Chardonnay is the most widely traveled white variety, cropping up in almost every wine producing country. Even in its native France it is unusual in being found in several regions. From the far north of Champagne, where it is used in the eponymous fizz, through Chablis and Burgundy with their classic table wines, all the way to the sunny region of Languedoc for cheap and cheerful quaffers.

 

 

With its lovely ripe fruit flavours, Chardonnay is a great variety for winemakers to play with. All sorts of techniques such as wild fermentations and barrel maturation are used to make wines of depth and complexity. But sometimes it is just as good (if not better) to do as little as possible. This is an example of Chardonnay simply crushed and pressed then fermented nice and cool with no oak influence. No fuss, no mucking about, just pure fruit expression.

This is a really food-friendly wine. This Chardonnay will go perfectly with anything from natural oysters with coriander to smoked chicken risotto.