How to pronounce Chardonnay

What is Chardonnay?

A white grape variety known for producing versatile wines ranging from crisp and mineral to rich and buttery.

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape that originated in Burgundy in east-central France. It shares its name with a village in the Mâconnais, in the Saône-et-Loire department, and that area is the probable cradle of the variety. DNA research at the University of California, Davis, points to a cross between Pinot Noir and Gouais Blanc.

In Burgundy it covers 57 percent of the vineyard area and is the grape behind the white wines of Chablis, the Côte de Beaune, the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais. Those bottles are labeled by place, so the word Chardonnay is often missing from the front. It is also one of the three main grapes of Champagne, where a Blanc de Blancs is typically all Chardonnay.

The taste depends on climate and on the cellar. Cool sites give lighter wines with noticeable acidity and flavors of green plum, apple and pear. Warmer ones move toward citrus, peach and melon, and very warm ones toward tropical fruit. Oak adds vanilla, spice and smoke. Malolactic fermentation softens the acidity and gives the buttery texture some styles are known for.

When you order, the useful question is whether the wine is oaked or unoaked. That tells you more about what will be in the glass than the grape name alone, since the same variety can be either crisp or rich.

Chardonnay, syllable by syllable

Why Chardonnay is hard to say

In French the letters ch are said sh, not the hard sound of cheese or chair. The rule holds across wine names, so once you have it for Chardonnay you also have Chablis (shah-BLEE), Champagne and Chenin Blanc. If a French label starts with ch, reach for sh first.

French places the weight on the last syllable of a word or phrase, which is why the native form leans on NAY. English tends to pull the stress forward and shrink the middle vowel, giving SHAR-dn-ay. The ending ay is a plain vowel sound in French, as in Gamay. The double n keeps the o clear and oral, so there is no nasal vowel as in the first syllable of Sancerre.

Other accepted pronunciations

These are also correct, and Vinolingo scores them as correct:

• SHAR-dn-ay — Established English form.

Tips for saying it

How to order Chardonnay

Say it at an even pace and let the last syllable land: shar-doh-NAY. The English form with the stress at the front, SHAR-dn-ay, is established and understood everywhere, so use whichever feels natural.

• “I'll have a glass of the Chardonnay, please.”
• “Is this Chardonnay oaked or unoaked?”
• “Is the Chablis made from Chardonnay?” Useful when the label shows only a place name.

Names often confused with Chardonnay

• Chablis (shah-BLEE): A Burgundy appellation in the Yonne where Chardonnay is the only permitted grape; same sh opening, and the final s is silent.
• Meursault (mur-SOH): A Côte de Beaune village whose white wine is Chardonnay, although the label names the place and not the grape.
• Pouilly-Fuissé (poo-yee fwee-SAY): A Chardonnay from the Mâconnais, the same part of Burgundy as the village of Chardonnay.
• Champagne (shahm-PAHN-yuh): The sparkling wine region where Chardonnay is one of three main grapes; it also begins with the French sh.

Questions about pronouncing Chardonnay

How do you pronounce Chardonnay?

Chardonnay is pronounced shar-doh-NAY. It has three syllables, starts with sh as in shark, and in French the stress falls on the last syllable, which sounds like the English word nay.

Is it shar-doh-NAY or SHAR-dn-ay?

Both are in use. The native French form puts the weight on the end: shar-doh-NAY. English dictionaries also record a form with the main stress on the first syllable and a reduced middle vowel, SHAR-dn-ay, which is common in British English. Either will be understood.

Is the ch in Chardonnay said like sh?

Yes. In French the letters ch make a sh sound, so Chardonnay opens like shark. The version with the ch of cheese is often heard from people reading the word for the first time, but both French and English use sh.

What does Chardonnay mean?

The grape shares its name with the village of Chardonnay in the Mâconnais area of Burgundy. The village name goes back to the Latin Cardonnacum, linked either to a Roman-era landowner called Cardus or to a place where thistles grew.

Is Chablis the same as Chardonnay?

Chablis is a place and Chardonnay is the grape. Chablis is an appellation in the Yonne department of northern Burgundy where Chardonnay is the only permitted variety, so every bottle of Chablis is a Chardonnay even though the label does not say so.

Sources: Wikipedia: Chardonnay, Bourgogne Wines: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the Bourgogne region's two noble grape varietals, Wikipedia: Chardonnay, Saône-et-Loire, Wiktionary: Chardonnay. Last reviewed 2026-10-10.