Spot The Difference - Chardonnay.

Everyone knows Chardonnay. Visit any supermarket wine section or off licence (liqour store if you prefer) and you can be pretty sure the majority of white wines available are either made entirely from Chardonnay or it is a large component of the blend.

It is a grape grown the world over including here in the UK where it is mainly used in our world class sparkling wines. These wines have regularly beaten french champagnes in blind tasting.

The main problem with it is that it is one of the last varieties to ripen here, not such a problem for sparkling wine as the grapes are better for that purpose if they are not totally ripe. However I like chardonnay wines full bodied with all the associated chardonnay flavours whether oaked or unoaked.

That's why I have my Chardonnay vines planted in the sunniest spot against a fence so that they will ripen fully in order to make the best wine. Sometimes ripening up to three weeks earlier than field grown Chardonnay.

Here you can see the Chardonnay vine trained the same way as the Phoenix vine. Like the Phoenix I plan to produce 20-40 bunches this year but since the bunches are small eventually I should be able to let the vine carry more fruit than this.

Further along the fence there are three more small Chardonnay vines that in years to come will produce up to eight bottles of chardonnay wine. It will be interesting to make oaked and un-oaked chardonnay versions and taste the difference between them.