Chardonnay in Orange County, CA

What is Chardonnay? Chardonnay is a green skinned grape that is used for making white wine. It is supposed to have originated from the Burgundy region of east France and is today grown everywhere. For a lot of wine makers, Chardonnay is like a rite of passage that helps them venture in the international market. The neutral Chardonnay grape has a lot of features of the original grape and is vinified in a variety of styles such as the rich and flinty range to the buttery flavor with fruity essences as well. Chardonnay is an important component of a lot of wines, one of them being the champagne.

The Chardonnay is one of the most important wine varieties and is widely grown in the vineyards of Orange County in California. This is the region where the oak edged Chardonnay is popular. The wines made of this grape have a long history. The Livermore Valley was the first place from where the Californian Chardonnay was produced. A Chardonnay clone was developed for introducing it to the Californian vineyards, and Orange County was one of the areas where the growth was good. This was the scenario in the 1940s. In the following decade, the Hanzell Winery dedicated itself to manufacturing the Burgundy Chardonnay with its success leading other providers to hook on to the industry.

The soaring popularity of the Californian Chardonnay in Orange County reached its peak when it was widely accepted in the French circles so much so that in the 1980s the number of vineyards here outnumbered those in France itself. In the year 2005, a total of 100000 acres or 4000 ha was recorded in terms of Chardonnay production. This accounted for almost 25% of the world’s plantings of the grape variety. Initially, the Orange County producers focused more on aping the classic Burgundy wines, although this trend later gave way to the manufacturing of other varieties like the pinot noir in Orange County CA, pinot grigio in California and more.

Today, the wines of Orange County California follow the oak styles that have a rich buttered taste. They are included in preparing wine gift baskets or for preparing corporate gifts with wine. The focus of the manufacturers is to harvest the grapes in advanced processes and ensuring that the ripeness and Brix levels are maintained. The new oak barrels are used for producing the wines that are suitable for richer tastes. Often critics are of the view that Californian Chardonnay is high in terms of alcohol levels and that this has made them imbalanced and disproportionate with the other ingredients.

Merlot in Napa provides stiff competition to the Chardonnay in Orange County which grows quality wine. The Californian wine makers use reverse osmosis as well as spinning cones for bringing the alcohol levels to normal, which is 12 or 14%. Chardonnay in Orange County grows best in foggy regions. Coastal fogs are good for premium Chardonnay, slowing the ripening which allows more time for the flavors to develop.