Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Chardonnay

Mission Hill 2006 SLC Chardonnay

It saddens me that there are so many of you who dislike Chardonnay. I was thinking about this exact problem just last night, while drinking in a view of cherry blossoms and sipping Mission Hill’s 2006 Select Lot Collection Chardonnay. I was saddened both because those of you who don’t like Chardonnay won’t ever appreciate the voluptuousness of this lovely wine, and because it seems a little unfair to poor Chardonnay. There was a time when Chardonnay was the white wine, (at least the white most consumed in North America). It was, perhaps, the white queen.

But in recent years it has become a wine-trend to kick this poor varietal, to mock it, to berate it, to bully it. It has become cool to dislike it. I say, lay off poor Chardonnay. Save your scorn for processed cheese, iceberg lettuce and farmed salmon. Chardonnay deserves another chance.

To me, Chardonnay tastes like wine. Not peaches, not cat pee, not just-mown grass, and not flowers or angels. It tastes like big, complicated wine, particularly if it’s well-oaked (which is the kind I like best of all, something the Australians do very well, and, I’m happy to report, a few Okanagan wineries are also getting the hang of). Words like buttery and creamy are used to describe it because of the generous way it rolls around the mouth.

If you are not a believer, there is little I can do to change your mind. But if you suspect that you are missing out, if you think there might be entire worlds of wine heaven waiting on the other side of a door you’ve never bothered to open, consider taking a few tentative steps. Start with a blend, say a Semillon Chardonnay, like this award-winning one from Hester Creek. Embrace the Chardonnay within. And then, gradually work your way up to pure Chards. Sip one on the patio while listening to your best friend share the sordid details of an affair. Sip one while sitting on the front porch and watching the world cycle past; let yourself feel generous with life, because you have a porch to sit on and a glass of wine to sip. Sip one as you turn the pages of a good novel; nothing too bloody, Chardonnay is very good with Margaret Drabble, Joanna Trollope and Elizabeth Berg.

Or just have it with dinner; pair with foods that aren’t too strong. A grilled chicken burger. Macaroni and cheese. Crepes stuffed with shrimp. Yum, yum.