The "New World" style almost seems like a completely different wine. Ripe in flavor and often slightly sweet, it's a big Chardonnay with vanilla and tropical-fruit character and a marked buttery aroma and texture. As with just about every generalization in the world of wine, there are many exceptions to this one. You'll find a taste of butter in some European Chardonnays, and more than a few Australian and California Chardonnays are made in a style that's, well, Burgundian. But when you pull the cork and the wine shouts "Butter! Butter!" you can pretty much be assured that you've opened a New World-style Chardonnay.
Diacetyl turns up in wine when the wine maker puts a naturally low-acid wine through a process called malolactic fermentation. This process, triggered in the winery by adding a special bacteria to the wine and called "malo" for short, was developed as a way to make high-acid wines more palatable, as it converts the wine's naturally occurring malic acid - which is tart, even tangy, and imparts a green-apple flavor - into lactic acid, which is softer and more mellow.
The first sign of trouble came when I noticed that the foil capsule around the business end of the bottle was glued tight to the glass with dried wine that had leaked around the cork ("crud," to use a technical wine-tasting term). While this is not a sure sign of damaged wine - I've had plenty of fine wine from repulsively cruddy bottles - it's an almost certain sign that the wine hasn't been kept consistently under cool storage conditions. The cork seemed unusually soft, spongy and dry, and when I pulled it out, it had been stained with red wine from end to end.
The wine's color didn't betray serious problems: It was clear, not cloudy, and remained garnet, reddish-violet, without the distinct "brown" colors that betray a dead wine. But the aroma and flavor further suggested a wine damaged by heat or exposure to air: subtle fruit remained, focused on red-skinned plums, but it was hiding shyly behind a veil of burnt sugar and caramel. Tart fruit flavors were laced with the light but distinct walnut and pecan character, reminiscent of Sherry, that betrays oxidation. This one was borderline, frankly. In contrast with cork taint, which almost always renders a wine undrinkable for me, this one retained enough fruit and structure to be palatable. But the experience was significantly diminished, and it wouldn't be fair to represent this wine as typical of its brand with a formal tasting note.
So, the presence or absence of "butter" divides the world of Chardonnay into two broad categories that are roughly associated with the wine's geographical origin. The "Old World" style, characteristic of White Burgundies, produces a wine that's usually high in acidity and bone-dry, focused on fruit, with little or no oak flavor.
Diacetyl turns up in wine when the wine maker puts a naturally low-acid wine through a process called malolactic fermentation. This process, triggered in the winery by adding a special bacteria to the wine and called "malo" for short, was developed as a way to make high-acid wines more palatable, as it converts the wine's naturally occurring malic acid - which is tart, even tangy, and imparts a green-apple flavor - into lactic acid, which is softer and more mellow.
The first sign of trouble came when I noticed that the foil capsule around the business end of the bottle was glued tight to the glass with dried wine that had leaked around the cork ("crud," to use a technical wine-tasting term). While this is not a sure sign of damaged wine - I've had plenty of fine wine from repulsively cruddy bottles - it's an almost certain sign that the wine hasn't been kept consistently under cool storage conditions. The cork seemed unusually soft, spongy and dry, and when I pulled it out, it had been stained with red wine from end to end.
The wine's color didn't betray serious problems: It was clear, not cloudy, and remained garnet, reddish-violet, without the distinct "brown" colors that betray a dead wine. But the aroma and flavor further suggested a wine damaged by heat or exposure to air: subtle fruit remained, focused on red-skinned plums, but it was hiding shyly behind a veil of burnt sugar and caramel. Tart fruit flavors were laced with the light but distinct walnut and pecan character, reminiscent of Sherry, that betrays oxidation. This one was borderline, frankly. In contrast with cork taint, which almost always renders a wine undrinkable for me, this one retained enough fruit and structure to be palatable. But the experience was significantly diminished, and it wouldn't be fair to represent this wine as typical of its brand with a formal tasting note.
So, the presence or absence of "butter" divides the world of Chardonnay into two broad categories that are roughly associated with the wine's geographical origin. The "Old World" style, characteristic of White Burgundies, produces a wine that's usually high in acidity and bone-dry, focused on fruit, with little or no oak flavor.
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