Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 68

29th ANNUAL RESTAURANT POLL

CHARDONNAY

"People love their pinot noir and chardonnay; they just don't like to admit
it," says Stephen McGinnis at L'Etoile in Madison, Wisconsin. Like
many sommeliers this year, he found that his customers didn't go in
much for chardonnay-unless it was called Burgundy.
While legions of fans continue to sustain Cakebread, SonomaCutrer and Rombauer at the top of respondents' lists, holding the
three prime spots for the last decade, Chablis surged onto the chart,
with the appearance of six Chablis producers among the top 18 chardonnays, where there was only one-Patrick Piuze-last year. "We do
sell plenty of California chardonnay," says Shannon Tucker at Foreign
Cinema in San Francisco, "but we don't have people searching for it.
People are steering away from the buttery styles and more toward
Chablis styles, toward more acidity and freshness."
In NYC, Daniel Beedle observed the same trend at Indian Accent.
"There was a phase of people looking for the sort of Arnot-Roberts,
Dominique Lafon, juicy Corton styles," he says. "Now people are
looking for leaner, more delicate styles." Sometimes Chablis isn't
even lean enough; he's been finding success by leading people into
the Jura. "For the price point, Ganevat delivers what they want."
This trend aligns with the drop in popularity for California wines in
general, and the surge in French wines (see chart, p. 88). Even at Frasca Food and Wine, a restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine in Boulder, Colorado, sommelier Carlin Karr reported that white Burgundy
sales are robust, accounting for ten percent of their buying budget.
Despite the interest in fine chardonnay, the variety overall has been
losing ground over the last 20 years, making up just 8.3 percent of
the top-selling wines today. A number of sommeliers reported that
they encourage diners to branch out and try something new; others
attribute the drop-off in orders to the customers themselves, some of
whom still ascribe to the anything-but-chardonnay movement.

If I had Rombauer on the list, it would be
the number one wine. If it's not that, it's
Chablis: I just can't keep enough in. People
want unoaked Chablis, fresh and crisp.
-Cynthia Goddeau, Le Farfalle, Charleston, SC

I have other chardonnays but Kistler is a
name: People see that
I have it and they don't
want to worry about
it; they don't want to
talk to me. -Ben Teig,
RedBird, Los Angeles

68

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2018

MOST POPULAR CHARDONNAYS
Rank Brand

Cakebread Cellars

Bottling
Napa Valley

Avg. Price
$88

1
Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards Russian River Valley Russian River Ranches

$46

3 Rombauer Vineyards

Carneros

4 Domaine Moreau-Naudet

Chablis 1er Cru Forêts
Chablis Vieilles Vignes Pargues

5 Sandhi

Santa Barbara

$66

6 Jordan

Russian River Valley

$66

7 Kistler

Sonoma County Vine Hill

$178

8 William Fèvre

Chablis Champs Royaux
Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume

$59
$130

9 Neyers

Carneros

$76

10 Maison Joseph Drouhin

Chablis Vaudon

$68

11 Ramey

Russian River Valley

$98

12 Patrick Piuze

Chablis

$94

13 Arnot-Roberts

Napa Valley Watson Ranch

$88

14 Domaine Michel Niellon

Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Gain

15 Daniel Dampt

Chablis

$68

16 Chateau Montelena

Napa Valley

$114

17 Jean-Marc Brocard

Chablis

$86

18 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey

Meursault 1er Cru Narvaux

$76
$130
$65

$198

$300

PINOT GRIS & GRIGIO
Once a major player in this poll, pinot grigio has lost ground to a range
of more esoteric whites. Today, when people do order it, sommeliers
report that it's often at the higher end: "We actually have two orange
wines by the glass right now," says Ray Gardzinski of Philadelphia's
Vernick Food and Drink. The two bottlings that made the list this year
are from Friuli and Oregon's Willamette Valley.

MOST POPULAR PINOT GRIS & GRIGIOS
Rank Brand

Bottling

Avg. Price

1 Marco Felluga

Friuli

$45

2 King Estate

Willamette Valley Reserve

$50

I like pinot grigio-but it's a wine that people drink
more because of what it isn't than for what it is.
It appeals to people who are looking for a white
that is not sweet, not oaky, not buttery and not
too fruity like New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
-Joshua Steiner, Carnevor, Milwaukee



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - April 2018

Contents
Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - Cover1
Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - Cover2
Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 1
Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 2
Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 3
Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 4
Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - Contents
Wine & Spirits - April 2018 - 6
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