The best food to pair with Chardonnay

If you’re looking for food pairings for chardonnay, you’re in luck! Whatever the style it’s a fantastic food wine. Which makes it all the more remarkable that many people still say they don’t like chardonnay. 

I always think saying you’re bored with chardonnay is a bit like saying you’re bored with chicken. There are so many different styles including some of the world’s greatest white wines.

The key to pairing chardonnay is appreciating that it’s not just one wine - it depends where it’s made, whether or not it’s oaked and how mature it is when you drink it.

I’m sharing my favourite food pairings for every style of Chardonnay - whether you’re sipping a steely Chablis, a rich Californian chardonnay, or a bottle you’ve had sitting in your wine rack for a while.

Top food pairings for four different styles of chardonnay

Young, unoaked, cool climate chardonnay


Such as: The classic and most austere example of this is Chablis but other young white burgundies would fall into this category.

Good matches:

*They’re perfect with light and delicate food such as raw and lightly cooked shellfish like crab and prawns and steamed or grilled fish. 

*If you want to serve chardonnay with appetizers think fish pâtés, fish, chicken or vegetable terrines.

*This style also goes well with pasta or risotto with spring vegetables and creamy vegetable soups.

*Finer, more intense examples such as Puligny-Montrachet can take on raw fish such as sashimi or delicately spiced fish or salads.

*Chablis is particularly good with oysters.

For more suggestions see this post on pairing food and Chablis

Fruitier, unoaked or lightly oaked chardonnays


Such as: Chardonnays from slightly warmer areas to the above but made in a more contemporary style - smooth, sometimes buttery with melon and peach flavours. Examples would be inexpensive chardonnays from the south of France, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa.

Good matches:

*Slightly richer dishes than those listed above but ones where a degree of freshness in the wine is still welcome.

*Fish pie and fish cakes (especially salmon fish cakes)

*other simple salmon preparations (simply poached or with a buttery sauce)

*chicken, pork or pasta in a creamy sauce (including in vol-au-vents!)

*chicken, ham or cheese-based salads such as caesar salad or chicken salads that include peach, mango or macadamia nuts

*mild curries with buttery sauces (such as chicken makhani)

Buttery, oaked Chardonnay


Such as: barrel-fermented, barrel aged or ‘reserve’ chardonnays, particularly top end Australian, New Zealand and Calfornian Chardonnay and top white burgundy, served within 1-3 years of purchase

Good matches:

*Similar dishes to the above but can take an extra degree of richness. Dishes like eggs benedict for example or even a steak béarnaise.

*Fine rich fish such as turbot, grilled veal chops with mushrooms

*Late summer vegetables such as red peppers, corn, butternut squash and pumpkin (pumpkin ravioli and a rich Chardonnay is very good)

*Cheddar cheese, if you’re looking for a chardonnay and cheese pairing. 

*You can even drink a rich chardonnay with seared foie gras (and indeed many prefer it to Sauternes at the start of a meal)

Mature barrel-fermented Chardonnays


Such as: Wines that are about 3-6 years old. With age Chardonnay acquires a creamy, sometimes nutty taste and creamy texture that calls for a return to finer, more delicate dishes

Good matches:

*Umami-rich (savoury) dishes such as grilled, seared or roast shellfish like lobster and scallops

*simply roast chicken such as the poulet de Bresse above

*guinea fowl

*dishes that include wild mushrooms and slow roast tomatoes

*white truffles

*Hazelnut-crusted chicken or fish

*Sea bass with fennel purée

See also

The Best Food Pairings with White Burgundy

What chardonnay doesn’t pair quite so well with

*Light fresh cheeses such as goat or sheep cheeses (better with sauvignon blanc or an aged red, respectively

*Seared salmon or tuna (better with a light red like pinot noir)

*Tomato-based dishes (better with dry Italian whites or Italian reds)

*Thai flavours (better with Alsace pinot gris or New World sauvignon blanc)

Top image © Philip Wise at shutterstock.com

The best food and wine pairings for Valentine’s Day

If you’re planning a special meal for Valentine’s Day you may be wondering which wine to pair with your menu. I’ve picked some favourite Valentine’s Day foods and suggested some matches that should work well with them.

Asparagus

If served on its own with melted butter or a hollandaise sauce a subtle, creamy white burgundy or chardonnay would be the most seductive choice. If dressed with a vinaigrette or in a salad with seafood I’d go for a crisper white like a Sancerre, Pouilly Fumé or other top quality sauvignon blanc.

Camembert

Camembert baked in its box makes a sexy instant fondue but isn’t the easiest of dishes to pair with wine (even trickier than when it’s served cold). Funnily enough a glass of champagne - or similar style sparkling wine - works surprisingly well or go for a dry white like a Chablis.

What to pair with Camembert

Caviar (or, more likely, a caviar imitation)

Dry champagne. (Vodka is arguably better but not as romantic.)

Chocolate (dark)

There are possibilities with wine (sweet reds like Maury or Quady’s seductive Elysium being good choices - see

www.quadywinery.com) but my own preferred option with dark chocolate is a frozen shot of cherry brandy or other fruit-flavoured spirit or liqueur or a small glass of sloe or damson gin. An orange-flavoured liqueur like Grand Marnier also works well.

Chocolate (white)

An ice-cold raspberry-flavoured wine or liqueur like Southbrook Winery’s Framboise from Canada. Especially if the dessert includes raspberries.

Duck

Pinot Noir. Look to New Zealand and Chile for the best value

Ice cream (vanilla)

Tricky with wine. A toffee or chocolate-flavoured liqueur is your best bet. Very sweet PX sherry can be wonderful poured over it.

Ice cream (chocolate)

Try a coffee-flavoured liqueur like Toussaint or Kahlua.

Lobster

Good white burgundy (or other chardonnay) or vintage champagne.

Wine with lobster: 5 of the best pairings

Oysters

Champagne or Chablis. Not Guinness on Valentine’s Night, I suggest.

Best matches with oysters

Passion fruit

Can be quite sharp so you need a very sweet wine to balance it. A sweet riesling or late harvest semillon or sauvignon blanc will work well. If it’s mixed with a creamy base as in a passion fruit brulée you could drink a sweet (demi-sec) Champagne or other dessert wine. Or a passion fruit flavoured beer. (Yes, such drinks exist! Try Floris from Belgium.)

Prawns/shrimp

If you’re serving a classic prawn cocktail I suggest a dry or off-dry riesling which would also work with an Asian-style stir-fry or salad. A sparkling rosé - including champagne - would be a suitably kitsch all-pink choice.

The best pairings for prawns or shrimp

Smoked salmon

Champagne on this occasion. But see

other possibilities.

Scallops

Made for top white burgundy or other really good chardonnay. Champagne is also spot on if that’s what you’re drinking.

Top wine pairings with scallops

Steak

The best full-bodied red you can afford. Whatever turns your partner on . . .

My 5 top wine and steak pairing tips

Strawberries

If served plain and unadorned, gently sparkling Moscato d’Asti or Asti is lovely or go for the luscious

Fragola liqueur. If they’re served with cream you could serve a classic sweet wine like Sauternes.

My top pairings with strawberries

Image © 9MOT at shutterstock.com

The best food matches for Semillon and Semillon-Sauvignon blends

One of the world’s most underrated grapes yet capable of making some of its most delicious dry whites, Sémillon isn’t on the radar for many. So if you get hold of a bottle what should you pair with it?

Although there’s a marked difference between young unoaked Sémillon and those blended with its habitual stablemate Sauvignon Blanc it helps to look at it as similar to but less pungent than Sauvignon. Without that marked green, grassy edge that can make sauvignon too much of a good thing with foods that have herbaceous note of their own such as asparagus, peas and mangetout.

If I had to sum up the ideal match in a few words think shellfish, fish and spring vegetables. Here are a few more specific suggestions:

Hunter Valley Semillon and other lighter styles

The Hunter Valley in Australia is the place to go for Semillon and has its most distinctive style. Fresh and zippy when it’s young, more complex and oily (in a nice way) as it ages this is the perfect wine for raw and lightly cooked shellfish especially with Asian flavours. (Think the delicious kind of food you get in Sydney.) Remember Hunter Valley wines are light - generally only about 11-12% ABV. Try them with:

Oysters, especially with an Asian dressing - the best match bar none

Fresh crab

Clams

Sashimi

Seafood salads

Spring veg such as asparagus and peas - a pasta primavera would work well with a Hunter Valley Semillon

Dishes with fennel

Dishes with a touch of citrus

Lightly cooked fish dishes such as seabass and razor clams

Fried soft shell crab - I owe this one to my colleague Victoria Moore

Salt and pepper squid

Young goats’ cheese or salads with goats’ cheese

For older vintages try smoked fish such as smoked salmon, smoked trout and - this is surprisingly good - kedgeree

Barossa Valley Semillon and other richer styles

Fuller and riper, often with a lick of oak, Southern Australian Semillons can take richer fish and shellfish dishes and light meats like chicken and pork - again with an Asian accent. Try:

Scallops (probably my number one choice)

Grilled lobster, prawns or Moreton Bay bugs

Salmon and salmon trout

Fish or chicken in a creamy sauce such as this kingklip with prawns and a white wine sauce I had in South Africa

Seafood risotto

Thickly sliced ham off the bone

Roast gammon

Pork or chicken satay

Other spicy but not over-hot pork dishes

Grilled and barbecued fish

Semillon-Sauvignon blends

Found chiefly in the Margaret River region of Western Australia and in the Bordeaux region of France where it’s mainly oaked

For Australian sem-sauv I’d go for much the same sort of dishes as I would for a Hunter Valley Sémillon - perhaps a shade richer or with a little more citrus. This dish of pan-fried scallops with orange braised chicory, celeriac remoulade and lotus crisps was a perfect match or you could go for scallops with a pea purée. It would also stand up to a mild Thai green curry.

With oaked white Bordeaux I’d be looking at more classic French or European-style dishes like this light raviolo of prawns, simply cooked fish in butter like a Dover sole, poached salmon or a posh fish pie.

Photo © vsl at shutterstock.com

Top wine pairings with scallops

Scallops are some of the most delicious seafood around and some of the most flattering to a serious white wine.

They’re also incredibly quick and easy to cook which makes them a great choice for a romantic dinner for two, especially with a wine lover!

When it comes to pairing wine and scallops there’s one grape variety that will almost always see you right but in this brief guide I’ve given some other options depending on the other ingredients in the dish.

Grilled or seared scallops

Searing scallops enhances their sweetness and makes them a sure-fire match with chardonnay.

Almost any kind especially white burgundy - it’s a great way to show off an older vintage. Old vine chenin blanc is also a good match.

Champagne, especially a blanc de blancs, is not too shabby either.

The best food pairings with white burgundy

Scallops with pea purée or pea shoots

Bring peas - or asparagus into the equation and I’d probably go for a sauvignon or sauvignon-semillon blend such as you find in Bordeaux or Western Australia. Albarino is also a good match

Coquilles Saint Jacques or other scallop dishes with a creamy sauce

Back to chardonnay again for this classic dish. Especially Chablis

Scallops served with Asian-style dressing

Give scallops an Asian twist as in this recipe and I’d reach for a dry or off-dry riesling

Scallop and crab or lobster risotto

Risotto immediately makes a scallop dish richer especially if it also includes crab or lobster. You have a choice: you can go for a matching richness (yup, chardonnay again) or a smooth Italian white like a Gavi or Soave or for a contrast in terms of a wine that will bring a zing of freshness to the dish as I did here.

Scallops with pancetta or chorizo

Sometimes scallops are given more robust treatment and partnered with bacon, pancetta, chorizo or even black pudding. In that case you can drink a light red like a pinot noir or a Beaujolais. Lightly chilled, I suggest.

For other insights see this account of Rye Bay Scallop Week

Image © Oran Tantapakul at fotolia.com