The Best Chardonnays in the World

The received wisdom is that the best Chardonnays on earth are to be found among the rolling hills of Burgundy, and so any list of the world's best would be festooned with the names of famous Burgundian producers. This isn't that list.

The simple reason for that is because of Burgundy's almost oppressively dominant influence  – wine critics can't praise those wines highly enough – it can be hard for other regions to get a look in.

So, we decided to split the Chardonnay load this year, with a list of Burgundy Chardonnays (which will be published later this week) and a list of the others; the ones misfortunate enough to not be born into the metaphoric wealth and privilege that a Côte d'Or address confers.

This year, we thought would celebrate those "other" producers; the ones dotted around the world producing astonishingly good wines that are doomed to forever remain in the shadow of Burgundy. However, it didn't really turn out like that.

This was surprising. Chardonnay is, after all, one of the most widespread grape varieties on earth; wherever there is a wine industry, there is Chardonnay, from the chilly northern depths of Sweden to the, er, chilly southern depths of Central Otago. So, you'd expect that there would be quality Chardonnay from a wider range of regions once Burgundy has been removed from the equation.

There are excellent Chardonnays to be had from pretty much every region (and Sweden will get there eventually, as long as we keep burning fossil fuels in vast quantities), as anyone who has ever traveled can attest, but it seems the critics don't agree. Once Burgundy is discounted (now there's a fanciful notion), it appears there is only one place that matters.

Our scores here at Wine-Searcher are an aggregate of the many scores from the critics we list, and as we have more critics listed than ever, our scores become much more representative of the direction of critical thought relating to wine. So, it appears there is a definite trend.

As you can see, with the exception of the top wine, all roads lead to Sonoma. 

This is quite astonishing really. Not that the region has become a kind of one-stop-shop for all your Chardonnay needs – the broad Sonoma County region has been a Chardonnay specialist for decades – but that critics appear to have now split the Chardonnay world into three parts: Burgundy, Sonoma and the rest.

The critics really do love Sonoma Chardonnay, and in increasing numbers. In 2018, Marcassin was the sole US representative on the list of the world's best Chardonnays. It still maintains its impressive score from that list, but today there are nine wines ahead of it. That means nine wines have achieved such high scores in the past four years that they have somehow managed to elbow an impressively consistent, quality wine somewhat to one side.

It really does emphasize the quality that is coming out of the Sonoma appellations (and, it has to be said, the quality of Kongsgaard's top wine), that they could improve so rapidly in a relatively short space of time. The Konsgaard and the Aubert Lauren Vineyards wines have managed to bump their individual scores up by a point apiece in the space of a single year, which is impressive, even allowing for the increase in the number of critics we list.

And with Sonoma (and Napa) making such sterling wines, it surely can't be long before they catch up to Burgundy. And then, perhaps, the Chardonnay world can go back to being a game of two halves, rather than three.