flavors.

Because it's so popular and adaptable, Chardonnay is grown all over the world in a variety of styles. Chardonnay excels in Burgundy, France--its original home. And, of course, Chardonnay is the white wine that made California famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view). Stereotyped for producing big, rich, in-your-face Chardonnays, some California versions can, in fact, be more subtle than a butter bowling ball crashing across your dinner table. Experiment, too, with northern Italian, Chilean, and Australian Chardonnays.

Rich, oaky Chardonnays are the ones to pair with rich, strong-flavored dishes. Try them with Dijon or butter sauces, crab cakes, chicken and veal dishes, chowders, salmon and lobster. Chardonnay is a favorite with seafood. Minerally versions, like those from Chablis, France, pair particularly well with oysters.

At the wine store, if you're not sure whether the style of Chardonnay is oaky or steely (and the label doesn’t offer any clues), just ask the wine merchant.

Chardonnay's Achilles heel? It doesn't like super-spicy dishes.  (Got spice? See Riesling.)

Styles of Chardonnay:

• Burgundy/Old World style: White Burgundy can be lean or rich, often with elements of earth. Pair leaner white Burgundies with lighter dishes.
• California/New World style: Grown in warmer areas, New World Chards are characterized by bigger, riper, richer flavors and more oak. These full-figured wines can hang with rich dishes like cream sauces and lobster with butter.

Chardonnay Aromas: Apple, melon, peach, pineapple, pear, lemon, fig, honey, butter, and toast.