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.