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'Struck Match' characters in Chardonnay and White Burgundy

Years ago I was sitting at a Masterclass sipping on a fleet of Chardonnays from one of Australia’s great Chardonnay producers. The wines were attractive and most of them had a hefty dose of reduction which translated as ’struck match’ characters on the nose. It was an attractive nuance that adding complexity that I really enjoyed, so I asked the question ‘How do you achieve that struck match character in winemaking with chardonnay? Can it be controlled and manipulated?' I thought it was a simple question at the time but was surprised and particularly unsatisfied with the response. I was told ‘God’ was responsible, I guess signalling a certain accidental randomness or serendipity in the appearance of those characters in the Chardonnays in front of me. Anyway, I went away scratching my head. 
 
Then a few weeks ago I posted a question on Winefront addressed to ‘Carlos', the moniker of Oakridge winemaker Dave Bicknell ‘the master of Australian chardonnay'. Needless to say, I was much more satisfied with Dave’s response and thought I’d share his answer. 
 
MY QUESTION
Can you give a bit more insight into struck match characters in Aussie chard? I once asked the question at a tasting of a major chard producer and I was told ‘God’ was responsible which didn’t really satisfy.  Can it be induced by winemaking or is it as I was told – God?
 
DAVE BICKNELL’S ANSWER
"Well as an atheist, it’s a no from me. There are some winemakers out there who think they are gods though. Bit sad. To a degree, it can be induced and then manipulated, and there are several theories on how it is produced. It tends to be a character from cooler regions/sites, and particularly in the cooler vintages, with the majority believing it to be the combination of warm, rapid natural fermentation in tandem with a high level of grape solids in barrel fermentations. Others feel it may be related to residual sulphur sprays in the must, which I’m less convinced about. I have a theory that it is related to the amount of protein in the grapes, which is correspondingly higher in the cooler years. That theory is untested but from chatting to the AWRI about it, plausible.
 
Some manipulate by adding lees from the previous season back into current vintage wines to increase that character. I’m not a fan of doing that as it opens the door to Brettanomyces spoilage. While it’s a common character in chardy worldwide, you can just as easily do it in other varieties. I hope that helps to answer your question.” 
 
Well, I was more than pleased with Dave’s response. Reduction in Chardonnay which presents as gunflint/struck match characters is perhaps a little controversial and it will come down to personal preference as to whether you like it not. Needless to say, some critics see it as artefact or more alarmingly as a fault. However, some of the world’s great chardonnays like Coche Dury and Roulot in Burgundy and Giaconda here in Australia as well as Dave’s own incredible Oakridge 864 Funder and Diamond 2017 Chardonnay all have it - and I love it!