Chardonnay is a chameleon – which makes the task of deciding on a chardonnay pairing quite exciting. Like a versatile character actor, chardonnay can play lots of roles. One bottle may be light-bodied, crisp, and clean, and in the next, you'll find a full-bodied, rich, and oaky beauty. That means chardonnay can pair with everything from fresh cheeses to aged gruyere or gouda. A big, buttery chardonnay can stand up to the fudgy texture of a pungent blue, while an unoaked chardonnay is happy to settle in with a fresh goat cheese.
Here in Wisconsin, we take chardonnay pairing as seriously as our cheesemaking. That's why you won't find us pouring chardonnay willy-nilly. When you've got the tastiest, highest-quality cheese in the world, you don't want to disappoint it by partnering it up with the wrong glass of wine. Fortunately, with 600 varieties, styles, and flavors of cheese in Wisconsin, we've got a cheese for whatever chardonnay winds up on your table.
Browse our website to meet some of the many contenders for the best chardonnay pairing – as well as a cheese for Merlot or cabernet. Take a spin through our trove of recipes to find the best cheese for charcuterie. Or read on for some helpful tips on choosing the best wine for your next bottle.
When choosing a cheese for a chardonnay pairing, it's best to pay attention to the oak in the wine.
Chardonnay can also pair easily with alpine-style cheeses, asiago, baby swiss, brick, butterkäse, and parmesan.
Chardonnay pairs easily with lots of different cheeses. Crisp light chardonnays do well with mild, semi-soft cheeses. Moderately oaked chardonnays can take on the buttery quality of creamy cheeses or alpine-style varieties. Heavily oaked Chardonnays match best with the big flavors of cheddar, washed-rind, or parmesan cheese.
People have been pairing cheese and wine together for centuries. Recent scientific inquiries suggest that the creamy feel of cheese and the acidity of wine create a pleasant taste combination in the mouth.
The basic principles of matching cheese and wine are the same, whether it's a chardonnay pairing, a riesling pairing, or a cabernet sauvignon pairing. Bold wines pair well with bold cheeses. Salty cheeses do well with sweet wines, and wine and cheese from the same region tend to go together. Bloomy or stinky cheeses are nicely balanced by a sweet wine. And you can choose to contrast or complement the texture of wines and cheese.
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No matter what type of cheese you want for your chardonnay pairing, Wisconsin can hook you up. Alpine-style or asiago? All over it. Brick or butterkäse? Better believe it. Fontina, gouda, or parmesan? Yes, yep, and you got it.
That's because our cheesemakers are obsessed not only with making the best cheese in the world but with making more of it than anywhere else. It's why 90% of the milk produced on our fertile farmlands winds up in a Wisconsin cheese. And it's why we've won more awards (5552) for our cheese than any other state or nation.
So, next time you're shopping for a cheese for a fruit and cheese board, a wine and cheese party, or a cool glass of chardonnay, you can bet that Wisconsin has a cheese for you.
Craving award-winning aged cheddar, pining for parmesan, or searching for a new cheese to try? The world’s best cheese is just a click away! Explore our directory of Wisconsin cheesemakers and retailers who offer online cheese shopping and get cheese shipped right to your door. What are you waiting for?
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