Get to know the key Chardonnay styles on which the rest of the world measures theirs. Start by sampling white Burgundy wines according to regions. The best place to start is at the top, where the climate is at its coolest and home to Chablis. Then work your way through the regions all the way down to Burgundy’s southerly boundaries, where you’ll find St. Véran, and all sorts of Pouillys. Take your time, savor and take notes: this is not a race. Like Rome, palate profiles are not built in a day. Once you feel you’ve gotten reasonably acquainted with the wines of Burgundy’s famous white-wine villages, update your palates passport and venture forth into the Chardonnay world. Your potential ports of call are: Italy, California, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, with plantings from Catalonia to Lebanon, from Chile to New York State and Long Island.
the Singing Sommelière 