Often taking a back seat to flirty Pinot Noirs and roguish Rhone varieties, Chardonnay nevertheless persists as a worthy partner for food and fun. Golden, gorgeous, and capable of displaying tremendous stylistic differences, it remains one of the world’s most popular wines.
Santa Barbara County vintners, in concert with the Santa Maria Valley Wine Country Association (SMV Wines), have decided to honor this deserving variety with a day all its own. Billed as the Chardonnay Symposium, this inaugural event takes place on July 31, in the Santa Maria Valley, and promises to educate, entertain, and bedazzle both neophytes and avid fans of the grape.
A day of sensory exploration, the symposium is designed for wine lovers, industry professionals, and media members alike. By combining wine and food pairings with a collective tasting and speakers well versed in the ways of Chardonnay, organizers intend to spotlight regions that vinify the grape, and let tasters compare styles, while weighing regional effects on this versatile Burgundian varietal.
“[We] have been wanting to host a large event that would showcase our beautiful wine country and premium wines,” said Kady Fleckenstein, executive director of the Chardonnay Symposium. “Chardonnay is the country’s top selling wine and one that Santa Maria Valley is known for making extremely well, so it didn’t take long to come up with the idea of a Chardonnay-focused event.
“Once we began discussing it,” she continued, “we decided that it must include all Chardonnay growing regions and top producers from around the country, in order to truly show the versatility and character of Chardonnay.”
A premier, daylong event, the Chardonnay Symposium showcases wineries located from Ventura to Napa counties, with plenty of representatives from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. The principals of one producer, White Salmon Vineyard, are even traveling all the way from Washington State.
The symposium opens on Saturday morning with two informational sessions, from which attendees must choose one. Both feature expert speakers in their field discussing Chardonnay-specific topics from farming to cutting-edge winemaking practices.
Session One takes place at the Bien Nacido Vineyard adobe and brings together old guard winemaker/owners, such as Jim Clendenen (Au Bon Climat) and Adam Tolmach (Ojai Vineyards), with winegrowers Jeff Frey (Frey Farming) and Chris Hammell (vineyard manager at Bien Nacido Vineyard). Rounding out the panel are Steve Fennel (winemaker at Sanford Winery), Jonathan Nagy (winemaker at Byron Winery), and Jeff Pisoni (winemaker at Pisoni Vineyards).
Session Two, at beautiful Cambria Winery, features local winemaking luminaries Richard Sanford (Alma Rosa), Brian Talley (Talley Winery), Ken Volk (Kenneth Volk Vineyards), and Chuck Ortman (Riverbench Vineyard). Also contributing to the lively discussion will be Randy Ullom (Kendall-Jackson Winery of Santa Barbara), Denise Shurtleff (Cambria Winery), and Larry Hyde (vineyard manager HdV Wines), who has farmed Chardonnay in Napa’s Carneros District for more than 30 years.
Those who attend one of the morning sessions will board a luxury bus at noon and head to Byron Winery for a wine tasting luncheon catered by Testa’s Bistro and Catering, Bello Forno Catering, and the Far Western Tavern. The buffet-style spread will include fruit, broccoli, and pasta salads, wood-fired pizzas, and gourmet sandwiches.
With music by local guitarist Jerry Coelho, the relaxed environment promises an ideal opportunity to sip wine and hash over the nuances of Chardonnay with some of the symposium’s dynamic speakers.
A stand-alone extravaganza, the Grand Chardonnay Tasting gets underway at 2 p.m. in the garden at Tres Hermanas Vineyard. Here, guests can sample the wine of the day from dozens of different producers.
“One thing I really want to emphasize,” Fleckenstein said, “is the diversity of producers and winemaking styles that will be found at this event. We have 40 Chardonnay producers, and the passion these winemakers have for Chardonnay is truly inspiring.”
A bit of a liquid chameleon, Chardonnay goes with a wide range of food and flavors. To demonstrate this, servers will dish out carefully matched edibles to ramp up the wine-tasting experience.
“We will have restaurants featuring sample food bites that pair with Chardonnay,” Fleckenstein explained, “so this is an excellent chance for consumers to learn more about food and Chardonnay pairings. We’ll also have recipes for attendees to take home and try themselves.”
Of all the winegrapes planted in the world, roughly half are Chardonnay, which translates to a total of about 440,000 acres. And with Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay consistently scoring high marks with critics and consumers, it’s fitting that the valley should host a grand celebration of this adaptable, adorable grape.
K. Reka Badger’s got her ticket to ride. Catch her at rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Jul 15-22, 2010.