Chardonnay v. Sauvignon Blanc

by Seema Tikare

When you are ordering or buying Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, you probably want something you enjoy.  The variety or provenance are probably not as important as just having something drinkable.  That is still my first priority when I go some place I am not familiar with or that doesn’t have anything I recognize on the wine list.

But what are the differences between varieties?  I thought it would be interesting to go over two of the most ubiquitous whites there are: Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  They are both widely grown in many different countries and regions of countries and they are widely available on most restaurant menus and most definitely in retail shops.  Yet, they are very different in their flavor profile, their price points and how they are paired with food.  They even come in differently shaped bottles - Chardonnay in slope-shouldered bottles, Sauvignon Blanc in square-shouldered bottles.  

Chardonnay is usually a light to medium straw or lemony yellow.  It is a non-aromatic grape that is very versatile and can pick up different characteristics from fermentation (butter, yeast, pears, apples) and from oak aging (vanilla, caramel, honey).  It only has medium to medium high acidity which is balanced by medium high levels of alcohol, so it often soft in the mouth but can be made more crisp by picking early or sourcing from cool climates to maintain higher acidity.  Its origins lie in Burgundy, an offspring of Pinot Noir and an ancient variety called Gouais Blanc and is possibly named after a town called Chardonnay in the Mâcon region of southern Burgundy.  It makes wonderful still wine and is the backbone for many sparkling wines.  

Sauvignon Blanc on the other hand tends to have a light silvery or green hue to its very pale straw color, has high acidity and medium high alcohol.  It is an aromatic variety that has a distinctive herbaceous nose to it, with notes of cut hay, “grass,” “nettles,” and fruity notes like gooseberry and grapefruit.  While Chardonnay, being more neutral, has some differences depending on its terroir, Sauvignon Blanc can be have vastly different characters.  Sancerre from the Loire Valley, thought to be its original home, is usually crisp, with subtle herbaceous notes, grapefruit and is more aromatically restrained.  Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand though, is almost unrecognizable as the same variety.  It is lush and “pungent,” with not just the fresh grassy, cut hay aromas but also passion fruit and a musky gooseberry scent.  It is softer – usually with slightly lower acid and much more viscosity due to high alcohol levels from the riper grapes.  It is mostly vinified by itself now, but is also commonly blended with Semillon for both dry wines in Bordeaux and for sweet, dessert wines like Sauternes. 

So, which to order next time you must choose?  It all depends on your mood, what you are eating and of course, your budget.  A nice oaky California Chardonnay or a fragrant New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc will give you a softer, more rounded set of flavors and will likely be a bit easier on the budget.  A crisp, precise Chablis (Chardonnay) or a bracing, rich Sancerre (Sauvignon Blanc) will often have more complexity and a more pleasant finish, but will also be a bit more expensive, especially given the price of land, and the level of care taken in both harvesting the grapes and fermenting the wine.

I have often found that people end up definitively preferring one to the other or choosing either the new world or old world styles.  But either way, they are deservedly planted and beloved world-wide.

Cheers!