Choosing the right chardonnay is sometimes a challenge. The most popular white wine in the United States, California chardonnay, could be known as the queen of whites. Many people will describe a chardonnay as green apple or citrus flavored. Vanilla and buttery overtones are also commonly used in the description of this white drink. If you are looking for a way to choose the best chardonnay, there are a few things you should understand.
Keep It Cold!
Chardonnays are best when served cold. Being left out and served at room temperature could produce an extremely bold flavor which could be unfavorable to the palate. The flavors could even overwhelm your palate and ruin the flavors of the food you have paired it with. The flavors tend to tone down as the temperature goes down, leaving it an easier drink to handle.
Determine Your Preference
As wine ages, the complexities of all the different flavors seem to unfold. The younger the bottle, the less complex the flavor is. The older varieties tend to have more complex flavors. Although a chardonnay is typically described as buttery apple, it has been known to possess melon, pear, and even lemon flavors, depending on the amount of time it aged. If you do not know what flavors you prefer, you might just want to do a simple taste test. Test a few different chardonnays, making sure to cleanse your palate after every try to get rid of the previous flavor. After you have tried a few, you can decide which flavors you prefer.
Location
A chardonnay grown in Australia is not the same as a chardonnay grown in France. They can also be grown in Chile, South Africa, and the USA. When you consider where you chardonnay came from, there are characteristics that you will discover. From France, your chardonnay might be silky. From Australia, your chardonnay might be bolder. A chardonnay from California is typically well balanced as far as oak and wood flavors are considered when combined with fruit flavors.
Pairing With Food
Every chardonnay will not be fantastic with every meal. If you have a very well balanced chardonnay, you might consider shellfish as a main dish with pasta on the side. With a very fruity chardonnay, consider serving chicken and fish.
As you consider the elements of temperature, flavor, location of growth, and food pairing, you can come up with a pretty good idea of which chardonnay you will have to drink. There are more factors that you could consider as well so that you get the absolute perfect chardonnay for your drinking pleasure.
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