Chardon-May, Our Favorite Chardonnay
When we came up with the idea for Chardon-May, I wanted to find wines from less common growing areas than most people are familiar with for Chardonnay. We have enjoyed Chardonnay on many occasions and it is a wine that can range in flavor quite a bit. I was also curious how many of them would be lighter and fruitier than the heavily oaked versions we knew from California.
We’ll be focusing on the wines for this entry but all of these wines were paired with some delicious cheeses too. Click the links below for the cheese tasting and pairing notes.
North Carolina Biltmore Chardonnay 2016 https://wineandcheesefriday.com/chardon-may-biltmore-chardonnay-and-carolina-moon/ Maria: fruit & butter aromas; creme brûlée, smooth & dry, some toast & oak flavors Neil: floral, fruit & butter aromas; fruit, butter, vanilla Versatile wine
Washington Charles Smith-Eve 2014 https://wineandcheesefriday.com/chardon-may-eve-chardonnay-and-rockets-robiola/ Maria: fruit & floral aromas; tart, sweet & spice flavors Neil: fruit & floral aromas; oaky, round, fruit flavors Light Chardonnay
Australia Woodlands 2014 https://wineandcheesefriday.com/chardon-may-woodlands-chardonnay-and-new-zealand-cheddar/ Maria: caramel & butter aromas; tart, fruit flavors with oak finish Neil: butter, fruit & grassy aromas; fruit & butter flavors Buttery & tart Chardonnay Neil’s favorite
Argentina Finca Sophenia 2015 https://wineandcheesefriday.com/chardon-may-finca-sophenia-chardonnay-and-campo-de-montalban/ Maria: fruit aromas; spice & fruit flavors with butter finish Neil: butter & fruit Easy to drink Chardonnay Maria’s favorite
After trying these different regions for Chardonnay we were pretty surprised how many of them still did have an oak influence. We have heard that many wineries make Chardonnays the way that people expect them to be so maybe all these places think the population wants a Chardonnay with oak? Let us know on social media which one would be your favorite from our tasting notes. Thanks for reading our Chardon-May series and check WineAndCheeseFriday again soon to see our next wines and cheeses.