title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: A third-person 3D action-adventure like "Tomb Raider" was unprecedented at the time, and the development team took several months to find a way to make Gard's vision for the game work on the hardware of the time, in particular getting the player character to interact with freeform environments. "Tomb Raider" used a custom-built game engine, as did many games of the era. The engine was designed and built by Douglas with assistance from Rummery. Rummery created the level editor, which allowed for "seamless" creation of levels. According to Rummery, the decision to build the game levels on a grid was the key breakthrough in making the game possible. It is Core Design's contention that, prior to the development of "Tomb Raider", they were "struggling somewhat" with 32-bit development.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: The level editor program was designed so that developers could make rapid adjustments to specific areas with ease. Another noted aspect was the multi-layered levels, as compared to equivalent 3D action-adventure games of the time which were mostly limited to a flat-floor system with little verticality. The interlinking room design was inspired by Egyptian multi-roomed tombs, particularly the tomb of Tutankhamun. The grid-based pattern was a necessity due to the d-pad-based tank controls and the Saturn's quad polygon-based rendering technology. Levels were first designed using a wireframe construction, with each area at this stage having only links to other areas of a level and walls. The team then added architecture and gameplay elements like traps and enemies, then implemented the different lighting values. Due to time and technical limitations, planned outdoor areas had to be cut.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: The choice of a third-person perspective was influenced by the team's opinion that the game type was under-represented when compared to first-person shooters such as "Doom". The third-person view meant multiple elements were difficult to implement, including the character and camera control. The camera had four pre-set angles, which seamlessly switched depending on the character's position and the level progress. For standard navigation and combat, the camera was fixed on a particular point and oriented around Lara while focusing on that object. Lara's twin pistol set-up was in place from the early prototypes. The aiming system was designed so that each gun arm had an aiming axis, with a shared "sweetspot" where both guns fired at the same target. For underwater environments, the effects were created using gouraud shading to create real-time ripple and lighting effects.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: The music for "Tomb Raider" was composed by Nathan McCree, who at the time was an in-house composer for Core Design. The main inspiration behind the score for McCree was English Classical music. This approach was directly influenced by his conversations with Gard about Lara's character. Based on this, he kept the main theme simple and melodic. The main theme used a four-note motif, which continues to appear through the series. The piece "Where The Depths Unfold", used when Lara is swimming underwater, was a choral work. They did not have the space or budget for live music recording, which was challenging for McCree as he needed to create the whole thing using synthesisers. To make the choir sound realistic, he inserted recordings of himself breathing at the right points so it sounded like an actual choir. For each track, McCree got a basic description of where the music would be used, then was left to create it. There was no time for rewrites, so each track was included in the game as first composed.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: Unlike most other games of the time, there was not a musical track playing constantly throughout the game; instead, limited musical cues would play only during specially-selected moments to produce a dramatic effect. For the majority of the game, the only audio heard is action-based effects, atmospheric sounds, and Lara's own grunts and sighs, all of which were enhanced because they did not have to compete with music. According to McCree, the game was scored this way because he was allotted very little time for the job, forcing him to quickly write pieces without any thought to where they would go in the game. When the soundtrack was finally applied, the developers found that the tunes worked best when applied to specific places. The symphonic sounds were created using Roland Corporation's Orchestral Expansion board for their JV series keyboards.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: English voice actress Shelley Blond provided the voice of Lara. She was given the job after her agent called and had her record some audition lines onto tape. She felt under a lot of pressure at the time, as Core Design had spent three months searching for the right voice. She recalled: "I was asked to perform her voice in a very plain non-emotive manner and in a 'female Bond' type of way. I would have added more inflection, tone and emotion to my voice but they wanted to keep it how they felt it should sound, which was quite right. My job was to bring their character to life".


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: According to Blond, she spent four to five hours recording the voice for Lara including the grunts, cries and other effort and death sounds. A different account attributes these sounds to Gibson, Core Design's PR Manager Suzie Hamilton, and sound designer Martin Iveson whose voice pitch was made higher. Blond would not return for any subsequent entries. In a 2011 interview Blond stated that her departure was due to disagreeing with "some things" within Core Design and Eidos, but five years later she said that she was asked to reprise her role but had to decline due to other commitments. She gave permission for her effort voice work to be reused while the character's dialogue would be voiced by Judith Gibbins.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: "Tomb Raider" was first confirmed in 1995, although details were kept scarce by the developers. There was little attention from the press until a demo was run at the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo, causing the press and public to pay more attention. There was a huge amount of publicity, much of which did not involve the Core Design team at all, which prompted mixed feelings. While the scale of the game's eventual popularity was not in the team's minds, its strong reception at gaming events hinted that it would be a success. To help promote the game, Eidos hired models to portray Lara Croft at trade events. They first hired Natalie Cook, but apparently due to her unsuitability with Eidos's cross-media plans for the character, she was replaced with Rhona Mitra in 1997. Mitra served as Lara's model until 1998.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: The game was first released for Saturn in Europe on 25 October 1996. In North America, the Saturn, PlayStation and MS-DOS versions were released simultaneously on 14 November. In Europe, the PlayStation and MS-DOS versions were released on 22 November. Future PC patches allowed the game to work on Windows 95. The PC version was released on Steam on 29 November 2012. The PlayStation and Saturn versions were also published in Japan in 1997 by Victor Interactive Software under the name "Tomb Raiders". The Saturn version was released on 14 January, while the PlayStation version came on 14 February. The PlayStation version was re-released for the PlayStation Network in North America in August 2009, and in Europe in August 2010. An attempt was made by Realtech VR to remaster the first three "Tomb Raider" titles for Windows, but due to not having asked permission from then-franchise owner Square Enix first, the project was cancelled.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: In 1997, four new levels were released in an expansion pack for the Windows version, known under the title "Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business". The expansion pack also came with promotional materials for the game's sequel "Tomb Raider II". In 1998, the levels were made available as downloadable content for the Windows release, and a budget version was released on 20 March containing both the original game and the additional levels under the title "Tomb Raider Gold". Production on these new levels was led by Phil Campbell, a newcomer who was transferred to Core Design after another project was cancelled. The two new areas were dubbed "Unfinished Business", set within the ruins of the Atlantean pyramid; and "Shadow of the Cat", which saw Lara exploring a temple in Egypt dedicated to the goddess Bastet. "Unfinished Business" was intended as an alternate, more difficult finale to the game featuring more mutant enemies and a focus on complex platforming. The concept for "Shadow of the Cat" was born from a cat statue used in the Khamoon level, with the levels being themed after a cat's nine lives. Due to licensing issues, several later re-releases excluded the "Gold" content.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: The game was released for Mac OS on 16 March 1999. It was ported to the platform by Aspyr and based on "Tomb Raider Gold". A port to the Pocket PC was published by Handango in July 2002. It was released on the N-Gage in October 2003. Both ports were developed by Ideaworks3D. "Tomb Raider" was ported to iOS devices, developed and published by Square Enix. The port was released on 17 December 2013, and includes the additional levels of the "Gold" release. This version was released on Android devices in April 2015.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: An infamous part of "Tomb Raider"s history is a fan-made software patch dubbed "Nude Raider". The patch, when added to an existing PC copy of a "Tomb Raider" game, caused Lara to appear naked. In 1999, Core Design considered taking legal action against websites that hosted nude pictures of Lara Croft, stating that "we have a large number of young fans and we don't want them stumbling across the pictures when they do a general search for "Tomb Raider"". Eidos sent cease and desist letters to the owners of the "nuderaider.com" URL that hosted the patch to enforce its copyright of "Tomb Raider". Sites depicting nude images of Lara Croft have been sent cease and desist notices and shut down, and Eidos Interactive was awarded the rights to the "Nude Raider" domain name. A rumor stated that the game has a cheat code for Lara's nudity. Management did suggest adding it to developers, but they refused. As a response to the controversy, Core Design included a secret code in the sequel; allegedly a similar nude code, it in fact blows Lara up.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: Upon its release in 1996, the game was widely praised by video game magazines for its variety and depth of control, revolutionary graphics, intriguing environments, and use of occasional combat to maintain an atmosphere of tension. Ryan MacDonald of "GameSpot" described the game having the puzzle solving from "Resident Evil", the gory action of "Loaded", and the ability to have a 360-degree freedom in the gameplay. The game tied with the Saturn version of "Street Fighter Alpha 2" for "Electronic Gaming Monthly"s "Game of the Month", with their review team saying it stood out from other titles and was the PlayStation's best release at the time. "Next Generation" called it "a thought-provoking, riveting action-adventure easily on par in intensity with any of Hollywood's finest efforts", citing it as a landmark title and potential trend setter for that console generation.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: Some critics rated the PlayStation version better than the Saturn version. MacDonald wrote that its graphics were sharper and "GamePro" scored it half a point higher than the Saturn version in every category despite noting the former's "solid showing". However, "Next Generation" said that it would not bother to review the PlayStation version because the differences between it and the Saturn version were negligible. Similarly, "Electronic Gaming Monthly" only reviewed the PlayStation version, and stated in a feature on the game that both versions were playable and enjoyable, while also having identical graphics. A retrospective analysis of the game by "Digital Foundry" referred to the Saturn version as the least enjoyable versions due to lower frame rate and poorer audio compared to other versions. "Next Generation" reviewed the PC version of "Tomb Raider Gold", rated it three stars out of five, and wrote that it was a suitable purchase for series newcomers, with old players being more likely to download the levels from the game website.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: "Tomb Raider" was "Computer Games Strategy Plus"s 1996 overall game of the year and won the magazine's award for the year's best "3D Action" game as well. It was a finalist for CNET Gamecenter's 1996 "Best Action Game" award, which went to "Quake". "Electronic Gaming Monthly" named "Tomb Raider" a runner-up for both "PlayStation Game of the Year" (behind "Tekken 2") and "Saturn Game of the Year" (behind "Dragon Force"), commenting that both versions had been designed to take optimum advantage of each console's capabilities. They named it runner-up for both "Action Game of the Year" (behind "Die Hard Trilogy") and "Adventure Game of the Year" (behind "Super Mario 64"), as well as "Game of the Year" (again behind "Super Mario 64"). It won "Best Animation" in the 1996 Spotlight Awards.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: Less than a year after its release, "Electronic Gaming Monthly" ranked the PlayStation version of "Tomb Raider" the 54th-best console video game of all time, particularly citing its vast and compelling areas to explore. In 1998, "PC Gamer" declared it the 47th-best computer game released, and the editors called it "tremendous fun to play and a legitimate piece of post-modern gaming history". In 2001 "Game Informer" ranked it the 86th-best game ever made. They praised it for Lara's appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: At release, "Tomb Raider" topped the British charts a record three times, and contributed substantially to the success of the PlayStation. In the previous year, Eidos Interactive had recorded a nearly $2.6 million pre-tax loss. The success of the game turned this loss into a $14.5 million profit in a year. As one of the top-selling games of the PlayStation console, it was one of the first to be released on PlayStation's 'Platinum' series, and its success made "Tomb Raider II" the most anticipated game of 1997. By 1997, units had been sold worldwide.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: In August 1998, the game's computer version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD), while its PlayStation release took "Gold". These prizes indicate sales of 200,000 and 100,000 units, respectively, across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. During the first three months of 1997, "Tomb Raider" was the ninth-best-selling console game in the United States, with sales of 143,000 units. This made it the country's highest-selling PlayStation title for the period. "Tomb Raider" sold over 7 million copies worldwide. "Tomb Raider", along with its successor, "Tomb Raider II", were the two best-selling games in the franchise prior to the 2013 reboot.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: In 1999, "Next Generation" listed "Tomb Raider" as number 22 on its "Top 50 Games of All Time", commenting that the level design and art direction enabled a real feeling of exploration and accomplishment. In 2001, "GameSpot" listed "Tomb Raider" on its "15 Most Influential Games of All Time", saying it served as a template for many 3D action-adventure games that would follow and helped drive the market for 3D accelerator cards for PCs. In 2004, the "Official UK PlayStation Magazine" chose "Tomb Raider" as the fourth-best game of all time.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: It won a multitude of Game of the Year awards from leading industry publications. In 1998, "Tomb Raider" won the Origins Award for "Best Action Computer Game of 1997". In 1999, Toby Gard and Paul Douglas won the Berners-Lee Interactive BAFTA Award for best contribution to the industry for their work creating the franchise. In 2018, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted "Tomb Raider" to its World Video Game Hall of Fame.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: The sequel to the game, "Tomb Raider II", was in the concept stage as production of "Tomb Raider" was wrapping up. Under pressure from Eidos Interactive, Core Design would develop a new "Tomb Raider" annually between 1997 and 2000, putting considerable strain on the team. Their struggles culminated in the troubled development of "" for PlayStation 2. Releasing to poor critical reception and lackluster sales, Eidos Interactive transferred the franchise to another development studio they owned, Crystal Dynamics, who would reboot the series in 2006 with "".


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: Following the release of "Tomb Raider", Lara Croft herself became a gaming icon, seeing unprecedented media cross promotion. These included commercials for cars and foodstuffs, an appearance on the cover of "The Face", and requests for sponsorship from outside companies. The level of sophistication "Tomb Raider" reached by combining state-of-the-art graphics, an atmospheric soundtrack, and a cinematic approach to gameplay was at the time unprecedented.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: While Gard enjoyed working at Core Design, he wished to have greater creative control, and disliked Eidos's treatment of Lara Croft in promotional material, which focused on her sexuality at the expense of her in-game characterisation. Gard and Douglas left Core Design in 1997 to found their own studio, Confounding Factor. This prompted mixed feelings from remaining Core Design staff, who were already at work on the next title in the series. Speaking in 2004, Gard said he would have liked to produce a sequel, but noted that Lara had changed from his original concepts for her, leaving him unsure of how he would handle her. Gard would eventually return to the franchise with "Tomb Raider: Legend".


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: After the release of "Legend", Crystal Dynamics created a remake of "Tomb Raider" using the "Legend" engine and continuity. Gard acted as one of the story designers, fleshing out both the main narrative and Lara's characterisation. The remake was co-developed by Crystal Dynamics and Buzz Monkey Software. Titled "", the game released worldwide in 2007 for PlayStation 2, Windows, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360 and Wii.


title: Tomb Raider (1996 video game)

text: Fan interest in the game has continued since its original release. In 2016, developer Timur "XProger" Gagiev began work on OpenLara, an open source port of the original "Tomb Raider" engine. The further development of this project enabled "Tomb Raider" to be ported to many modern and legacy systems, such as the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, the Xbox, iPhone, and the Nintendo 3DS. In January 2022, a version for the Game Boy Advance was released, which attracted attention from several media outlets.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new and developing wine regions, growing Chardonnay is seen as a 'rite of passage' and an easy entry into the international wine market.


title: Chardonnay

text: The Chardonnay grape itself is neutral, with many of the flavors commonly associated with the wine being derived from such influences as "terroir" and oak. It is vinified in many different styles, from the lean, crisply mineral wines of Chablis, France, to New World wines with oak and tropical fruit flavors. In cool climates (such as Chablis and the Carneros AVA of California), Chardonnay wine tends to be medium to light body with noticeable acidity and flavors of green plum, apple, and pear. In warmer locations (such as the Adelaide Hills and Mornington Peninsula in Australia and Gisborne and Marlborough region of New Zealand), the flavors become more citrus, peach, and melon, while in very warm locations (such as the Central Coast AVA of California), more fig and tropical fruit notes such as banana and mango come out. Wines that have gone through malolactic fermentation tend to have softer acidity and fruit flavors with buttery mouthfeel and hazelnut notes.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay is an important component of many sparkling wines around the world, including Champagne and Franciacorta in Italy. Chardonnay's popularity peaked in the late 1980s, then gave way to a backlash among those wine connoisseurs who saw the grape as a leading negative component of the globalization of wine. Nonetheless, it is one of the most widely planted grape varieties, with worldwide, second only to Airén among white wine grapes and fifth among all wine grapes.


title: Chardonnay

text: For much of its history, a connection was assumed between Chardonnay and Pinot noir or Pinot blanc. In addition to being found in the same region of France for centuries, ampelographers noted that the leaves of these plants have near-identical shape and structure. Pierre Galet disagreed with this assessment, believing that Chardonnay was unrelated to any other major grape variety. Viticulturalists Maynard Amerine and Harold Olmo proposed a descendency from a wild "Vitis vinifera" vine that was a step removed from white Muscat. Chardonnay's true origins were further obscured by vineyard owners in Lebanon and Syria, who claimed that the grape's ancestry could be traced to the Middle East, from where it was introduced to Europe by returning Crusaders. Little external evidence supports this theory. Another theory stated that it originated from an ancient indigenous vine found in Cyprus.


title: Chardonnay

text: Modern DNA fingerprinting research at University of California, Davis, now suggests that Chardonnay is the result of a cross between the Pinot noir and Gouais blanc (Heunisch) grape varieties. The Romans are thought to have brought Gouais blanc from Croatia, and it was widely cultivated by peasants in eastern France.


title: Chardonnay

text: The Pinot of the French aristocracy grew in close proximity to the Gouais blanc, giving the two ample opportunity to interbreed. Since the two parents were genetically distant, many of the crosses showed hybrid vigour and were selected for further propagation. These "successful" crosses included Chardonnay and siblings such as Aligoté, Aubin vert, Auxerrois, Bachet noir, Beaunoir, Franc Noir de la-Haute-Saône, Gamay Blanc Gloriod, Gamay noir, Melon, Knipperlé, Peurion, Roublot, Sacy, and Dameron.


title: Chardonnay

text: As of 2006, 34 clonal varieties of Chardonnay could be found in vineyards throughout France; most of these were developed at the University of Burgundy in Dijon. The so-called "Dijon clones" are bred for their adaptive attributes, with vineyard owners planting the clonal variety best suited to their "terroir" and which will produce the characteristics that they are seeking in the wine. Examples include the lower-yielding clones 'Dijon-76', '95' and '96' that produce more flavor-concentrated clusters. 'Dijon-77' and '809' produce more aromatic wines with a "grapey" perfume, while 'Dijon-75', '78', '121', '124', '125' and '277' are more vigorous and higher-yielding clones. New World varieties include the 'Mendoza' clone, which produced some of the early California Chardonnays. The 'Mendoza' clone is prone to develop "millerandage", also known as "hens and chicks", where the berries develop unevenly. In places such as Oregon, the use of newer Dijon clones has had some success in those regions of the Willamette Valley with climates similar to that of Burgundy.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay has served as parent to several French-American hybrid grapes, as well as crossings with other "V. vinifera" varieties. Examples include the hybrid Chardonel, which was a Chardonnay and Seyval blanc cross produced in 1953 at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station. Mutations of the Chardonnay grape include the rare pink-berried 'Chardonnay Rose'; also 'Chardonnay Blanc Musqué', which produces an intensely aromatic wine. Chardonnay Blanc Musqué is mostly found around the Mâconnais village of Clessé and sometimes confused with the 'Dijon-166' clone planted in South Africa, which yields Muscat-like aromas.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay has a wide-ranging reputation for relative ease of cultivation and ability to adapt to different conditions. The grape is very "malleable", in that it reflects and takes on the impression of its "terroir" and winemaker. It is a highly vigorous vine, with extensive leaf cover which can inhibit the energy and nutrient uptake of its grape clusters. Vineyard managers counteract this with aggressive pruning and canopy management. When Chardonnay vines are planted densely, they are forced to compete for resources and funnel energy into their grape clusters. In certain conditions, the vines can be very high-yielding, but the wine produced from such vines suffers a drop in quality if yields go much beyond 80 hl/ha (4.5 tons per acre). Producers of premium Chardonnay limit yields to less than half this amount. Sparkling wine producers tend not to focus as much on limiting yields, since concentrated flavors are not as important as the wine's finesse.


title: Chardonnay

text: Harvesting time is crucial to winemaking, with the grape rapidly losing acidity as soon as it ripens. Some viticultural hazards include the risk of damage from springtime frost, as Chardonnay is an early-budding vine – usually a week after Pinot noir. To combat the threat of frost, a method developed in Burgundy involves aggressive pruning just prior to budburst. This "shocks" the vine and delays budburst up to two weeks, which is often long enough for warmer weather to arrive. "Millerandage" and "coulure" can also pose problems, along with powdery mildew attacking the thin skin of the grapes. Because of Chardonnay's early ripening, it can thrive in wine regions with short growing seasons, and in regions such as Burgundy, can be harvested before autumn rain sets in and brings the threat of rot.


title: Chardonnay

text: While Chardonnay can adapt to almost all vineyard soils, the three it seems to like most are chalk, clay, and limestone, all very prevalent throughout Chardonnay's traditional "homeland". The Grand crus of Chablis are planted on hillsides composed of Kimmeridgian marl, limestone, and chalk. The outlying regions, falling under the more basic "Petit Chablis" appellation, are planted on portlandian limestone which produces wines with less finesse. Chalk beds are found throughout the Champagne region, and the Côte-d'Or has many areas composed of limestone and clay. In Burgundy, the amount of limestone to which the Chardonnay vines are exposed also seems to have some effect on the resulting wine. In the Meursault region, the "premier cru" vineyards planted at Meursault-Charmes have topsoil almost above limestone and the resulting wines are very rich and rounded. In the nearby Les Perrières vineyard, the topsoil is only around above the limestone and the wine from that region is much more powerful, minerally, and tight, needing longer in the bottle to develop fully. In other areas, soil type can compensate for lack of ideal climate conditions. In South Africa, for example, regions with stonier, shaley soils and high clay levels tend to produce lower-yielding and more Burgundian-style wine, despite having a discernibly warmer climate than France. In contrast, South African Chardonnay produced from more sandstone-based vineyards tend to be richer and more weighty.


title: Chardonnay

text: Due to some ampelographical similarities, Pinot blanc and Chardonnay were often mistaken for each other and even today share many of the same synonyms. The grape vines, leaves, and clusters look identical at first glance, but some subtle differences are seen. The most visible of these can be observed as the grapes are ripening, with Chardonnay grapes taking on a more golden-green color than Pinot blanc grapes. On closer inspection, the grapevine shows slight differences in the texture and length of the hairs on the vine's shoot, and the veins of a Chardonnay leaf are "naked" near the petiolar sinus – the open area where the leaf connects to the stem is delineated by veins at the edge. Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the few other "Vitis vinifera" grape vines to share this characteristic. This confusion between Pinot blanc and Chardonnay was very pervasive throughout northern Italy, where the two vines grew interspersed in the vineyard and were blended in winemaking. The Italian government did not dispatch researchers to try to distinguish the two vines until 1978. A similar situation occurred in France, with the two vines being commonly confused until the mid-19th century, when ampelographers began combing through the vineyards of Chablis and Burgundy, identifying the true Chardonnay and weeding out the Pinot blanc.


title: Chardonnay

text: In France, Chardonnay is the second-most widely planted white grape variety just behind Ugni blanc and ahead of Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc. The grape first rose to prominence in the Chablis and Burgundy regions. In Champagne, it is most often blended with Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, but is also used to produce single varietal "blanc de blancs" styles of sparkling wine. Chardonnay can be found in "Appellation d'origine contrôlée" (AOC) wines of the Loire Valley and Jura wine region, as well as the "vin de pays" wines of the Languedoc.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay is one of the dominant grapes in Burgundy, though Pinot noir vines outnumber it by nearly a three-to-one ratio. In addition to Chablis, Chardonnay is found in the Côte d'Or (largely in the Côte de Beaune), as well as the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais. It is grown in eight "grand cru" vineyards; The "Montrachets"-Montrachet, Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet, Bâtard-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet, and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet, as well as Charlemagne, Corton-Charlemagne, and Le Musigny. In addition to being the most expensive, the Burgundy examples of Chardonnay were long considered the benchmark standard of expressing "terroir" through Chardonnay. The Montrachets are noted for their high alcohol levels, often above 13%, as well as deep concentration of flavors. The vineyards around Chassagne-Montrachet tend to have a characteristic hazelnut aroma to them, while those of Puligny-Montrachet have more steely flavors. Both "grand cru" and "premier cru" examples from Corton-Charlemagne have been known to demonstrate marzipan, while Meursault wines tend to be the most round and buttery examples.


title: Chardonnay

text: South of the Côte d'Or are the Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais wine regions. The villages of Mercurey, Montagny-lès-Buxy, and Rully are the largest producers of Chardonnay in the Côte Chalonnaise, with the best-made examples rivaling those of the Côte de Beaune. In the Mâconnais, white wine production is centered on the town of Mâcon and the Pouilly-Fuissé region. The full-bodied wines of the Pouilly-Fuissé have long held cult wine status with prices that can rival the "grand cru" white burgundies. Further south, in the region of Beaujolais, Chardonnay has started to replace Aligoté as the main white wine grape and is even replacing Gamay in some areas around Saint-Véran. With the exception of Pouilly-Fuissé, the wines of the Mâconnais are the closest Burgundy example to "New World" Chardonnay, though it is not identical. Typically, Mâcon blanc, basic Bourgogne, Beaujolais blanc, and Saint-Véran are meant to be consumed within two to three years of release. However, many of the well-made examples of white Burgundy from the Côte d'Or need at least three years in the bottle to develop enough to express the aromas and character of the wine. Hazelnut, licorice, and spice are some of the flavors that can develop as these wines age.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay is the only permitted AOC grape variety in the Chablis region, with the wines there developing such worldwide recognition that the name "Chablis" has taken on somewhat generic connotations to mean any dry white wine, even those not made from Chardonnay. The name is protected in the European Union and for wine sold in the EU, "Chablis" refers only to the Chardonnay wine produced in this region of the Yonne "". The region sits on the outer edges of the Paris Basin. On the other side of the basin is the village of Kimmeridge in England, which gives its name to the Kimmeridgean soil that is located throughout Chablis. The French describe this soil as "argilo-calcaire" and is a composition of clay, limestone, and fossilized oyster shells. The most expensive examples of Chardonnay from Chablis come from the seven Grand Cru vineyards that account for around on the southwest side of one slope along the Serein River near the towns of Chablis—Blanchots, Bougros, Les Clos, Grenouilles, Preuses, Valmur, and Vaudésir. The wines from these crus most often capture the "goût de pierre à fusil" or "gunflint" quality that is characteristic of Chablis wine.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay was believed to be first planted in Chablis by the Cistercians at Pontigny Abbey in the 12th century. Today, the Chardonnay made in the Chablis region is one of the "purest" expression of the varietal character of the grape due to the simplistic style of winemaking favored in this region. Chablis winemakers want to emphasise the "terroir" of the calcareous soil and cooler climate that help maintain high acidity. The wines rarely go through malolactic fermentation or are exposed to oak (though its use is increasing). The biting, green apple-like acidity is a trademark of Chablis and can be noticeable in the bouquet. The acidity can mellow with age and Chablis are some of the longest-living examples of Chardonnay. Some examples of Chablis can have an earthy "wet stone" flavor that can get mustier as it ages before mellowing into delicate honeyed notes. The use of oak is controversial in the Chablis community, with some winemakers dismissing it as counter to the "Chablis style" or "terroir", while others embrace its use, though not to the length that would characterise a "New World" Chardonnay. The winemakers who use oak tend to favor more neutral oak that does not impart the vanilla characteristic associated with American oak. The amount of "char" in the barrel is often very light, which limits the amount of "toastiness" perceived in the wine. The advocates of oak in Chablis point to the positive benefits of allowing limited oxygenation with the wine through the permeable oak barrels. This can have the effect of softening the wine and making the generally austere and acidic Chablis more approachable at a younger age.


title: Chardonnay

text: In the Champagne, Chardonnay is one of three major grape varieties planted in the region. It is most commonly found in the Aube and Marne "départments" which, combined with Chablis, accounted for more than half of all plantings of Chardonnay in France during the 20th century. In the Côte des Blancs (white slope) district of the Marne, Chardonnay thrives on the chalk soil. The three main villages around the Côte grow Chardonnay that emphasizes certain characteristics that the Champagne producers seek depending on their house style. The village of Avize grows grapes that produce the lightest wines, Cramant makes the most aromatic, and Mesnil produces wines with the most acidity. The Côte des Blancs is the only district in the Champagne region predominately planted with Chardonnay. In the four other main districts – Aube, Côte de Sézanne, Montagne de Reims, and Vallée de la Marne – Chardonnay lags behind Pinot noir in planting. In the outlying region of Aisne, only Pinot Meunier has a significant presence. Despite being less planted, the "Blanc de Blancs" style of Champagne (made from only Chardonnay grapes) is far more commonly produced than "Blanc de Noirs". This is partly because Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier produce very coarse and heavy wines that lack the finesse and balance that Chardonnay brings to the mix. Nonsparkling still wine Chardonnay is produced under the Coteaux Champenois AOC. The wine is much more acidic than that of Chablis and is normally made bone-dry.


title: Chardonnay

text: Despite receiving the same amount of sunshine as the Chablis region, Chardonnay grapes in Champagne rarely attain full ripeness due to the mean temperature of the region being around , barely above the minimum average temperature needed to ripen grapes. Therefore, the Chardonnay grapes do not fully develop their fruit flavors and the still version of Champagne can taste very "un-Chardonnay"-like because of this. However, it does lessen the premium on needing to keep yields low that other wine regions battle, since not much flavor is going to develop in the grapes, anyway. Rather, the element in Chardonnay that Champagne wine-makers look for is the finesse and balance of acidity that it brings to the blend. Some flavors that can emerge from, particularly with extended time on its lees, include creamy and nuttiness with some floral notes.


title: Chardonnay

text: Champagne, Chablis, and Burgundy account for more than three-fifths of all Chardonnay plantings in France. The next-largest concentration is found in the Languedoc, where it was first planted around the town of Limoux and up to 30% can be blended with Mauzac in the sparkling "Blanquette de Limoux". Every year since 1991, Chardonnay production is celebrated in Limoux during the Toques et Clochers festival. By 2000, more than were planted, with many being used for wines under the "Vin de Pays d'Oc". These wines were unique in that they were some of the first examples of Chardonnay to be varietally labeled as "Chardonnay". Other French wine regions with Chardonnay plantings include Alsace, Ardèche, Jura, Savoie, and the Loire Valley. In Jura, it is used to create "vin de paille" dessert wines. Here, the grape is known as Melon d'Arbois or Gamay blanc and is sometimes blended with Savagnin. It is most widely found in Arbois, Côtes du Jura, and L'Étoile AOCs. In the Loire, up to 20% of Chardonnay can be included in the Chenin blanc-based wines of "Anjou blanc" and more producers are using the grape to soften some of the edges of Chenin blanc. It can also be used in the sparkling wines of Saumur and some Muscadet producers have begun experimenting with oak-aged Chardonnay.


title: Chardonnay

text: In North America, particularly California, Chardonnay found another region where it could thrive and produce a style of wine noticeably different from that of France. It is the dominant white wine variety of the area, overtaking Riesling in 1990. In the United States, it is found most notably in California, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, but also in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont wine. In Canada, Chardonnay is found in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec., and in Mexico is found in Baja California(Valle de Guadalupe) and in Coahuila(Valle de Parras) states.


title: Chardonnay

text: The first successful commercial production of California Chardonnay was from plantings in the Livermore Valley AVA. Wente Vineyards developed a Chardonnay clone that was used to introduce the grape variety in several Californian vineyards throughout the 1940s. In the 1950s, James David Zellerbach, one-time US Ambassador to Italy in Rome, started Hanzell Vineyards winery and dedicated it to making Burgundian-style Chardonnay. His success encouraged other Californian winemakers to follow suit and culminated in Chateau Montelena's victory over Burgundy Chardonnay in the 1976 blind tasting event conducted by French judges known as the Judgment of Paris. In response, the demand for Californian Chardonnay increased and Californian winemakers rushed to increase plantings. In the 1980s, the popularity of Californian Chardonnay increased so much, the number of vines planted in the state eclipsed that of France by 1988. By 2005, nearly accounted for almost 25% of the world's total Chardonnay plantings. The early trend was to imitate the great Burgundy wines, but this soon gave way to more rich buttery and oaked styles. Starting with the 1970s, the focus was on harvesting the grapes at more advanced degrees of ripeness and higher Brix levels. New oak barrels were used to produce wines that were big in body and mouthfeel. Frank J. Prial of "The New York Times" was an early critic of this style, particularly because of the lack of "food friendliness" that was common with these massive wines. Another criticism of California Chardonnays, and one that has been levied against other Californian wines, is the very high alcohol levels which can make a wine seem out of balance. In recent years, California winemakers have been using process such as reverse osmosis and spinning cones to bring the alcohol levels down to 12 to 14%.


title: Chardonnay

text: The California wine regions that seem to favor producing premium quality Chardonnay are the ones that are most influenced, climatically, by coastal fogs that can slow the ripening of the grape and give it more time to develop its flavors. The regions of Alexander Valley, Los Carneros, Santa Maria Valley, Russian River Valley, and other parts of Sonoma County have shown success in producing wines that reflect more Burgundian styles. Other regions often associated with Chardonnay include Napa Valley, Monterey County, and Santa Barbara County. The California Central Valley is home to many mass-produced Chardonnay brands, as well as box and jug wine production. While the exact style of the wine varies by producer, some of the "terroir" characteristics associated with California Chardonnay include "flinty" notes with the Russian River Valley and mango and guava from Monterey. A large portion of the Californian sparkling wine industry uses Chardonnay grapes from Carneros, Alexander, and Russian River valleys, with these areas attracting the attention of Champagne producers such as Bollinger, Louis Roederer, Moët et Chandon, and the Taittinger family, which have opened up wineries in last few decades.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay was one of the first European grape varieties to have been grown commercially east of the Rocky Mountains. After three centuries of failure with "V. vinifera", this achievement was realized in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. Frenchman Charles Fournier and Russian Konstantin Frank experimented with Chardonnay and other varietals in hopes of producing sparkling wines based on Old World grapes for the Gold Seal wine company. In the late 1950s, they succeeded in harvesting the first commercial quantities of European grapes in eastern North America. Frank went on to found Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars which helped demonstrate that a winery in the eastern US can produce European-style wines as a basis for a winery business. Chardonnay became an important part of that strategy.


title: Chardonnay

text: New York, like Burgundy and Washington, is a cool-climate viticultural region. Being cold tolerant, the Chardonnay grape is well suited for New York. Not only can it endure its cold winters, but also buds late, reducing the risk of spring frosts. New York's comparatively cooler growing season causes slower ripening, requiring a longer time on the vine, which allows the grapes to develop greater complexity and character at more reasonable sugar levels than warmer Chardonnay-producing regions. New York has subsequently developed significant plantings of the variety since Fournier and Frank's early experiments.


title: Chardonnay

text: Washington Chardonnays can be very similar to Californian Chardonnays, but tend to have more emphasis on fruit than creaminess. In 2000, it was the most widely planted premium wine grape in the state. Rather than using Dijon clones, Washington vineyards are planted with clones developed at the University of California-Davis that are designed to take longer to ripen in the warmer weather of the state's wine regions. This allows winemakers to maintain the acidity levels that balance the fruity and flint earthiness that have characterized Washington Chardonnay. Apple notes are common, and depending on producer and appellation, can range from flavors of 'Golden Delicious' and 'Fuji' to 'Gala' and 'Jonathan'. In Oregon, the introduction of Dijon clones from Burgundy has helped to adapt the grape to the Oregon climate and soils.


title: Chardonnay

text: In Canada, Chardonnay has seen some success with rich, oaky styles produced in Ontario and lighter styles produced in Quebec and British Columbia. In 2009, Le Clos Jordanne winery, of Jordan Village on the Niagara Peninsula, Ontario, received critical acclaim for its 2005 Claystone Terrace Chardonnay, which won the top spot for Chardonnay in the "Judgement of Montreal" experts’ tasting. This recognition, which caught the attention of the wine community, resulted from a blind tasting held in Quebec for "Cellier" magazine. Thirty-three years after the "Judgment of Paris", "Cellier" organized a blind tasting in Montreal based on the Judgment of Paris. In the "Judgement of Montreal", 10 judges at the "Cellier" tasting assessed 16 red and 14 white wines, primarily from France and California. The Chardonay from Le Clos Jordanne placed first out of the 14 white wines, some of which were notable international wines, including: Chateau Montelena, Mer Soleil, Kumeu River, an aged reserve wine from Rosemount Estates, and a number of Burgundian entrants from producers such as Drouhin, Lamy, Boisset, Maison Louis Jadot, and others. Other great examples of Ontario chardonnay include Closson Chase and Norman Hardie from the Prince Edward County region, and Tawse Winery, Hidden Bench Vineyards, and Southbrook Vineyards from the Niagara region.


title: Chardonnay

text: The Chardonnay vintages of the early 1990s from British Columbia helped generate international attention to the quality of Canadian wines apart from ice wine varietals. In British Columbia, Chardonnay from the Okanagan are characterized by delicate citrus fruits. They are typically light-bodied, but producers who use barrel fermentation and oak aging can produce fuller-bodied wines.


title: Chardonnay

text: Like many grape varieties, Chardonnay first came to Australia in the collection of James Busby in 1832, but it only really took off in the 1950s. It is most significant in South Australia, New South Wales — especially the Hunter Region - and Victoria. One of the first commercially successful Chardonnays was produced by Murray Tyrrell in the Hunter Valley in 1971. Tyrell's vineyard was planted with Chardonnay cuttings that he "borrowed" from Penfolds' experimental plantings by hopping over their barb-wire fence one night and pruning their vines. The export driven Australian wine industry was well situated for the Chardonnay boom of the 1980s and 1990s and Australia responded with a unique style of wine that was characterized by big fruit flavors and easy approachability. To compensate for the very warm climate, richness was enhanced by the use of oak chips and acid was added during fermentation. During this period the number of Chardonnay plants increased fivefold and by 1990 it was the most widely planted white wine grape in Australia and third most planted overall behind Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Early in the 21st century, demand outpaced supply and there was a shortage of Chardonnay grapes which prompted Australian winemakers to introduce new blending partners like Sémillon (known as "SemChard") and Colombard.


title: Chardonnay

text: Being a rather neutral grape, Australian winemakers first approached Chardonnay in the same manner they were making wine from the similarly neutral Sultana grape. Aromatic yeast were added and maceration was extended to get more flavors from skin contact. While the style of Australian Chardonnay is mostly characterized by the mass-produced products of the hot Riverland region, the cooler climates of the Southern Highlands in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania have been creating more crisp, less oaked wines with lime notes. In the Cowra region, Chardonnay's citrus notes are emphasized while Hunter Valley examples have more richness and smoky notes. The Adelaide Hills and Yarra Valley produce a more Burgundian style while Mount Barker in the Great Southern wine region of Western Australia produces Chardonnay that more closely resembles those of Chablis. A rare, isolated clone exists in the Mudgee region that locals believe traces its ancestry back to some of the first vines brought to Australia in the 19th century. While the wine made from this clone is not particularly distinguished, it can still be of very good quality. Overall, there has been a shift in style since the 1980s from deep golden, oily wines with melon and butterscotch flavors to lighter, paler Chardonnays with more structure and notes of white peaches and nectarines. Sparkling wines from Chardonnay are produced in the cool regions of Geelong, Adelaide Hills, Macedon Ranges and Tasmania.


title: Chardonnay

text: Despite being more famous for its Sauvignon blanc production, Chardonnay was New Zealand's most widely planted grape variety from 1990 till 2002 when Sauvignon blanc finally surpassed it. The east coast of the North Island, in places like Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa, have seen the most success with Chardonnay wine that has noticeable acidity and leanness. As better clonal varieties are discovered and planted, the overall quality of New Zealand Chardonnay have increased, particularly from places like Canterbury, Marlborough and Nelson. Some producers in the Gisborne region have recently developed a cult following for their Chardonnay among New Zealand wine drinkers. While many New Zealand winemakers are still developing a characteristic style, the Chardonnay produced so far have emphasized the grape's affinity for oak.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay has a long history in Italy but for a large part of it, the grape was commonly confused with Pinot blanc—often with both varieties interplanted in the same vineyard and blended together. This happened despite the fact that Chardonnay grapes get more golden-yellow in color close to harvest time and can be visually distinguished from Pinot blanc. In the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region this confusion appeared in the synonyms for each grape, with Pinot blanc being known as "Weissburgunder" (White Burgundy) and Chardonnay was known as "Gelber Weissburgunder" (Golden White Burgundy). By the late 20th century, more concentrated efforts were put into identifying Chardonnay and making pure varietal versions of the wine. In 1984, it was granted its first "Denominazione di origine controllata" (DOC) in the province of South Tyrol. By 2000, it was Italy's fourth most widely planted white wine grape.


title: Chardonnay

text: Though many varietal forms of Chardonnay are produced, and the numbers are increasing, for most of its history in Italian winemaking Chardonnay was a blending grape. Besides Pinot bianco, Chardonnay can be found in blends with Albana, Catarratto, Cortese, Erbaluce, Favorita, Garganega, Grecanico, Incrocio Manzoni, Nuragus, Procanico, Ribolla Gialla, Verdeca, Vermentino and Viognier. It even blended into a dry White Zinfandel-style Nebbiolo wine that is made from the white juice of the red Nebbiolo grape prior to being dyed with skin contact. Most Chardonnay plantings are located in the northern wine regions, though plantings can be found throughout Italy as far south as Sicily and Apulia. In Piedmont and Tuscany, the grape is being planted in sites that are less favorable to Dolcetto and Sangiovese respectively. In Lombardy, the grape is often used for "spumante" and in the Veneto it is often blended with Garganega to give more weight and structure to the wine. Chardonnay is also found in the Valle d'Aosta DOC and Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine region.


title: Chardonnay

text: Due to quarantine restrictions, plant cuttings were often smuggled into South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s and many times were misidentified as to what grape variety it really was. A large portion of the Chardonnay plantings from this period turned out to be Auxerrois blanc. A similar event happened in the German wine region of Baden during the 1980s. By the late 1990s, efforts to promote "authentic" Chardonnay helped to increase plantings and by 2004 it was the third-most widely planted white wine grape behind Chenin blanc and Colombard. Winemakers in the Western Cape have experimented blending Chardonnay with Riesling and Sauvignon blanc.


title: Chardonnay

text: Outside of the regions discussed above, Chardonnay can be found in cooler climate sites in Italy, Greece, Israel and Lebanon as well as Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, England, Georgia, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Serbia, Switzerland and Ukraine. In Austria, the grape varieties known as "Feinburgunder" in Burgenland & Vienna and "Morillon" in Styria was not identified as Chardonnay till the late 1980s. Today, Austrian Chardonnays range from the rich, oaked aged varieties to leaner, more aromatic styles based on Austrian Rieslings to sweet late harvest styles. In nearby Germany, this distinctly French wine grape was slow to gain a footing being only officially sanctioned since 1991. Today it is most commonly found in the Baden, Palatinate and Rheinhessen regions. In Switzerland, Chardonnay is found mostly around Bündner Herrschaft, Geneva and Valais. In Spain, Chardonnay has been increasingly used in the sparkling wine Cava. It is also permitted in the "denominación de origen" (DO) wines of Costers del Segre, Navarra and Somontano. In the wine regions of the former Soviet Union, Chardonnay has lagged behind in white wine grapes plantings in favor Rkatsiteli, Aligote and Riesling. The Portuguese experimentation with Chardonnay has been mostly influenced by flying winemakers from Australia and the examples produced so far are very New World in style.


title: Chardonnay

text: In the cool-climate wine regions of Argentina's Uco Valley, Chardonnay has started to develop a presence. In the 1990s, Chardonnay became the second most widely planted white grape variety in Argentina-second only Torrontés. India and Uruguay have been steadily increasing their plantings.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay lends itself to almost any style of wine making from dry still wines, to sparkling wines to sweet late harvest and even botrytized wines (though its susceptibility to other less favorable rot makes these wines rarer). The two winemaking decisions that most widely affect the end result of a Chardonnay wine is whether or not to use malolactic fermentation and the degree of oak influence used for the wine. With malolactic fermentation (or MLF), the harder malic acid gets converted into the softer lactic acid, and diacetyl which creates the "buttery-ness" that is associated with some styles of Chardonnay. The wines that do not go through MLF will have more green (unripe) apple like flavors. Oak can be introduced during fermentation or after in the form of the barrel aging. Depending on the amount of charring that the oak was treated with, this can introduce a "toastiness" and flavors that many wine drinkers mistake as a characteristic of the grape itself. These flavors can include caramel, cream, smoke, spice, coconut, cinnamon, cloves and vanilla.


title: Chardonnay

text: Other winemaking decisions that can have a significant effect include the temperature of fermentation and what time, if any, that the wine allowed to spend aging on the lees. Burgundian winemaking tends to favor extended contact on the lees and even "stirring up" the lees within the wine while it is aging in the barrel in a process known as "bâtonnage". Colder fermentation temperatures produces more "tropical" fruit flavors like mango and pineapple. The "Old World" style of winemaking favors the use of wild, or ambient yeast, though some will also use specially cultivated yeast that can impart aromatic qualities to the wine. A particular style of yeast used in Champagne is the "Prise de Mousse" that is cultivated for use worldwide in sparkling Chardonnay wines. A potential drawback of using wild yeast is that the fermentation process can go very slow with the results of the yeasts being very unpredictable and producing potentially a very different wine each year. One Burgundian winemaker that favors the use of only wild yeast is Domaine des Comtes Lafon which had the fermentation of its 1963 Chardonnay batch take 5 years to complete when the fermentation process normally only takes a matter of weeks.


title: Chardonnay

text: The time of harvesting is a crucial decision because the grape quickly begins to lose acidity as it ripens. For sparkling wine production, the grapes will be harvested early and slightly unripe to maintain the acid levels. Sparkling Chardonnay based wines tend to exhibit more floral and steely flavors in their youth. As the wine ages, particularly if it spends significant time on lees, the wines will develop "toasty" notes. Chardonnay grapes usually have little trouble developing sugar content, even in cooler climates, which translates into high potential alcohol levels and limits the need for chaptalization. On the flip side, low acid levels can be a concern which make the wine taste "flabby" and dull. Winemakers can counteract this by adding tartaric acid in a process known as "acidification". In cooler climates, the extract and acidity of Chardonnay is magnified which has the potential of producing very concentrated wines that can develop through bottle aging. Chardonnay can blend well with other grapes and still maintain some of its unique character. The grapes most often blended with Chardonnay include Chenin blanc, Colombard and Sémillon.


title: Chardonnay

text: Due to the "malleability" of Chardonnay in winemaking and its ability to reflect its "terroir", there is not one distinct universal "style" or set of constants that could be applied to Chardonnay made across the globe. According to Jancis Robinson, a sense of "smokiness" is one clue that could be picked up in a blind tasting of Chardonnay but there are many styles that do not have any "smokey" notes. Compared to other white wine grapes like Sauvignon blanc, Gewürztraminer and Viognier-Chardonnay has a more subtle and muted nose with no overwhelming aromatics that jump out of the wine glass. The identifying styles of Chardonnay are regionally based. For example, pineapple notes are more commonly associated with Chardonnay from Napa Valley while Chablis will have more notes of green apples. While many examples of Chardonnay can benefit from a few years of bottle aging, especially if they have high acidity, most Chardonnays are meant to be consumed in their youth. A notable exception to this is the most premium examples of Chablis and white Burgundies.


title: Chardonnay

text: Due to the wide range of styles, Chardonnay has the potential to be paired with a diverse spectrum of food types. It is most commonly paired with roast chicken and other white meats such as turkey. Heavily oak influenced Chardonnays do not pair well with more delicate fish and seafood dish. Instead, those wines tend to go better with smoked fish, spicy southeast Asian cuisine, garlic and guacamole dips. The regional influences of Chardonnay can help it pair with different food styles. Chardonnays from Washington, which is characterized by maintaining more acidity, tend to pair well with tomato-based dishes and items featuring sweet onions. Older, more mellow Chardonnays are often paired with more "earthy" dishes like mushroom soup and aged cheese.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay long had a reputation as one of France's great white wines, but due to the dominance of geographical labeling, the fact that Chardonnay was the grape behind white Burgundy was not widely known by the wine-drinking public. The success of California and new world Chardonnays, partly encouraged by the Californian showing at the Judgment of Paris wine tasting, brought varietal wine labeling to more prominence and the easy to pronounce Chardonnay grape was one of the largest beneficiaries. In the late 1980s, a sort of "Chardonnay-mania" developed as wine regions (particularly new and developing ones) dramatically increased their planting of the grape to meet the worldwide demand.


title: Chardonnay

text: As more vineyards responded with massive new plantings of the variety, they found that fashions were changing again. The market was drinking more red wine, and there was a backlash against heavy, oaky, New World Chardonnays in favor of lighter wines such as Pinot grigio. There was a new fashion, "ABC" – Anything But Chardonnay, identified by Frank Prial in 1995. Another reason for the backlash was that Chardonnay was seen as a symbol of the globalization of wine, in which local grape varieties were grubbed up in favor of the big names demanded by international markets. Oz Clarke described a view of Chardonnay as "the ruthless coloniser and destroyer of the world's vineyards and the world's palates." The criticism was centered on the habits of winemakers to pull out or give up on local varieties in order to plant more Chardonnay which offered potentially more income but lack the uniqueness and character of local varieties. Examples of this occurred in south Italy and Spain when ancient Negroamaro, Primitivo, Grenache and Mataro vineyards were ripped up in favor of new Chardonnay plantings.


title: Chardonnay

text: Chardonnay became very fashionable in the 1990s, as the stereotypical drink of young urban women of the Bridget Jones generation.


title: Chardonnay

text: By 2002, the association of chardonnay with suburban, unsophisticated tastes was being explored in Australian TV show "Kath & Kim", where lower middle class characters mispronounce the varietal as 'kardonnay'.


title: Chardonnay

text: Despite the backlash, Chardonnay remains very popular. In 2004 Chardonnay was estimated to be the world's 6th most widely grown grape variety, covering .


title: Chardonnay

text: Currently trials are being run on genetically modified Chardonnay. Trials are underway in the US and South Africa.


title: Chardonnay

text: Due to the worldwide recognition of the name of "Chardonnay", many of these synonyms have fallen out of favor as winemakers use the more marketable Chardonnay:


title: Chardonnay

text: Arboisier, Arnaison blanc, Arnoison, Aubain, Aubaine, Auvergnat blanc, Auvernas, Auvernas blanc, Auvernat blanc, Auxeras, Auxerras blanc, Auxerrois blanc, Auxois, Auxois blanc, Bargeois blanc, Beaunois, Biela Klevanjika, Blanc de Champagne, Blanc de Cramant, Breisgauer Suessling, Breisgauer Sussling, Burgundi Feher, Chablis, Chardenai, Chardenay, Chardenet, Chardennet, Chardonay, Chardonnet, Chatenait, Chatey Petit, Chatte, Chaudenay, Chaudenet, Chaudent, Clävner, Clevner Weiss, Cravner, Epinette, Epinette blanc, Epinette blanche, Epinette de Champagne, Ericey blanc, Feher Chardonnay, Feherburgundi, Feinburgunder, Gamay blanc, Gelber Weissburgunder, Gentil blanc, Grosse Bourgogne, Klawner, Klevanjka Biela, Klevner, Lisant, Luisant, Luizannais, Luizant, Luzannois, Maconnais, Maurillon blanc, Melon blanc, Melon D'Arbois, Meroué, Moreau blanc, Morillon blanc, Moulon, Noirien blanc, Obaideh, Petit Chatey, Petit Sainte-Marie, Petite Sainte Marie, Pineau blanc, Pino Sardone, Pino Shardone, Pinot Blanc à Cramant, Pinot Blanc Chardonnay, Pinot Chardonnay, Pinot de Bourgogne, Pinot Giallo, Pinot Planc, Plant de Tonnerre, Romere, Romeret, Rouci Bile, Rousseau, Roussot, Ruländer Weiß, Sainte Marie Petite, Sardone, Shardone, Shardonne, Später Weiß Burgunder, Weiß Burgunder (normally refers to Pinot blanc), Weiß Clevner, Weiß Edler, Weiß Elder, Weiß Klewner, Weiß Silber, Weißedler, Weißer Clevner, Weißer Rulander.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: Sports Illustrated (SI) is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice. It is also known for its annual swimsuit issue, which has been published since 1964, and has spawned other complementary media works and products.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: Owned until 2018 by Time Inc., it was sold to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) following the sale of Time Inc. to Meredith Corporation. The Arena Group (formerly theMaven, Inc.) was subsequently awarded a 10-year license to operate the "Sports Illustrated"-branded editorial operations, while ABG licenses the brand for other non-editorial ventures and products.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: There were two magazines named "Sports Illustrated" before the current magazine was launched on August 9, 1954. In 1936, Stuart Scheftel created "Sports Illustrated" with a target market of sportsmen. He published the magazine from 1936 to 1938 on a monthly basis. The magazine focused on golf, tennis, and skiing with articles on the major sports. He then sold the name to Dell Publications, which released "Sports Illustrated" in 1949 and this version lasted six issues before closing. Dell's version focused on major sports (baseball, basketball, boxing) and competed on magazine racks against "Sport" and other monthly sports magazines. During the 1940s these magazines were monthly and they did not cover the current events because of the production schedules. There was no large-base, general, weekly sports magazine with a national following on actual active events. It was then that "Time" patriarch Henry Luce began considering whether his company should attempt to fill that gap. At the time, many believed sports was beneath the attention of serious journalism and did not think sports news could fill a weekly magazine, especially during the winter. A number of advisers to Luce, including "Life" magazine's Ernest Havemann, tried to kill the idea, but Luce, who was not a sports fan, decided the time was right.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: The goal of the new magazine was to be basically a magazine, but with sports. Many at Time-Life scoffed at Luce's idea; in his Pulitzer Prize–winning biography, "Luce and His Empire", W. A. Swanberg wrote that the company's intellectuals dubbed the proposed magazine "Muscle", "Jockstrap", and "Sweat Socks". Launched on August 9, 1954, it was not profitable (and would not be so for 12 years) and not particularly well run at first, but Luce's timing was good. The popularity of spectator sports in the United States was about to explode, and that popularity came to be driven largely by three things: economic prosperity, television, and "Sports Illustrated".


title: Sports Illustrated

text: The early issues of the magazine seemed caught between two opposing views of its audience. Much of the subject matter was directed at upper-class activities such as yachting, polo and safaris, but upscale would-be advertisers were unconvinced that sports fans were a significant part of their market.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: After more than a decade of steady losses, the magazine's fortunes finally turned around in the 1960s when Andre Laguerre became its managing editor. A European correspondent for Time, Inc., who later became chief of the Time-Life news bureaux in Paris and London (for a time he ran both simultaneously), Laguerre attracted Henry Luce's attention in 1956 with his singular coverage of the Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, which became the core of "SI"'s coverage of those games. In May 1956, Luce brought Laguerre to New York to become the assistant managing editor of the magazine. He was named managing editor in 1960, and he more than doubled the circulation by instituting a system of departmental editors, redesigning the internal format, and inaugurating the unprecedented use in a news magazine of full-color photographic coverage of the week's sports events. He was also one of the first to sense the rise of national interest in professional football.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: Laguerre also instituted the innovative concept of one long story at the end of every issue, which he called the "bonus piece". These well-written, in-depth articles helped to distinguish "Sports Illustrated" from other sports publications, and helped launch the careers of such legendary writers as Frank Deford, who in March 2010 wrote of Laguerre, "He smoked cigars and drank Scotch and made the sun move across the heavens ... His genius as an editor was that he made you want to please him, but he wanted you to do that by writing in your own distinct way."


title: Sports Illustrated

text: Laguerre is also credited with the conception and creation of the annual "Swimsuit Issue", which quickly became, and remains, the most popular issue each year.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In 1986, co-owned property HBO/Cannon Video had inked a pact to produce video versions of the magazine for $20 on the sell-through market, running just 30-45 minutes on the tape.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In 1990, Time Inc. merged with Warner Communications to form the media conglomerate Time Warner. In 2014, Time Inc. was spun off from Time Warner.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In 2018, the magazine was sold to Meredith Corporation by means of its acquisition of parent company Time Inc., however Meredith planned to sell "Sports Illustrated" due to not aligning with its lifestyle properties. Authentic Brands Group announced its intent to acquire "Sports Illustrated" for $110 million the next year, stating that it would leverage its brand and other assets for new opportunities that "stay close to the DNA and the heritage of the brand." Upon the announcement, Meredith would enter into a licensing agreement to continue as publisher of the "Sports Illustrated" editorial operations for at least the next two years. In June 2019, the rights to publish the "Sports Illustrated" editorial operations were licensed to the digital media company theMaven, Inc. under a 10-year contract, with Ross Levinsohn as CEO. The company had backed a bid by Junior Bridgeman to acquire "SI". In preparation for the closure of the sale to ABG and Maven, "The Wall Street Journal" reported that there would be "Sports Illustrated" employee layoffs, which was confirmed after the acquisition had closed.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In October 2019, editor-in-chief Chris Stone stepped down. Later that month, "Sports Illustrated" announced its hiring of veteran college sports writer Pat Forde. In January 2020, it announced an editorial partnership with "The Hockey News", focusing on syndication of NHL-related coverage."" In 2021, it announced a similar partnership with "Morning Read" for golf coverage, with its website being merged into that of "Sports Illustrated". It also partnered with iHeartMedia to distribute and co-produce podcasts.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In September 2021, Maven, now known as The Arena Group, acquired the New Jersey-based sports news website "The Spun", which would integrate into "Sports Illustrated". In 2022, ABG announced several non-editorial ventures involving the "Sports Illustrated" brand, including an apparel line for JCPenney "inspired by iconic moments in sports" (it was not the brand's first foray into clothing, as it launched a branded swimsuit line in conjunction with its "Swimsuit Issue" in 2018), and resort hotels in Orlando and Punta Cana.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: From its start, "Sports Illustrated" introduced a number of innovations that are generally taken for granted today:


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In 1965, offset printing began. This allowed the color pages of the magazine to be printed overnight, not only producing crisper and brighter images, but also finally enabling the editors to merge the best color with the latest news. By 1967, the magazine was printing 200 pages of "fast color" a year; in 1983, "SI" became the first American full-color newsweekly. An intense rivalry developed between photographers, particularly Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer, to get a decisive cover shot that would be on newsstands and in mailboxes only a few days later.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In the late 1970s and early 1980s, during Gil Rogin's term as Managing Editor, the feature stories of Frank Deford became the magazine's anchor. "Bonus pieces" on Pete Rozelle, Woody Hayes, Bear Bryant, Howard Cosell and others became some of the most quoted sources about these figures, and Deford established a reputation as one of the best writers of the time.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In 1956, Sports Illustrated began presenting annual awards to fashion or clothing designers who had excelled in the field of sportswear/activewear. The first ASDAs of 1956, presented to Claire McCardell with a separate Designer of the Year award to Rudi Gernreich, were chosen following a vote of 200 American top retailers. The following year, the voting pool had increased to 400 fashion industry experts, including Dorothy Shaver and Stanley Marcus, when Sydney Wragge and Bill Atkinson received the awards. The Italian designer Emilio Pucci was the first non-American to receive the award in 1961. The awards were presented up until at least 1963, when Marc Bohan received the prize. Other winners include Jeanne S. Campbell, Bonnie Cashin and Rose Marie Reid who formed the first all-women winning group in 1958.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: Maya Moore of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx was the inaugural winner of the "Sports Illustrated" Performer of the Year Award in 2017.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: Since 1954, "Sports Illustrated" magazine has annually presented the Sportsperson of the Year award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Roger Bannister won the first-ever Sportsman of the Year award thanks to his record-breaking time of 3:59.4 for a mile (the first-ever time a mile had been run under four minutes). Both men and women have won the award, originally called "Sportsman of the Year" and renamed "Sportswoman of the Year" or "Sportswomen of the Year" when applicable; it is currently known as "Sportsperson of the Year."


title: Sports Illustrated

text: The 2017 winners of the award are Houston Texans defensive end, J. J. Watt, and Houston Astros second baseman, José Altuve. Both athletes were recognized for their efforts in helping rebuild the city of Houston following Hurricane Harvey in addition to Altuve being a part of the Astros team that won the franchise's first World Series in 2017.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: The 2018 winners were the Golden State Warriors as a team for winning their third NBA Title in four years.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In 1999, "Sports Illustrated" named Muhammad Ali the Sportsman of the Century at the "Sports Illustrated"s 20th Century Sports Awards in New York City's Madison Square Garden.


title: Sports Illustrated

text: In 2015, the magazine renamed its Sportsman Legacy Award to the "Sports Illustrated"'s Muhammad Ali Legacy Award. The annual award was originally created in 2008 and honors former "sports figures who embody the ideals of sportsmanship, leadership and philanthropy as vehicles for changing the world." Ali first appeared on the magazine's cover in 1963 and went on to be featured on numerous covers during his storied career. His widow, Lonnie Ali, is consulted when choosing a recipient. In 2017, football quarterback Colin Kaepernick was honored with the Award, which was presented by Beyoncé. In 2018, WWE professional wrestler John Cena was honored with the award.


title: Flag of Great Britain

text: The flag of Great Britain, commonly known as King's Colours, the first Union Flag, the Union Jack, or the British flag, was used at sea from 1606 and more generally from 1707 to 1801. It was the first flag of Great Britain. It is the precursor to the Union Jack of 1801.


title: Flag of Great Britain

text: The design was ordered by King James VI and I to be used on ships on the high seas, and it subsequently came into use as a national flag following the Treaty of Union and Acts of Union 1707, gaining the status of "the Ensign armorial of Great Britain", the newly created state. It was later adopted by land forces, although the blue of the field used on land-based versions more closely resembled that of the blue of the flag of Scotland.


title: Flag of Great Britain

text: The flag consists of the red cross of Saint George, patron saint of England, superimposed on the Saltire of Saint Andrew, patron saint of Scotland. Its correct proportions are 3:5.


title: Flag of Great Britain

text: The flag's official use came to an end in 1801 with the creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. At that time Saint Patrick's Flag was added to the flag of Great Britain to create the present-day Union Flag.


title: Flag of Great Britain

text: King James had the habit of referring to a "Kingdom of Great Britain", considering that it had been created by the Union of the Crowns. However, despite the personal union which he represented, in practice England and Scotland continued as separate kingdoms, each with its own parliament and laws, for another century. The Kingdom of Great Britain finally came into being in 1707. The flag of the new Kingdom was formally chosen on 17 April 1707, two weeks before the Acts of Union of 1707 were to take effect. Sir Henry St George, Garter Principal King of Arms, had presented several possible designs to Queen Anne and the Privy Council.


title: Flag of Great Britain

text: The principal alternative for consideration was a version of the flag with the saltire of Saint Andrew lying on top of that of Saint George, called the "Scots union flag as said to be used by the Scots", but this was rejected.


title: Flag of Great Britain

text: In the wake of the union between England and Scotland, several designs for a new flag were drawn up, juxtaposing the Saint George's Cross and the St Andrew's Saltire:


title: Flag of Great Britain

text: With the 1801 change to the British flag, British ensigns and other official designs incorporating it nearly all changed as well, either immediately or when pre-existing stocks were used up. An exception is the Commissioners' flag of the Northern Lighthouse Board, whose old stock lasted so long that its anachronistic design became fixed by tradition. The old flag has been included in some later designs to mark a pre-1801 British connection, as with the coat of arms of the Colony of Sierra Leone adopted in 1914 or the flag of Baton Rouge, Louisiana adopted in 1995. The Flag of Somerset County, Maryland, briefly used from 1694, was revived after being rediscovered in 1958. The flag of Taunton, Massachusetts officially adopted a reconstruction of an American Revolutionary banner at the bicentennial of its 1774 introduction; similarly, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1973 adopted the 1775 flag of John Proctor's Independent Battalion of Westmoreland County Provincials.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Bellagio is a resort, luxury hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. Bellagio was conceived by casino owner Steve Wynn, and was built on the former site of the Dunes hotel-casino. Wynn's company, Mirage Resorts, purchased the Dunes in 1992. Plans were announced in 1994 to replace it with Beau Rivage, a French-themed resort. However, Wynn changed the project plans in 1995, instead theming it after the village of Bellagio, near Lake Como. The resort was designed by Jon Jerde. Construction began on November 1, 1995, with Marnell Corrao Associates as general contractor.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Bellagio opened on October 15, 1998, with 3,005 rooms in a 36-story tower. Built at a cost of $1.6 billion, it was the world's most expensive resort up to that point. Early revenue was less than expected, and Wynn departed the resort in May 2000, when Mirage Resorts merged with MGM Grand Inc. Profits improved under the ownership of the newly formed MGM Mirage (later MGM Resorts). A 33-story hotel tower, with 928 rooms, was opened in 2004. MGM owned the Bellagio until 2019, when it sold the resort to The Blackstone Group for $4.25 billion. MGM continues to operate the property under a lease arrangement.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Bellagio is located on . It includes a casino and 3,933 rooms. The resort's signature attraction is the Fountains of Bellagio, a dancing water fountain synchronized to music. It is performed in an 8.5-acre man-made lake, located in front of the resort. Other attractions include the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, and a conservatory and botanical gardens. The hotel lobby features "Fiori di Como", a sculpture by glass artist Dale Chihuly. It is the world's largest glass sculpture.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Bellagio has numerous restaurants, including Le Cirque and Picasso, the latter by chef Julian Serrano. Other chefs at the resort have included Todd English, Michael Mina, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and Wolfgang Puck. Bellagio includes an 1,800 seat theater for performances of "O", a water-themed show by Cirque du Soleil. The property also has a high-end retail area which introduced several luxury brands to Las Vegas, including Chanel, Gucci, and Prada.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The site of the Bellagio was previously occupied by the Dunes hotel-casino, which opened in 1955. Through his company Mirage Resorts, casino owner Steve Wynn purchased the Dunes in November 1992, for $75 million. He intended to demolish it and build a new resort in its place. An early idea was to build five or six complexes with approximately 500 rooms each, along with a small theme park. As the Dunes closed in January 1993, Wynn proposed including a man-made lake in his new project for water skiing and windsurfing. However, county officials questioned whether such a feature could be included following the passage of a 1990 water ordinance. A state expert found it unlikely that the lake would cause major soil sinking. The county modified the ordinance in February 1994, allowing Wynn to proceed with a man-lake, on the condition that he honor his claim that it would use less water than the Dunes' former golf course.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: On October 17, 1994, Mirage Resorts announced plans to build the French-themed Beau Rivage resort on the land, at a cost of $700-$900 million. It would be surrounded by a 50-acre lake with guests entering by footbridges. Mirage Resorts announced a name change in July 1995, stating that the resort would be named Bellagio, after the village of Bellagio, Lombardy in northern Italy. The resort's designer, Jon Jerde, had been vacationing on Lake Como. Impressed by its beauty, he convinced Wynn to come see the area. While on the lake with friend Paul Anka, Wynn noticed the nearby village of Bellagio, and spent half a day there. The village's Italian architecture inspired Wynn to scrap 10 months' worth of design work for Beau Rivage in favor of a Bellagio-themed resort. Wynn would later use the Beau Rivage name for another resort in Mississippi.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The Las Vegas project was revised and scaled back. Among the changes was a reduction in the size of the lake feature; Mirage Resorts determined that it would use too much water as originally planned. The hotel tower, originally planned at 49 stories, was also reduced. The design and planning process took a total of 28 months, dating to 1993. Wynn said "there was no need to rush the project. We wanted to get it right". Jerde's design firm spent a total of four years designing the project. Wynn's in-house design team, Atlandia Design, handled the interior. Aside from the Dunes, a Denny's restaurant was also demolished to make way for the Bellagio.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Construction began on November 1, 1995, and the opening was initially scheduled for March 1998. Marnell Corrao Associates served as general contractor. The project's cost increased several times, in part because of new features being added. A shortage of skilled workers also resulted in rising labor costs. It was financed through various lenders. Finished at a cost of $1.6 billion, it was the most expensive resort ever built.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Wynn envisioned the Bellagio as a five-star resort catering to tourists who typically visit places other than Las Vegas, such as Paris, London, or Venice. He said the Bellagio would "redefine Las Vegas", describing it as the "most ambitious" and luxurious project ever attempted by Mirage Resorts. He also said it would be "the most romantic, delicious place ever built in the world", as well as the "greatest" and "most beautiful" hotel ever.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The property features a variety of trees. Before the opening, builders spent more than a year searching the western U.S. for mature Japanese privets, which are capable of withstanding the dry Las Vegas heat. A deal was reached to remove approximately 30 privets from the government center in Ventura County, California and replant them at the Bellagio, at a cost of nearly $10,000 per tree. The resort's pool area is surrounded by a Mediterranean garden that included nearly 300 pine trees, left over from the Dunes golf course.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The opening was highly anticipated, and crowd-control measures were in preparation months prior. Mirage Resorts launched a $10 million advertising campaign which included 60-second television commercials, featuring opera singer Andrea Bocelli.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: A pre-opening VIP party took place on the night of October 15, 1998, with 1,800 in attendance, including Nevada governor Bob Miller. The public opening followed at 10:45 p.m. Crowds, waiting to enter the resort, reached an estimated 25,000 people. Within the first day, the resort had received more than 80,000 visitors.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The property included 3,005 hotel rooms, a casino, and high-end shops and restaurants. The resort's main attraction was an 8.5-acre man-made lake, featuring a water show known as Fountains of Bellagio. Other attractions included a conservatory and the $285 million Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art. More than half of the resort's revenue was expected to come from non-gaming amenities. Bellagio employed 9,500 people, 3,200 of them coming from other properties also owned by Mirage Resorts. Casino executive Bobby Baldwin served as the resort's president.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Bellagio received positive reception. The level of luxury would eventually inspire other Las Vegas resorts to become more upscale. Las Vegas developer Irwin Molasky said, "In our lifetime we will never see another building or hotel with such beauty and grace". Brian Greenspun of the "Las Vegas Sun" said the opening "by all accounts, was a first for Las Vegas", stating that the resort exceeded expectations. The newspaper's Steve Friess later called the opening a "pivotal" turning point in Las Vegas history: "The opening of a genuine luxury resort with great food, shopping and amenities was the most important step toward saying to the world, 'Vegas isn’t tacky anymore'". Residents of the Bellagio village reportedly found few similarities with the resort.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: When it opened, Bellagio's room rates averaged $200 a night, compared to $81 for most other Strip resorts. Early revenue was less than expected,


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Plans for a second tower were confirmed in August 2002, as part of a $375 million expansion. The new Spa Tower would be built south of the main tower and would offer access to the spa. The expansion would also include additional spa, salon, meeting and retail space, as well as a new restaurant. Marnell Corrao Associates returned as general contractor. Construction on the Spa Tower began in April 2003. It was topped off a year later, and opened on December 23, 2004. It added 928 rooms, for a total of 3,933. Convention space was also increased to . The resort hired 1,400 new employees for the expanded facilities, bringing the total to 10,000.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In 2012, MGM and Suning Real Estate announced plans to expand the Bellagio name with a 200-room hotel in Shanghai, which eventually opened in 2018. Twenty years after its opening, the Bellagio remained one of the most popular resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In October 2019, MGM Resorts announced it would sell the Bellagio to The Blackstone Group for $4.25 billion. Through the deal, the two companies would form a joint venture that would lease the Bellagio back to MGM Resorts for an annual rent of $245 million. The sale was completed in November 2019. Under the deal, MGM acquired a five-percent ownership stake in the venture and continued to operate the resort through the lease.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: A resort-wide power outage occurred around 2:00 a.m. on April 11, 2004, leaving only emergency lights still working. One of the main power lines was compromised, which led to the failure of other lines, resulting in the outage. Power had to be shut down completely so that thousands of feet of cable could be replaced. Guests were relocated to other hotels. The hotel and casino reopened on April 14, 2004, and other areas of the resort were reopened over the next few days. A preliminary investigation by the county found that the main power line failed because of premature deterioration, the cause for which remained unknown.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: A partial power outage occurred on December 31, 2011, shutting down the resort's buffet and several hundred hotel rooms in the main tower's west wing. Another partial outage occurred in March 2018, after leaking water made contact with an electrical panel. The six-hour outage affected the buffet, a performance theater, parts of the sportsbook, and certain elevators.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Several robberies have occurred at the Bellagio. In June 2000, three men stole $160,000 in cash and casino chips, and were subsequently apprehended. The Bellagio heist was one in a series of casino robberies committed by the men.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In December 2010, a helmet-wearing man robbed $1.5 million in chips from a craps table, with some chips worth $25,000 each. Confidential safeguards made it unlikely that the thief would be able to cash in the chips without getting caught. Furthermore, MGM announced after the robbery that it would discontinue the $25,000 chips within four months. The thief, son of a Las Vegas judge, was arrested in February 2011, after arranging to sell $25,000 chips to an undercover police officer. Approximately $793,000 in chips remained unaccounted for, most of them $25,000 chips. The robber pled guilty as part of a plea deal, and was sentenced to 3 to 11 years.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In July 2014, a man robbed the cashier cage of $43,500, using a BB gun. He was arrested the next day, after spending roughly half of the money on prostitutes and a shopping spree. He was found incompetent to stand trial.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: On an early morning in March 2017, men wearing animal-themed masks broke into a jewelry store at the resort, prompting a police lockdown of the casino and parking garage. One of the suspects was apprehended, while three others remained at large.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Another robbery occurred later in 2017, when a man stole money from a poker cage. He returned to rob the cage in March 2019, and a shootout occurred outside the resort between him and police as he tried to escape. He was shot and killed.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: On the morning of September 23, 2008, a mattress fire prompted the brief evacuation of the 26th floor, as well as portions of the 25th and 27th floors. One guest suffered minor burns, and others were treated for smoke inhalation and released shortly afterwards.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: On the night of April 13, 2017, the roof of the resort's retail section caught fire, forcing an evacuation of the area. The rest of the resort was unaffected, and the fire was put out within a half-hour. It caused up to $450,000 in damage, mostly above a Starbucks. The fire was caused by a faulty exterior light fixture.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Bellagio's casino is . Upon opening, it included 2,700 slot machines and 173 table games. Signage above slot machines was kept to a minimum, as Wynn wanted the resort's architecture to be the primary focus. As of 2003, gaming made up less than half of the resort's revenue. The poker room was expanded in 2004, as the game saw a rise in popularity.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The casino includes a high-limit poker area, originally known as Bobby's Room. It was named after Bellagio president and longtime MGM executive Bobby Baldwin. As of 2018, the minimum buy-in was $20,000. It was the most popular high-limit poker room in Las Vegas, until the nearby Aria resort opened in 2009. The Aria's poker room offered players a high-end alternative to Bobby's Room. In October 2020, MGM quietly renamed it the Legends Room, two years after Baldwin left the company.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In 2002, the casino launched a poker tournament series. The casino also hosts the annual WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, and the Five-Star World Poker Classic.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In 2013, the Bellagio introduced a private casino room known as Villa Privé, reserved for high rollers.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The Bellagio hotel has 3,933 rooms. It originally opened with 3,005 rooms, including 401 suites. A renovation of the main tower rooms took place in 2003. The Spa Tower, finished a year later, added 928 rooms, bringing the resort to its current number. The original tower is 36 stories, while the Spa Tower contains 33.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The hotel's suites, as well as the rooms in the Spa Tower, were renovated in 2007. Rooms in the main tower received a six-month, $70 million renovation in 2011. A $40 million renovation of the Spa Tower rooms began in 2012 and concluded the following year. From 2014 to 2015, renovations took place on the main tower suites. It was the final phase of the $165 million remodeling project that began in 2011. Another renovation of the main tower rooms took place during 2021.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: The Chairman Suite includes an indoor garden, a home theater system, several fireplaces, a bar, and fulltime butler service.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: A restored 19th century fountain sits in the hotel lobby, near the Conservatory. In 2015, a sculpture representing Earth's elements was placed outside the main hotel entrance. It was created by artist Masatoshi Izumi, who hand-carved it out of four basalt stones, each one weighing at least 17,000 pounds.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: An upscale nightclub, known as Light, was opened in December 2001. It was owned by Chris and Keith Barish, along with partner Andrew Sasson. It was inspired by a New York nightclub of the same name. The Las Vegas location became popular among celebrities. Light closed in September 2007, and was replaced by a new upscale nightclub known as The Bank. It was operated by Sasson's company, The Light Group. The club included two bars and three resident DJs. It was popular among tourists, and also attracted locals with various promotions and contests. It eventually closed in 2018.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In March 2011, SBE Entertainment Group announced that it would bring its Hyde Lounge nightclub brand to the resort, taking the place of Fontana Bar. Hyde Bellagio opened on December 31, 2011. The space featured 40 tables and capacity for 714 people. It included outdoor seating overlooking the resort's fountains. Hyde Bellagio closed in July 2019, and was replaced by the Mayfair Supper Club.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In February 2012, The Light Group opened Lily Bar & Lounge, which also served as a nightclub. The resort's bars are served by a pump room containing 1,800 bottles of alcohol. The alcohol travels distances ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 feet before reaching any one of the resort's 53 bars.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Bellagio opened with 16 eateries, some of them overseen by award-winning chefs. Picasso is a French restaurant by chef Julian Serrano. Paintings by Pablo Picasso adorn the restaurant's walls. Chef Todd English opened Olives, which served Mediterranean food and was named after a popular restaurant he opened in Boston. The resort also included Circo and Le Cirque, both owned by the Maccioni family and inspired by New York restaurants of the same name. Circo was an Italian restaurant, while Le Cirque offers French food and features an upscale circus theme.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Other restaurants included the 500-seat Buffet at Bellagio; Prime, a steakhouse by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten; Aqua, a 150-seat seafood restaurant originally from San Francisco, overseen by chef Michael Mina; and the 24-hour Bellagio Cafe. Several restaurants included patios overlooking the Bellagio lake.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: In 2004, Aqua was renamed Michael Mina after its chef. A new restaurant, Sensi, opened later that year as part of the Spa Tower. Jean-Philippe Maury also opened a pâtisserie which includes the world's largest chocolate fountain, standing 27 feet.


title: Bellagio (resort)

text: Fifteen years after the resort's opening, most of the original restaurants remained popular. Circo closed in 2014, and was replaced a year later by Lago, a new restaurant from chef Serrano. The restaurant serves Italian food, and features an Italian Futurism design.