MICHAEL FRIDJHON: There is a long list of chardonnays worth drinking
With the exception of chenin, no variety in the Cape offers as many fabulous wines
Impossible as this may be to imagine, chardonnay is a recent arrival in the international world of wine. As recently as the 1960s there were fewer than 500ha of chardonnay vineyards outside France. California’s total plantings were less than 75ha. In Australia there wasn’t much more (and some was sold as riesling).
There was nothing to speak of in SA until the 1980s. In France it was unknown at least by name. The use of varietal names wasn’t customary so people bought chablis (made entirely from chardonnay) or white burgundy or champagne (of which it is the dominant white cultivar) without ever needing to know the variety common to all of them...
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