Best cheeses with Chardonnay

[fangi]

Hi there Folks,

I'm having a little wine tasting at my house this sunday. The theme is chardonnay, not because it my favorite white, but because it's an interesting varietal, capable of tasting quite different depending where it is grown. (pinot noir also comes to mind)

Anway, i'm getting wines from california, perhaps australia and from a few different regions in burgudy and i'd like to know if anyone can recommend cheeses that go particularly well with chardonnay.

all suggestions are greatly appreciated.
thanks,
brett

[Innkeeper]

Hi Brett, and welcome to the Wine Board. Soft, buttery cheeses with crackers is about the only thing I can think of. Bel Paese, Port-Salut, or even Camembert and Brie. Stay away from anything sharp or strong or they will bounce off those oaky wines like a ping pong ball off concrete.

[This message has been edited by Innkeeper (edited 01-16-2002).]

[Thomas]

If you are getting truly oaked Chardonnays you might want to pair them hockey pucks instead of cheese. But if you are getting some nice fruity, zingy Chardonnays, those fatty cheeses will do nicely.

My suggestion: get a selection of sharp cheeses and soft fatty cheeses and have fun figuring out which go well with which wine.

[mrdutton]

You are doing a Chardonnay party and you have not included Chablis or Champagne?

Why not?

[wondersofwine]

Gouda or Edam cheese might go nicely with the unoaked Chardonnays such as from Macon region of France.

[fangi]

Isn't chablis in Burgundy?
Anyway the answer to mrdutton's response is an emphatic YES to Chablis and a regretful No for the Champagne.

After reading that Chablis can taste like wet stones, and being intrigued by this, it was the first chardonnay on my list!

As for the Champagne, as I said in my email to mrdutton, being an unwealthy, recent college grad keeps me at arm's length from those dear sparkling wines.

Ah, Sigh.

[mrdutton]

Well yes..... but how Chablis ever managed to get associated with the burgundian wine zone is history beyond me. Chablis is its own AOC - so I never really think of it as white burgundy.

As for champagne or sparkling wine, you can get some really nice ones that don't break the bank in the $15.00 to $30.00 a bottle price range.

[Thomas]

I believe neither the Burgundians nor the Chablisois consider Chablis a Burgundy white--it's a Chablis, although the latest winemaking style of Chablis truly blurs the line.

[fangi]

okay mrdutton, i'm seduced by the idea. I'll check out a champagne or two while i'm shopping for the other wines. If i find something resonably priced and it's good, i'll let 'cha know after the tasting.

thanks.

bf

[grits]

Gouda, Brie and some light crackers and thin apple slices on top.

[Scoop]

Even though it's removed from Burgundy proper, considerably north and west therefrom, Chablis is considered, at least administratively by the French authorities that be, a Burgundian region, exactly like Beaujolais, the Maconnais, Cote Chalonnaise, etc. And the wine trade generally follows suit. But Chablis is Chablis, and the traditional style does dance to a different beat; but as Foodie points out, other siren songs, from other Burgundian regions and, dare I say, the New World -- and I'm talking music from wood (oak) instruments -- are being heard in Chablis, too.

Cheers,

Scoop