Food friendly chardonnay - no, really I mean it!!!

Recently in our wine clubs we’ve gotten some nice Chardonnays - $35-60 each. Well, we certainly don’t want to hold on to them for a long time, so I decided we needed to drink one so I bought a practically pre-prepared meal centered around what would be great with one of our Chardonnays. (I had a lazy “pamper myself” day – got a massage and got my hair done and didn’t really feel like cooking, but wanted a nicer meal at home) Since most nicer Chardonnays tend to be more food friendly and less butter bombs than their cheaper counterparts, I bought a ready made salad kit with a sweet Dijon vinaigrette, pre-made lobster ravioli and a jar of Alfredo sauce.

I glanced over tasting notes of the two $35-40 chards and picked the Michaud Chardonnay from Chalone, which tend to be more minerally and food friendly. In addition the notes said it went well with cream sauces, which some really buttery chards won’t.

It was pretty golden, but don’t let that fool you – it wasn’t a butter bomb at all. At first taste, neither Mr. Lush nor I were all too excited…it was a bit tart, not so much green apple, but more like a not-quite-ripe-stone fruit...but it went great with the salad and great with the pasta. (Probably a smidge better with the salad than the pasta, but it was really much better with food than without - it had just enough acid to cut through the cream sauce but not too much - it really complemented the lobster inside and it went great with the garlic bread)

We were overall excited with the wine, the food, and how well they paired together. We do love Chardonnays but often they aren’t food friendly, but this one certainly is. I wouldn't say this is a chard for Chardonnay haters, but its certainly a good complex, not buttery, food friendly Chardonnay that was delicious with the food.

By the way, I got the lobster ravioli at Sam’s Club, it was $9 or $10 and was really good – half of the package was enough for both of us and Mr. Lush’s lunch with the leftovers. It took about 6 minutes to boil and I just transferred it to the warmed up jar Alfredo sauce and gave it a quick sautee together. It was good and quite lobster-y for the price. All in all, a quick, easy, relatively cheap meal – which is good if you’re spending $40 on a chard to drink it with!!