Chardonnay

Chardonnay grows well across half the world, which has made it at once the most loved and the most suspect of white grapes. But the grape was never the problem: it’s a chameleon, taking on the accent of wherever it’s planted.

Where it truly shines is Champagne. On chalk soils it gives taut, mineral, high-strung wines, and when a champagne is made from it alone they call it Blanc de Blancs. It also rules in Burgundy, its home turf, where it makes some of the finest whites on the planet.