Chardonnay

Chardonnay is the most planted white wine grape in the world and probably the most misunderstood. A generation of heavily oaked, buttery bottles in the nineties put a lot of people off, to the point that "anything but Chardonnay" became a running joke in the wine trade.

Most Chardonnay made today bears no resemblance to that. It is crisp, citrus-led and unoaked, and it is one of the lighter white wines you can buy. Our Chardonnays start at 76 calories a glass, with the sugar, calorie and ABV figures published on every bottle.

Oaked or unoaked, and why it matters

This is the single most useful thing to understand about Chardonnay, because the grape itself is fairly neutral. What you taste is mostly a result of how the wine was made.

Unoaked Chardonnay is fermented in stainless steel. Green apple, citrus, sometimes a touch of stone fruit, and a clean fresh finish. Light on its feet, higher in acidity, and closer to a Pinot Grigio or a Sauvignon Blanc in character than to the Chardonnay people remember.

Oaked Chardonnay is fermented or aged in oak barrels, which adds vanilla, butter, toast and a fuller, rounder texture. Done well it is superb. Done heavily it is the style that gave the grape its reputation.

Ours are unoaked or lightly handled, which is also why they are lighter in calories. Oaked Chardonnay tends to be picked riper and made stronger, and alcohol is the main driver of the calorie count.

Why some Chardonnay is lighter than others

Alcohol carries around 7 calories per gram, and in a dry wine it accounts for almost the whole number. So the strength of the bottle tells you most of what you need to know.

Roughly 6 to 7 calories for every percentage point of alcohol. A standard supermarket Chardonnay at 13.5% or 14% carries closer to 95 to 100 calories a glass, so the gap across a bottle is meaningful.

All of ours are made dry, with 0g of residual sugar per serving, so the sugar adds nothing on top. There is more on that in our guide to which wines have the lowest sugar content.

Where Chardonnay comes from

Australia

Most of this collection. Australian Chardonnay has changed enormously in the past twenty years, moving away from the big oaked style toward fresher, cooler-climate wines with citrus and stone fruit and far less oak. Regions like the Adelaide Hills, Margaret River and Victoria lead it. Good value, and consistently well made.

France

The grape's home. Burgundy is where Chardonnay originated and still produces the most celebrated examples, from the mineral, unoaked wines of Chablis through to the richer, oak-aged whites of the Côte de Beaune. Southern France produces lighter, fruit-led Chardonnay at far more accessible prices.

Worth knowing: Chablis is Chardonnay. So is white Burgundy, and so is most Champagne. The label rarely says so, because in France wines are named after where they are from rather than what they are made from.

Choosing a Chardonnay here

If you want the lightest: 11% ABV, which comes in at 76 to 77 calories a glass. Crisp and unoaked.

If you want more body: 12.5% to 13%, which brings riper fruit and a rounder texture at 87 to 89 calories.

If you are not sure: the mixed Chardonnay case is the cheapest way to work out which style suits you, and it works out considerably better value per bottle.

Every product page lists the calorie count, sugar content and ABV, so you can compare like for like rather than guessing from the label.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories are in a glass of Chardonnay?

Between 76 and 89 calories per 125ml in this collection, depending on strength. A standard supermarket Chardonnay at 13.5% carries closer to 95 to 100.

Is Chardonnay high in sugar?

Dry Chardonnay is not. Every Chardonnay here contains 0g of residual sugar per serving. Sweeter styles exist but they are the exception rather than the rule.

What is unoaked Chardonnay?

Chardonnay fermented in stainless steel rather than oak barrels. It tastes crisper and more citrus-led, without the vanilla and butter notes that oak adds, and it is usually lighter in body.

Is Chardonnay dry or sweet?

Almost always dry. The impression of sweetness that some people get from Chardonnay usually comes from oak and ripe fruit rather than from sugar.

Is Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc lower in calories?

It depends on the strength rather than the grape. At the same ABV they are broadly identical. Unoaked Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are often made at similar strengths, so there is little between them.

Is Chablis Chardonnay?

Yes. Chablis is made entirely from Chardonnay, usually unoaked, and is one of the crispest expressions of the grape. French wines are named after their region rather than their grape, which is why the label does not say so.

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