Wine column: Fill 'er up with Chardonnay

For some people, when they ask for a glass of white wine, what they're really jonesing for is a glass of Chardonnay.

That's how popular, ubiquitous and delicious Chardonnay is.

It's easily the best-selling white wine in the world.

As such, the varietal deserves its own holiday and gets it every year with National Chardonnay Day on the Thursday before the last Monday in May.

This year, it's Thursday, May 25.

This date selection seems complicated because it's a moving target linked to when Memorial Day falls in the US, which is always the last Monday in May.

The Thursday before Memorial Day was chosen to encourage people to grab a bottle of Chardonnay (or two, or three) to drink over the long weekend to celebrate.

While technically it's US-created National Chardonnay Day, the whole world has jumped on the bandwagon.

By the way, branding guru Rick Bakas (of Nike fame) instigated National Chardonnay Day to help boost wine sales (and people's moods) after the financial collapse of 2008.

The timing also piggybacks off National Wine Day, which is every year on May 25 and not to be confused with National Drink Wine Day annually on Feb. 18.

Chardonnay is everywhere because the grapes grow well in any wine region, thus a lot of fruit to be made into wine.

It's also considered a blank slate of a grape that can be crafted into a wide range of wines from crisp and clean to rich and oaky and everything in between.

Chardonnay can also be used to make sparkling and ice wines.

So, it's versatile and can please almost any taste.

Chardonnay's homeland is the Burgundy region of France where it tends to be made into light, elegant and crisp wines called Chablis that haven't been aged in oak barrels.

In the hands of California and Australian winemakers, Chardonnay generally gets medium-to-heavy oak treatment to create a wine that's toasty, rich and buttery.

Okanagan Chardonnays tend to be in between -- lightly oaked to give extra texture and interest while keeping fresh fruit flavours and aromas.

Here's seven Okanagan Chardonnays that cover the gamut:

- Charisma Un-oaked Chardonnay ($22) from Oliver

No oak whatsoever means this wine has a lean lemon-cream-and-pear profile.

- Moraine 2021 Chardonnay ($29) from the Naramata Bench

A kiss of oak for aromas and flavours of Golden Delicious apple and lime with the buttery mouthfeel.

- Tinhorn Creek 2021 Chardonnay ($25) from Oliver

Another elegantly oaked Chard with a pear-grilled-pineapple-and-vanilla profile.

- Tinhorn Creek Blanc de Blanc sparkling ($45) from Oliver

This gold medal winner from the 2022 WineAlign National Wine Awards of Canada is a Champagne-style bubbly made of 100% Chardonnay.

- Red Rooster 2021 Sur Lie Chardonnay ($25) from the Naramata Bench

Sur lie refers to this wine aging on yeast particles left over from fermentation to give this Chard a pleasing textural weightiness in the mouth in addition to the primary fruit aromas and flavours of grapefruit and lime.

- Hester Creek 2021 Chardonnay ($25) from Oliver

Another nice use of oak to add some hazelnut-and-honey profile to the first impression of peach.

- Black Hill 2021 Chardonnay ($40) from Oliver

Medium oak to impart some fresh-baked bread aromas and flavours to the initial green-apple-and-lemon fruitiness.

Vintage Ink

What do tattoos and wine have in common?

The answer is Vintage Ink, a new label from Canadian wine giant Arterra, which also has Okanagan wineries Jackson-Triggs, Nk'Mip, Culmina, Laughing Stock, See Ya Later Ranch, Inniskillin and Sumac Ridge.

Vintage Ink makes three wines from Okanagan grapes -- Whisky Barrel Aged Red, Wicked White and Pink Ink -- all with labels featuring old-school tattoo designs.

In the case of the red it's an octopus, the white a bear and the rose a mermaid.

To promote Vintage Ink to the tattoo crowd, the label is partnering with Palace Tattoo in Vancouver.

People can drop by the tattoo parlour at 684 East Hastings St. from 5:30-8:30 pm on May 25, which is same day as the Vancouver Tattoo & Culture Show, to sample Vintage Ink wines, check out the retro shop and view the designs of Doc Forbes, one of Vancouver's original tattoo artists.

Ten people will also get free Doc Forbes-inspired tattoos and leave with a bottle of Vintage Ink wine.

Steve MacNaull is a NowMedia Group reporter, Okanagan wine lover and Canadian Wine Scholar. His wine column appears every Friday afternoon in this space.