Tour the Chardonnay style spectrum

From lean and steely to rich and buttery, California does Chardonnay every way. The best way to explore Chardonnay’s vast potential is to visit wineries that interpret the grape differently. Start off at Stony Hill in St. Helena, where the wines see only neutral oak and never undergo malolactic fermentation; then visit Hanzell, whose flagship Chardonnay sees some (though not much) new oak and a very controlled malo. It’s an example of how restrained a Chardonnay can be while still embracing some degree of richness. Taste the era-defining version from Mike Grgich, whose Chardonnay helped put Napa on the global wine map; the plush, supremely balanced bottlings at the Donum Estate; and the unapologetic, all-out butter bombs at La Crema.

STONY HILL VINEYARD

Stony Hill has long distinguished itself for its unconventional Chardonnays, and its style is timeless: mineral-driven, firmly structured, tense yet still generous. The Spring Mountain property’s vines are old by California standards, averaging 30 years. All Stony Hill Chardonnay is fermented in barrel, but the barrels are never new — most are decades old. 3331 Saint Helena Hwy., St. Helena. www.stonyhillvineyard. com

HANZELL VINEYARDS

In the 1960s, Hanzell winemaker Brad Webb introduced important innovations to the craft of California Chardonnay: fermenting wine in stainless steel tanks; using inert gases to control malolactic bacteria and oxidation. He was also among the first to use smaller French oak barrels for Chardonnay. The soul of Hanzell is its Sonoma Valley estate Chardonnay, quietly rich, using only 25% new oak. It isn’t cheap, which is why you should also taste their entry-level Chardonnay, called Sebella. It’s more minimalist, aged in neutral oak, from the property’s younger vines. 18596 Lomita Ave., Sonoma. www.hanzell.com

GRGICH HILLS ESTATE

Chardonnay is what made Mike Grgich famous, when his 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay won the Judgment of Paris tasting. The grape remains a focus of his own Grgich Hills Estate in Rutherford, with several different bottlings. The Napa Valley Chardonnay is crisp, as malolactic fermentation was blocked; the Miljenko’s Selection, fermented in 900gallon oak casks, is rounder and more honeyed. 1829 St. Helena Hwy., Rutherford. www.grgich.com

THE DONUM ESTATE

The Donum Estate has a world-class art collection, with sculptures by Ai Weiwei, Fernando Botero and Richard Hudson — and more on the way. Donum is also producing some of the most nuanced Chardonnay in Carneros. Fermented in barrels, 40 percent of them new, with plenty of lees-stirring during the aging process, the resulting wine is salinic and citrusy, with an almond-touched richness on the finish. 24500 Ramal Rd., Sonoma. www.thedonumestate.com

LA CREMA

If you’ve ever shopped at Safeway, you’re doubtless familiar with the ubiquitous La Crema label (though it’s still not quite as popular, nor quite as cheap, as its parent company’s bestselling Chardonnay, Kendall-Jackson). As of last summer, La Crema has added a new alternative to its downtown Healdsburg tasting room: the Saralee’s Vineyard property. Saralee and Richard Kunde’s longtime home, sold to Jackson Family in 2012, has been renovated into a country mansion, a scenic spot where visitors can repose while sampling La Crema’s sybaritic, butter-forward Chardonnays. 3575 Slusser Rd., Windsor. www.lacrema.com