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Taco Bell

Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, including tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, novelty, and speciality items, and a variety of "value menu" items. , Taco Bell serves over customers each year, at 8,212 restaurants, more than 94 percent of which are owned and operated by independent franchisees and licensees.

PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell in 1978, and later spun off its restaurants division as Tricon Global Restaurants, which later changed its name to Yum! Brands.

History
Taco Bell was founded by Glen Bell, an entrepreneur who first opened a hot dog stand called Bell's Drive-In, in San Bernardino, California, in 1948. Bell watched long lines of customers at a Mexican restaurant called the Mitla Cafe, located across the street, which became famous among residents for its hard-shelled tacos. Bell attempted to reverse-engineer the recipe, and eventually the owners allowed him to see how the tacos were made. He took what he had learned and opened a new stand in 1951. The name underwent several changes, from Taco-Tia through El Taco, before settling on Taco Bell.

Glen Bell opened the first Taco Bell in 1962 at 7112 Firestone Boulevard in Downey, California. Currently, there is a Taco Bell location across the street at 7127 Firestone Blvd, in Downey. The original location was a 400 sqft building about the size of a two-car garage, and was built with Mission-style arches that covered a small walk-up window that served the original menu items: Tostadas, burritos, frijoles, chiliburgers, and tacos, all for 19 cents ($0 in dollars ). The first restaurant closed in 1986, while the building was saved from demolition November 19, 2015, and was moved 45 mi to the Taco Bell Corporate Office at 1 Glen Bell Way in Irvine, California and is currently stored intact on the corporate parking lot premises and known as "Taco Bell Numero Uno".

In 1964, the first franchisee was purchased by former police officer Kermit Bekke. This location, located at 1654 W Carson Street in Torrance, California, had its grand opening on May 28, 1965. Bekke sold his franchise a year and a half later. This location - now The Tamale Man - closed in 1975 when it moved across the street to store #1130 at 1619 W Carson St, which itself would close in the late 1990s and then subsequently be repurposed into Alfredo's Mexican Food. In 1967, the 100th grand opening took place at the location at 400 South Brookhurst in Anaheim, which was later replaced by a new restaurant at 324 South Brookhurst in 1993. The first location east of the Mississippi River - the 270th to open, store #258 - opened at 2050 East Main Street in Springfield, Ohio, on September 20, 1968. Original Taco Bells only featured walk-up windows without indoor seating or drive-thru service and former original Taco Bell locations still survive while having been repurposed, frequently as other Mexican restaurants. Nine locations remain in the original Mission style as Taco Bell, all of which are in California, Arizona, Colorado and Hawaii. In 1970, Taco Bell went public with 325 restaurants.

The corporate office has had a few locations, and previously maintained an office at 2516 Via Tejon in Palos Verdes, then at 2424 Moreton Street in Torrance before settling into Irvine more than 40 years ago in 1976 at 17901 Von Karman Avenue.

PepsiCo subsidiary
In 1978, PepsiCo purchased Taco Bell from Glen Bell. Several locations in the Midwestern United States were converted from Zantigo, a Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Mexican chain, which PepsiCo acquired in 1986. In 1990, the Hot 'n Now chain was acquired. Taco Bell sold Hot 'n Now to a Connecticut company in 1997.

In 1991, Taco Bell opened the first Taco Bell Express in San Francisco. Taco Bell Express locations operate primarily inside convenience stores, truck stops, shopping malls, and airports. Taco Bell began co-branding with KFC in 1995 when the first such co-brand opened in Clayton, North Carolina. The chain has since co-branded with Pizza Hut and Long John Silver's as well.

In 1997, PepsiCo experimented with a new "fresh grill" concept, opening at least one Border Bell restaurant in Mountain View, California, on El Camino Real (SR 82). Close to the time that PepsiCo spun off its restaurant business in 1997, the Border Bell in Mountain View was closed and converted to a Taco Bell restaurant which was still open in 2018.

In September 2000, up to $50 million worth of Taco Bell-branded shells were recalled from supermarkets. The shells contained a variety of genetically modified corn called StarLink that was not approved for human consumption. StarLink was approved only for use in animal feed because of questions about whether it can cause allergic reactions in people. It was the first-ever recall of genetically modified food (GMO). Corn was not segregated at grain elevators and the miller in Texas did not order that type. In 2001, Tricon Global announced a $60 million settlement with the suppliers. They stated that it would go to Taco Bell franchisees and TGR would not take any of it.

Yum! Brands subsidiary
PepsiCo spun out Taco Bell and its other restaurant chains in late 1997 in Tricon Global Restaurants. With the purchase of Yorkshire Global Restaurants, the owners of A&W and Long John Silver's chains, Tricon changed its name to Yum! Brands on May 16, 2002.

In March 2005, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) won a landmark victory in its national boycott of Taco Bell for human rights. Taco Bell agreed to meet all the coalition's demands to improve wage and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers in its supply chain. After four years of boycott, Taco Bell and Yum! Brands agreed to make an agreement called the CIW-Yum agreement with representatives of CIW at Yum! Brands headquarters.

Taco Bell began experimenting with fast-casual and urban concepts when it created U.S. Taco Co. and Urban Taproom in 2014 reflecting a market shift due to the popularity of Chipotle Mexican Grill. The menu consisted of tacos with American fillings, and did not sell the food sold in Taco Bell restaurants, such as burritos. It was launched in Huntington Beach, California, in August 2014. U.S. Taco Co. closed on September 15, 2015, so the company could focus on its new similar Taco Bell Cantina concept, which featured special menu items and served alcohol. It opened its first location a few days later in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, followed by a location in San Francisco about a month later, located less than a block away from AT&T Park. In 2016, Taco Bell launched the Taco Bell Cantina flagship store located on the Las Vegas Strip. The 24-hour restaurant serves alcohol, unique menu items, and features a DJ. It was announced in August 2017 that the store would begin hosting weddings. Taco Bell Cantina currently has locations in San Francisco, Berkeley, Chicago (2 locations), Las Vegas, Austin, Fayetteville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Atlanta, Newport Beach, San Diego, San Jose, Nashville, with plans to open soon in Somerville, Massachusetts. In March 2020, Taco Bell announced that it would be converting 3 of its suburban stores into Cantinas this year as part of a test run.

In March 2016, Taco Bell introduced private beta testing of an artificial intelligence bot on the messaging platform Slack designed to take orders of select menu items from local Taco Bell locations and have the orders delivered. Taco Bell planned to have a wider roll-out of this functionality in the coming months.

Previously, Taco Bell's hot sauces were only available in packets at the chain itself. In February 2014, Taco Bell made its hot sauces available at grocery stores, sold in bottles. These would be followed by further grocery store products including chips in May 2018 and shredded cheese in 2019. In September 2016, Taco Bell opened a pop-up in New York City in the SoHo, Manhattan area called the Taco Bell VR Arcade. Taco Bell and VR fans could demo PlayStation VR, games, and food.

In 2016, Taco Bell built a restaurant out of five cargo shipping containers for the Texas music festival, South by Southwest. Due to popularity, the franchise decided to move the restaurant to a lot in South Gate, California, and it opened to the public a year later. The restaurant features Taco Bell's full menu, with outdoor seating, a walk-up window, and a drive-thru, but no indoor seating unlike regular Taco Bell locations. Taco Bell announced plans in November 2017 to open 300 more urban and Cantina-style locations by 2022, with 50 to be located about New York City's five boroughs. In 2019 Taco Bell opened a pop-up hotel called "The Bell: A Taco Bell Hotel and Resort" for one weekend in August. Upon the announcement the hotel was booked up in two minutes

Taco Bell announced plans to stay in its current corporate headquarters in Irvine until 2030.

Menu and advertising
In 1992, Johnny Cash starred in a television commercial for Taco Bell's value menu.

In 1993, Taco Bell was part of product placement for the movie Demolition Man and updated their currently used logo.

In March 2001, Taco Bell announced a promotion to coincide with the re-entry of the Mir space station. They towed a large target out into the Pacific Ocean, announcing that if the target was hit by a falling piece of Mir, every person in the United States would be entitled to a free Taco Bell taco. The company bought a sizable insurance policy for this gamble. No piece of the station struck the target.

In 2004, a local Taco Bell franchisee bought the naming rights to the Boise State Pavilion in Boise, Idaho, and renamed the stadium Taco Bell Arena. Also, in 2004, Mountain Dew offered Taco Bell stores the exclusive right to carry Mountain Dew Baja Blast, a tropical lime flavor of the popular soft drink.

In 2005, Taco Bell released the menu item called the Crunchwrap Supreme.

In 2007, Taco Bell first offered the "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion—if any player from either team stole a base in the World Series, the company would give away free tacos to everyone in the United States in a campaign similar to the Mir promotion, albeit with a much higher likelihood of being realized. After Jacoby Ellsbury of the Boston Red Sox stole a base in Game 2, the company made good on the promotion on October 30, 2007. The promotion has subsequently been offered in multiple World Series.

Taco Bell sponsors a promotion at home games for both the Portland Trail Blazers and the Cleveland Cavaliers in which everyone in attendance receives a coupon for a free Chalupa if the home team scores 100 points or more.

In 2009, Taco Bell introduced a music video style commercial entitled "It's all about the Roosevelts" composed and produced by Danny de Matos at his studio for Amber Music on behalf of DraftFCB Agency. Featuring, Varsity Fanclub's Bobby Edner, the rap music style commercial shows a group of friends gathering change as they drive toward Taco Bell. The commercial represents Taco Bell's first foray into movie theater advertising, featuring the ad during the opening previews of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Public Enemies as well as screens in some movie theater lobbies.

On July 1, 2009, Taco Bell replaced 20-year sponsor McDonald's as the fast-food partner of the NBA. Taco Bell and the NBA agreed on a 4-year deal allowing them to advertise on ABC, TNT, and ESPN, and NBA-themed promotions. On July 21, 2009, Gidget, the Chihuahua featured in Taco Bell ads in the late 1990s, was euthanized after suffering a stroke. She was 15 years old. 2009 commercials for the "Frutista Freeze" frozen drink feature Snowball, an Eleonora cockatoo noted for his ability to dance to human music. In an effort to promote its $2 Meal Deals, Taco Bell started a Facebook group in June 2010 to collect signatures on a petition that appeals to the Federal Reserve to produce more two-dollar bills.

A large advertising push by Taco Bell had begun in late February 2011 in response to a consumer protection lawsuit filed against the company by an Alabama law firm. The promotion sought to counter allegations that the company falsely advertised the ratio of ingredients in its beef filling for its tacos. The spots featured employees and franchisees stating that the filling has always been a mixture of 88% beef and various spices and binders and nothing else. The ad followed several full-page print ads in the New York Times and other newspapers that featured the headline "Thank you for suing us." Additionally, the chain added a new social campaign using Twitter and Facebook. The company invested heavily in the campaign, spending more than $3 million (USD) putting out its message—about 20 percent more than the company usually spends on an advertising program. The various campaigns came shortly before the company began its official response to the suit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California and were designed to bring public opinion into their camp. Various analysts stated that the company would have been better off using a grass-root campaign that involved in store advertising and other non-broadcast media. The suit was eventually withdrawn, and the company continued its advertising response by publicly requesting an apology from the suing firm of Beasley Allen. Analyst Laura Ries, of marketing strategy firm Ries & Ries, stated she believed Taco Bell's latest response was a mistake. She commented that reviving memories of a suit that the majority of the public had forgotten after the initial burst of publicity was the wrong strategy from Taco Bell.

In March 2012, Taco Bell teamed up with Frito-Lay and created the Doritos Locos Tacos, which is a taco with a Dorito Nacho Cheese flavored taco shell.

In May 2012, Taco Bell released a drink named Mountain Dew A.M, a mixture of Mountain Dew and orange juice.

On June 6, 2012, Taco Bell announced it would be testing a new "Cantina Menu" with upscale items in their Kentucky and California restaurants. The new menu was created by celebrity chef Lorena Garcia, and featured the addition of: Black Beans; Cilantro Rice; Citrus & Herb Marinated Chicken; and Cilantro Dressing.

The Cool Ranch Doritos Taco, became available to order on March 7, 2013. Shortly before its release, Taco Bell launched a promotion advertising that fans could get the new flavor at its stores a day early if they "just asked" on March 6. However, they neglected to inform the majority of their stores of this – leading to numerous complaints on its social media accounts and news sites from disappointed consumers who were unable to obtain the new taco.

On July 23, 2013, Taco Bell announced they were discontinuing the sale of kids' meals and accompanying toys at all of their U.S.–based restaurants by January 2014. Some outlets ceased their sale as early as July 2013. On August 6, 2013, the chain announced it was expanding its test market of "Waffle Tacos" to ≈100 restaurants in Fresno, California, Omaha, Nebraska, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning on August 8 of that year. The Waffle Taco included scrambled eggs, sausage, and a side of syrup. It was the top–selling item during breakfast hours at the five Southern California restaurants where they had been test–released earlier in 2013. The breakfast menu started on March 27, 2014. Other items include: the A.M. Crunchwrap, Cinnabon Delights, Breakfast Burrito, A.M. Grilled Sausage Flatbread Melt, Hash Browns, Coffee and Orange Juice. The ad–campaign, which began March 27, used twenty-five men who were named Ronald McDonald, a reference to the famous clown mascot of McDonald's. Another commercial advertisement for the Waffle Taco features the narrator singing, "I've been eating Egg McMuffins since 1984. But when I saw Taco Bell made a Waffle Taco, I figured I would get with the times" set to the tune of "Old MacDonald Had a Farm"— another shot at McDonald's.

On April 28, 2014, Taco Bell ridiculed McDonald's for its "out–dated muffins", in a breakfast campaign devised by Taylor. The advertisement stated the claim that the McMuffin belonged in 1984. In October 2014, Taco Bell launched the Pink Strawberry Starburst Freeze beverage for a limited time. In August 2016, Taco Bell brought back its Pink Strawberry Starburst Freeze. In October 2015, Taco Bell launched a certified vegetarian menu.

In August 2016, Taco Bell announced it would begin testing a mashup known as Cheetos Burritos at select Taco Bell restaurants On September 19, 2016, Taco Bell launched Airheads Freeze, a drink inspired by the candy Airheads White Mystery, and allow people to guess its flavor on social media. On September 15, 2016, Taco Bell introduced the Cheddar Habanero Quesarito, a quesadilla shelled burrito. In April 2017, Taco Bell announced that it will begin testing the Naked Breakfast Taco in Flint, Michigan in mid-April. The breakfast taco, which uses a fried egg as the shell for potato bites, nacho cheese, shredded cheddar, and bacon or sausage crumble.

In 2017, the company released the Naked Chicken Chalupa that uses a chalupa shell made from chicken, using a similar idea to the Double Down and later that year the Naked Chicken Chips, which are chicken nuggets shaped like chips with nacho cheese.

In July 2017, Taco Bell announced a partnership with Lyft in which Lyft passengers in Orange County, California, can request "Taco Mode" on their way to their destination from 9 PM to 2 AM, having a stop at Taco Bell. The program was cancelled after much negative feedback from drivers.

On September 21, 2018, Taco Bell announced National Taco Day celebrating its global reach outside of the United States, to be celebrated in 20 countries.

In January 2019, Taco Bell nearly doubled its television advertising spending to US$64 million.

In September 2019, Taco Bell revamped its menu for the fall season.

In July 2020, Taco Bell announced the Grilled Cheese Burrito. The burrito is a recurring menu item that occasionally reappears for a limited time.

In January 2021, Taco Bell announced the return of potatoes to the menu after a brief discontinuation in August 2020 in efforts to streamline processes in their restaurants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the potatoes, the company had announced plans to expand their vegetarian menu by introducing Beyond Meat as a plant-based vegetarian customization option.

In April 2021, Taco Bell said that it will start reusing hot sauce packets in partnership with the recycling company TerraCycle, aiming to reduce the environmental pollution.

In August 2021, Taco Bell announced the Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco.

On April 18, 2022, Taco Bell announced that Mexican Pizza will return to its menu on May 19, after having previously been discontinued in November 2020.

On January 6, 2022, Taco Bell launched a digital taco subscription service called the Taco Lover's Pass through the company app. For the cost of $10, a customer can order one of seven different tacos each day for 30 consecutive days.

In 2023, the company test-marketed a vegan Crunchwrap Supreme in Los Angeles, New York, and Orlando to gauge the potential of a national roll out. Bon Appétit tested a vegan Crunchwrap alongside a non-vegan Crunchwrap purchased at the store in midtown Manhattan and said "the differences between the two were also genuinely difficult to discern."

Dollar Cravings
On August 18, 2014, Taco Bell launched a new value menu called Dollar Cravings. Replacing the old Why Pay More menu, Dollar Cravings currently contains thirteen food items all priced at a United States dollar.

It was renamed "Cravings Value Menu", when prices were increased on some of the items. In April 2019, they introduced a "loaded nacho taco" for a dollar. As of January 2024, the company featured 10 items.

Discontinued menu items
One of Taco Bell's original 1960s menu items was the Chiliburger, later known as the Bell Burger, then the Bell Beefer. This was a loose meat sandwich with taco-seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese and lettuce, diced onions, and tomato with mild red sauce, served on a steamed hamburger bun. The sandwich was removed from the menu sometime in the late 1980s to keep a strictly Tex Mex-inspired line up.

Other discontinued items include: Enchirito (name revived for a different menu item); Taco Lite; Taco Grande; Chilito (Chili Cheese Burrito); Beefy Crunch Burrito; Beefy Melt Burrito; Seafood Salad; Chicken Fiesta Burrito; Potatorito; Volcano Taco; BLT Taco; Cheesarito; Cinnamon Crispas; Nacho Crunch Grilled Stuft Burrito; Chicken Caesar Grilled Stuft Burrito; Grilled Stuft Nacho; Fully Loaded Nachos; Crunchwrap Sliders; Blackjack Taco; Bean Burrito Especial; Border Ices; and the Meximelt.

In September 2019, Taco Bell made new changes to its menu. Items discontinued include the Beefy Mini Quesadilla; Chips and Salsa; Chipotle Chicken Loaded Griller; Double Decker Taco; Cool Ranch and Fiery Doritos Locos Tacos; Double Tostada; Power Menu Burrito, and the XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito.

, the menu underwent another update as part of their efforts to streamline processes in their restaurants in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, discontinuing the following items: Grilled Steak Soft Taco; 7-Layer Burrito; Nachos Supreme; Beefy Fritos Burrito; Spicy Tostada; Triple Layer Nachos; Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes; Loaded Grillers, both Cheesy Potato and Beefy Nacho; Chips & Dips; and Mini Skillet Bowl.

International operations
Between 2010 and 2023 the number of outlets has grown every year:

China
In 2003, Taco Bell entered the Chinese market by opening a restaurant in the Shanghai People's Square, named "Taco Bell Grande". Three more TBG restaurants opened before they were closed in 2008. Taco Bell relaunched in the Chinese market when a store opened in Pudong, Shanghai in late 2016. As of March 2024, Taco Bell has 90 outlets in China.

India
India's first Taco Bell outlet opened at the Mantri Square mall in Bangalore in 2010. Taco Bell announced an exclusive national master franchise agreement with Burman Hospitality on May 15, 2019. The chain operated 35 outlets across India as on the same date. Yum! Brands stated that it planned to open 600 new Taco Bell outlets in India by 2029.

Indonesia
Taco Bell opened its first Indonesian restaurant in South Jakarta on December 18, 2020. As of 2022, Taco Bell has since opened three more restaurants in Indonesia, all located in Jakarta.

Malaysia
Taco Bell opened its first Malaysian store in Cyberjaya, Sepang on April 2, 2021. It then opened its second store in Bandar Sri Permaisuri, Kuala Lumpur followed by Tropicana Gardens Mall and Setiawangsa outlets. In early 2022, Taco Bell opened up in Wangsa Maju, Sunway Pyramid, Puchong and has continued in expanding to other states as well. It currently has 13 stores scattered across Klang Valley.

Japan
Taco Bell once operated shops in Tokyo and Nagoya in the 1980s but withdrew several years later. Since then, there were shops only at United States Forces Japan bases. In 2015, Taco Bell returned to the Japanese market with a new shop in the downtown area of Shibuya, Tokyo. It had "Taco rice" and "Shrimp and avocado burrito" on its original menu.

Philippines
Taco Bell opened its first Philippine branch in October 2004, at the Gateway Mall in Cubao, Quezon City. As of 2023 there are some outlets in the Manila/Quezon City area.

Singapore
Taco Bell in Singapore existed for a number of years, mostly as combination stores with KFC such as the one that operated at the Funan Digital Life Mall, but in 2008, Taco Bell completely pulled out of Singapore.

South Korea
There are currently two locations in Seoul, in the Itaewon and Hongdae districts, which attract the most foreigners and college students. The two branches opened in the summer of 2010, Itaewon's branch coming first. A Taco Bell had long been a presence at the U.S. Army's Yongsan Garrison, which is off-limits to non-military personnel, and for a time there was a tongue-in-cheek grassroots campaign by non-Korean, non-military foreigners in Seoul to get another Taco Bell location.

Sri Lanka
In July 2017, Taco Bell opened an outlet in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Thailand
There are branches in Bangkok and Pattaya.

Cyprus
A Taco Bell opened in Cyprus in December 2009 in Limassol in the MY MALL Limassol. Additionally there are stores in Paphos, Nicosia and Larnaca.

Finland
On June 15, 2017, Finnish restaurant company Restel announced that it is bringing Taco Bell to Finland. The first restaurant opened in central Helsinki on November 9, 2017. Restaurants in Sello and Iso Omena malls in Espoo opened later in November 2017. Finland is the first country to include pulled oats (a meat substitute) in the menu. In 2019, the Taco bell expanded outside the Helsinki metropolitan area to Lappeenranta and Turku. In July 2021, a new branch was opened in Oulu. As of November 2022 there are 16 Taco Bell restaurants in Finland, most of them in the Helsinki metropolitan area.

Germany
Taco Bell will open its first German location in Berlin as early as July or August 2024. Once established, the franchise company İş Holding (ISH) plans to open 100 to 150 Taco Bell restaurants in Germany within the next five years.

Netherlands
On April 4, 2017, Taco Bell opened its first restaurant in Eindhoven, Netherlands. On October 12, Taco Bell opened another restaurant in Tilburg. A third restaurant has opened in Breda.

The 10th Taco Bell restaurant in the Netherlands opened in Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht on January 11, 2024. This Taco Bell is also the first Taco Bell restaurant worldwide to use batteries to store energy in case the demanded energy is higher than the power grid is able to handle.

Portugal
The first Taco Bell store was opened in 2019, with 11 restaurants spread across the country in 2021.

Romania
The first Taco Bell store opened in Romania's capital, Bucharest, on October 12, 2017, and there are currently 13 stores on the Romanian market. At present, Romania is the only country in Eastern Europe that has a Taco Bell store.

Spain
Spain is the most important market for Taco Bell in Europe. The outlets are in various towns on the mainland, on Mallorca and on the Canary Islands. There are 119 Taco Bell branches by early 2024, more than twice than in 2017 when Taco Bell had 32 branches in Spain. The first Taco Bell in Spain was opened at Naval Station Rota in 2004 and is available only to those authorized to access the naval base. The first Taco Bell for the public was opened in the Islazul Shopping Mall, Madrid, in December 2008. Yum! Brands announced that it would open additional restaurants in Spain in early 2009 as part of a test trial for the European market. The second location of Taco Bell in Spain was opened at the La Vaguada Shopping Mall, Madrid in March 2010.

United Kingdom
The United Kingdom was the first European country with a Taco Bell. In 1986, a location was opened in London on Coventry Street (between Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus) followed by a second location in Earl's Court near the Earl's Court tube station. One other store opened in Uxbridge but all closed in the mid-1990s. In 1994, the university food provider Compass announced plans for outlets on its university and college sites. However, only one store was opened at Birmingham University, which is now closed.

After the Birmingham University branch closed, there were only two Taco Bell branches in the UK, at the Strategic Air Command and United States Air Force bases at RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath. Access is restricted to relevant service personnel.

In the late 2000s, Yum! Brands announced that it was reopening Taco Bell locations in the United Kingdom as part of a large, planned expansion into Europe. Yum! took advantage of the recent great recession which led to increasing sales at other fast food outlets; it also said that there was now a greater awareness of Mexican food in the UK and that it can be successful with improved menu offerings and marketing. The first new store opened at the Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex on June 28, 2010. Another store opened in Basildon, Essex, on November 29, 2010, and a third in the Manchester Arndale Food Court on November 7, 2011.

On March 1, 2013, it was announced that trace amounts of horse meat from a European supplier had been found in various food products, including Taco Bell's beef in the UK. By August 2017, there were 17 Taco Bell branches in the United Kingdom, all of which were in England and outside of London. The first Scottish branch was opened in Glasgow in December 2017. As of June 2019 there are 39 branches in Scotland and England, including three in London. Beginning in October 2019, Taco Bell locations in the UK began serving Doritos Locos Tacos.

On March 2, 2020, the first Welsh Taco Bell branch was opened in Cardiff.

More recently, in November 2021, Taco Bell opened its 77th UK store, and a return to the British Midlands with a store in The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.

In August 2022 a Taco Bell was opened in Torquay, Devon, the second in the county after Plymouth.

Middle East
A Taco Bell opened in the United Arab Emirates in November 2008 in Dubai at the Dubai Mall. A fourth UAE location was also planned for Bawadi Mall in the city of Al Ain. The locations at Dubai Mall, Deira City Centre, and Mirdif City Centre have all closed and Taco Bell has completely pulled out of the Emirati market. Taco Bell is still open in Kuwait and has not been pulled out ever since from the Kuwaiti market.

Canada
Taco Bell has been present in Canada since 1981, with the first store opening in Windsor, Ontario. There are currently Taco Bell locations in 7 of the 10 Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Taco Bell had operated in the province of Quebec for close to 15 years, however announced its withdrawal on January 6, 2022. For some time it was possible to order draft beer with one's order. Taco Bell offers free soda refills in its stores.

On March 31, 2011, Priszm, owner of Taco Bell (Canada), went into bankruptcy protection in Ontario and British Columbia. On May 6, 2011, Priszm Income Fund was delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange for failure to meet the continued listing requirements. Since then, some Taco Bell restaurants have been closed down including those in Guelph, Hamilton, and Cambridge, Ontario among others.

Australia
Taco Bell first opened in Australia in September 1981, but Taco Bell was ordered to change its name after the owner of a local restaurant successfully sued Taco Bell for misleading conduct. The local restaurant was called "Taco Bell's Casa" and had been operating in Australia since the 1970s. The owner successfully argued that Sydneysiders would confuse the takeaway chain with his restaurant, and this would damage his reputation. Taco Bell later opened in 1997 in Australia with a store in the cinema district on George Street, Sydney and a year later in 1998 within a few KFC stores in the state of New South Wales, but by 2005, the Taco Bell brand was pulled out of the country.

On September 13, 2017, Collins Foods announced that Taco Bell would return to the Australian market, with their first store being situated in the Brisbane suburb of Annerley in Queensland using a refurbished Sizzler restaurant which had closed earlier that year. The Annerley store opened on November 4, 2017. In 2018, Collins Foods signed a development deal with Yum! Brands to open over 50 Taco Bell restaurants across Australia between January 2019 and December 2021. A legal dispute with Victoria-based restaurant chain Taco Bill was resolved in February 2020.

As of January 2023, there are 39 Taco Bell restaurants across Australia; 12 in New South Wales, 13 in Queensland, nine in Victoria, and four in Western Australia. There are also plans to open restaurants in other locations, such as Canberra, the Central Coast,  Port Macquarie  and Toowoomba. While the chain has grown nationwide, both of its two outlets in North Queensland closed in November 2022, which were previously locations in Cairns and Townsville.

New Zealand
Taco Bell officially opened its first New Zealand location on November 12, 2019, in the suburb of New Lynn, Auckland.

As of January 2023, there are 14 Taco Bell restaurants across New Zealand; 10 on the North Island and four on the South Island. By city, there are seven in Auckland, three in Christchurch and one each in Dunedin, Rotorua, Taupiri and Wellington. There are two outlets at airports in New Zealand, one at Auckland Airport and the other at Christchurch Airport.

Territories of the United States
Taco Bell operates several stores in Guam.

Taco Bell operates one restaurant in the Northern Mariana Islands, located on the island of Saipan.

In 2005 Taco Bell started the permitting process to set up a restaurant in American Samoa in Pago Pago.

South America
There are outlets in Brazil in the São Paulo area, Campinas and Rio de Janeiro.

Taco Bell has stores in Chile, which many of them are operated in conjunction (and in the same facilities) with Pizza Hut. All Taco Bell stores are in shopping malls located mainly in Santiago.

Peru has branches in Lima.

There were four outlets in the Bogotá area in Colombia, but these closed in late 2018.

There was a Taco Bell in Ecuador.

Other countries
Taco Bell is present in the Dominican Republic, Aruba, Costa Rica, Panama and Portugal.

Greece
Greece's first Taco Bell opened in Athens upon the grand opening of the newly constructed Athens Metro Mall on November 30, 2010. The restaurant closed in August 2012 and the chain withdrew from the Greek market due to the country's recession.

Iceland
Taco Bell in Iceland was operated as a part of the KFC establishment in Hafnarfjörður, suburb of Reykjavík. It was established in late 2006, after the departure of the U.S. Navy from Naval Air Station Keflavik. A second location opened in the Ártúnshöfði part of Reykjavík in November 2008. Taco Bell closed its Hafnarfjörður location in late 2023.

Mexico
Taco Bell has attempted to enter the Mexican market twice. After a highly publicised launch in Mexico City in 1992, all the restaurants were closed two years later. In September 2007, Taco Bell returned to Monterrey, projecting an American image with an Americanized menu that included french fries, but it closed in January 2010 due to low patronage.

Poland
The first Polish Taco Bell store was opened in 1993. Following an aggressive campaign of expansion, Taco Bell's efforts soon withered, and the chain withdrew from Poland shortly thereafter.

Russia
In the early 1990s, PepsiCo opened several Taco Bell locations inside the Moscow Metro, including Metro Park Kulturi and Metro Komsomolskaya. This experiment lasted only a few years. These locations live on under different ownership and a different name.

Military bases
The AAFES provides Taco Bell for military bases in Bahrain, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Iraq Italy, and Kosovo.

Clothing line
In 2017, Forever 21 produced a clothing line in partnership with Taco Bell, featuring branded T-shirts and sweatshirts, as well as bodysuits made to look like Border Sauce packets.

In November 2019, Taco Bell announced Taco Bell's Taco Shop, an online store with Taco Bell branded merchandise including hoodies and tees, holiday ornaments, inflatable sauce packets, and wedding-related items.

title: Taco Bell


text:
Talk:Tornado

Sheltering on the first floor
In the Safety section, immediately after a photo of damage in Birmingham, in the UK, it's stated that people are advised to shelter either in a basement or on the first floor.

A lot of English speakers are unaware of this particular difference between American and British English, and even those who are might be led to assume the British English interpretation given the context of the UK example.

First floor in the US refers to the ground floor in the UK.

First floor in the UK refers to the second floor in the US.

Given that any misinterpretation here could lead to people putting their lives at risk when sheltering from a tornado, it might be worth replacing the term first floor with less ambiguous language. 178.238.147.66 (talk) 07:22, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

 * I think it would be best to change it to refer to the ground floor which has the same meaning in the US and UK. ― Blaze WolfTalkBlaze Wolf#6545 13:17, 13 September 2022 (UTC)

 * Alternatively, the article could refer to the "lowest floor", meaning a basement if one is available and the ground floor otherwise. TornadoLGS (talk) 02:00, 14 September 2022 (UTC)

Landspouts and waterspouts as "true" tornadoes
Concerning landspouts and waterspouts, the second lead paragraph says "there is disagreement over whether to classify them as true tornadoes" due to those (usually) not being associated with a mesocyclone, e.g. non-supercell. Tornado implies landspouts that touch the ground or are stronger than 64 km/h are considered tornadoes. The Landspout article simply refers to itself as a tornado unassociated with a mesocyclone, while confusingly Waterspout is divided into "tornadic" (mesocyclone-associated) and "non-tornadic" varieties, the latter of which are still "non-supercell tornadoes".

I'm having trouble pinpointing where this disagreement with terminology can be found in the article body if at all, although it does seem to be a popularly held belief. Could we clarify which sources say a tornado must be associated with a supercell to be defined as a "true" tornado? 93 (talk) 08:54, 21 May 2023 (UTC)

 * I'd like to hear some discussion for this as well. I believe the popular opinion is that non- super cellular columns of rotation are in fact tornadoes. And I also agree that there is dissonance in the article and child articles. I don't believe many professional sources would claim a vortex must belong to a supercell to be defined as a tornado, as that would alienate plenty of notable tornadic events derived from waterspouts and gustnados/QLCS formed spin-ups.
 * Additionally as per WP:TECHNICAL I feel it's not the best move to apply meteorological discourse with vague consensus into an integral article, unless its actually necessary. Wikiwillz (talk) 20:17, 24 May 2023 (UTC)

Gallery
I'm not sure that the gallery should exist. There are multiple photos placed across the article that illustrate its appearance and function. ? talk contribs

Updating images in the article
Most of the images in the article have been taken before the year 2000, going back to the 1950s. With the abundance of available tornado footage and images I think updating this article to have more clear, high-res imagery would do it good. Ikethecatto (talk) 17:38, 1 July 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 September 2023
In the landspout section I would Like to add that :tornado not associated with a mesocyclone "And is Formed Due to a developing storm Updraft causing rotation. 2601:603:382:4A60:30CB:7CC5:1474:CC47 (talk) 05:11, 18 September 2023 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made.  — Paper9oll  (🔔 • 📝)  14:04, 18 September 2023 (UTC)

 * 5000*500*

2400:C600:3663:815D:16C6:D950:E85E:9FAD (talk) 13:10, 11 October 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 13 January 2024
The etymology, as it stands, is not consistent with its two linked sources. According to one of them (Etymonline) the English word comes from two Spanish words i.e. tronada and tornado (the latter, despite its ortographical identity to the English word, is considered secondary in Etymonline and entirely absent from M-W): now the article only mentions the latter, and (which is the actual, egregious point) it incorrectly attributes to it the ultimate Latin origin of the former. My proposed edit is as follows:

The word tornado comes from the Spanish word tronada ('thunderstorm'), from tronar, itself from Latin tonare (both meaning 'to thunder'); the English word was also influenced by Spanish tornado, past participle of tornar ('to twist, turn'), from Latin tornare ('to turn').

91.197.196.75 (talk) 19:25, 13 January 2024 (UTC)

(Still me.) I guess that was a no? 31.13.255.32 (talk) 17:23, 29 March 2024 (UTC)
 * (Also me.) Done by a kind soul: consider me satisfied. 80.249.126.241 (talk) 17:13, 10 April 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 29 May 2024
I would like for this image to be added to the formation part of the tornado Wikipedia. CCChrisy (talk) 04:47, 29 May 2024 (UTC)

 * @CCChrisy: Under which section? Charliehdb (talk) 05:14, 29 May 2024 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done for now: Please clarify under which section do you want the image to be added and reactivate the request after doing that. ABG (Talk/Report any mistakes here) 06:00, 29 May 2024 (UTC)
 * I’ll do it since I think I know what section that editor is talking about. West Virginia WXeditor (talk) 15:24, 6 June 2024 (UTC)
 * @CCChrisy: It was the section that said “Formation”, right? West Virginia WXeditor (talk) 15:26, 6 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Since my mention erroneously tagged and probably notified @Charliehdb; I am going to clarify that I meant to tag @CCChrisy. West Virginia WXeditor (talk) 15:29, 6 June 2024 (UTC)
 * Well if I put it in the wrong section; I know based on the time stamp that your edit request was made before I created this account. And I’m autoconfirmed now; so my advice (since your account @CCChrisy is undoubtedly more than four days old), I’d go make about ten edits somewhere (but don’t try to game the system) and you’ll be autoconfirmed (if you aren’t already) and you’ll be able to edit the image however you like. West Virginia WXeditor (talk) 15:33, 6 June 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 July 2024
In this sentence:

Tornadoes occur most frequently in North America (particularly in central and southeastern regions of the United States colloquially known as Tornado Alley; the United States and Canada have by far the most tornadoes of any countries in the world).

Please change "America (particularly)" to "America, particularly" and "world)." to "world." The parentheses aren't needed. 123.51.107.94 (talk) 01:13, 16 July 2024 (UTC)
 * ✅ Hyphenation Expert (talk) 11:11, 16 July 2024 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Tornado


text:
Chardonnay

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.

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.

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 210000 ha worldwide, second only to Airén among white wine grapes and fifth among all wine grapes.

History
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 descent 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.

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.

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.

Clones, crossing, and mutations
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.

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.

In the 1930s, Chardonnay was crossed with a Seibel grape to create the hybrid grape Ravat blanc.

Viticulture
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.

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.

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 2 m above limestone and the resulting wines are very rich and rounded. In the nearby Les Perrières vineyard, the topsoil is only around 30 cm 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.

Confusion with Pinot blanc
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.

France
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.

Burgundy
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.

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.

Chablis
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 département. 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 247 acre 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.

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.

Champagne
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.

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 10 °C, 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.

Other French regions
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 9000 ha 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.

North America
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.

California
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 100000 acre 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%.

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.

New York
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.

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.

Other states
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.

Canada
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.

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.

Australia and New Zealand
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 Valley - 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.

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.

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.

Italy
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.

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.

South Africa
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.

Other wine regions
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.

New World wine regions
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.

Winemaking
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 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. 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 produce 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 slowly 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 five years to complete when the fermentation process normally only takes a matter of weeks.

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.

Wine style
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.

With food
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.

Popularity and backlash
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.

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.

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

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".

Despite the backlash, Chardonnay remains very popular. In 2004, Chardonnay was estimated to be the world's 6th most widely grown grape variety, covering 179300 ha.

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

Synonyms
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:

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: Chardonnay


text:
Shire of Mornington Peninsula

The Shire of Mornington Peninsula is a local government area in southeastern Metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located to the south of the Melbourne City Centre. It has an area of 724 square kilometres and in June 2018 it had a population of 165,822.

History
The Mornington Peninsula Shire came into existence on 15 December 1994 when the state government amalgamated the previous Shires of Flinders, Hastings and Mornington.

On August 13, 2019, the Shire voted to declare a climate emergency in response to other similar declarations from councils around Australia.

The Shire abolished the 150-year-old tradition of reciting a prayer before Council meetings in December 2020. According to the Australian National Secular Lobby, the Shire was the first council or parliament to be removed from their list of government institutions that impose prayers on elected representatives”.

Electoral representation
The Mornington Peninsula Shire is split into six wards and eleven Councillors. The six wards are Briars, Cerberus, Nepean, Red Hill, Seawinds and Watson. The current council, as of December 2020, is:

Townships and localities
The 2021 census, the shire had a population of 168,948 up from 154,999 in the 2016 census

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

title: Shire of Mornington Peninsula