- Last updated on May 31, 2023
This is our comparison of Chardonnay vs Moscato. We’ve extensively researched these two popular sparkling wine styles to help you pick the best for you.
Chardonnay is one of the most popular white wines in the world. In its unoaked version it’s light and crisp and pair very well with a variety of fish including Sushi.
In its oaked version, Chardonnay has more complexity, a different structure, and pairs well with bolder flavors like grilled and smoked dishes.
Moscato is instead a sweet light bubbly sweet wine with typical notes of ripe pear, lemon and honeysuckle.
Find below our wine guide on the most important differences between these two great wines.
Our recommendation for Best Value Chardonnay is Louis Jadot Petit Chablis and for Best Overall Chardonnay we recommend Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay.
Our recommendation for Best Value Moscato d’Asti is Stella Rosa Moscato d’Asti and for Best Overall is Ruffino Moscato d’Asti.
You’ll find below other recommendations for you.Â
Let’s begin with the review!
Wine Selection Overview
Find below our Chardonnay vs Moscato wine selection for you where you’ll find our recommendation for you.
Chardonnay Selection
Sebastiani Butterfield Station Chardonnay
The three things that make this wine the best budget are:
1) It’s fresh and fruity with a stronger body compared to Pinot Grigio. You’ll still find it refreshing and easy to drink.
2) It’s the perfect everyday white that delivers every time.
3) It costs ~$15 which is a good value for the quality you get.
Try it with a variety dishes like grilled shrimp, lobster or roasted vegetables if you prefer a vegetarian/vegan option.
Read our full review here.
Louis Jadot Petit
Chablis
The three things that make this wine the best value are:
1) It’s refreshing and complex, which means that although it’s easy to drink it’s more refined than the previous one, as you’ll perceive more aromas and flavours.Â
2) It’s a versatile wine, so you can pair it with various dishes from fish, white meat, veggie and of course light and fresh cheese.
3) It’s a good quality-price ratio. For ~ $25 you get a high quality Chardonnay for a reasonable price.
Try it with lobster, roasted chicken or pork, feta quiche or Thai green curry and it will be a delight!
Read our full review here.
Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay
There are at least three things that make this wine the best overall:
1) Extra clarity and finesse compared to the standard Chardonnay, i.e. it’s a pure joy to drink.
2) Has many layers of complexity which is a testament to the quality of the grapes and the winemaking expertise of Beringer Vineyards and makes it a perfect example of California Chardonnay.
3) It offers great value for your money if compared to its peers, as you’ll save several $10s.
Read our full review here.
Moscato Selection
Barefoot
Moscato
The three things that make this wine the best budget are:
1) It’s fruity and sweet with a low alcohol content, so it’ll be super easy to drink if you like sweet wine.
2) It’s perfect for an apero or dessert.
3) It costs ~$7 which is a good value for the quality you get.
Try it with classic appetizers like salami, figs and melon or with spicy food like Thai and Vietnamese cuisine.
Read our full review here.
Stella Rosa Moscato d'Asti
The three things that make this wine the best value are:
1) It’s fruity, sweet and with a crisp acidity. All in all it’ll be a better sensorial experience than the Barefoot Moscato.
2) It’s more versatile than Barefoot as you can dare pair it with clams on top of the classic pairing options.
3) It costs ~$13 which is a good value for the quality you get.
Try it with salami, goat cheese ravioli, Indian dishes, Parmigiano, or clams.
Read our full review here.
Ruffino Moscato
d'Asti
There are at least three things that make this wine the best overall:
1) This is probably one of the best Moscato d’Asti you can find at this price, i.e. $15.
2) It’s more elegant and refined than the other two bottles, which means you’l experince its delicacy.
3) It has more layers of complexity, which means that aromas and flavours will develop as you drink give you a more rounded experience.
Try it with charcutrie board, Parmiggiano Reggiano, Cheddar, or light desserts.
Read our full review here.
Comparison
Let’s now take a closer look at the difference between Chardonnay vs Moscato so that you’ll have enough details to make an informed decision.
Chardonnay vs Moscato: Where are they produced?
Here you’ll find a brief overview of Chardonnay vs Moscato from regions and wine styles points of view.
Chardonnay’s an extremely versatile grape that grows worldwide in different climates and soil. Chardonnay does best in clay, limestone, and chalky soil.Â
The climate affects the tasting profile of the wine in the following ways:
In cool climates, Chardonnay tends to be mineral with citrus flavor, high acidity, and medium body.Â
Regional areas examples: France (Champagne, Burgundy), Northern Italy, US (Sonoma Coast), New Zealand.
In warm climates, Chardonnay tends to have tropical and stone fruit ripe flavor, lower acidity, and full body.Â
Like Sauvignon Blanc, if the over-ripening is not properly controlled it will considerably reduce aromas and acidity.Â
Regional areas examples:Â Southern Italy, South Australia, and South Africa.
Read this article do find more about Chardonnay.
Moscato, in its most famous dessert wine style, i.e. Moscato d’Asti DOCG, is primarily produced in the northern-west part of Italy in the Piemonte region.
Other styles of Moscato, like dry and fortified wine are produced in other part of Italy and California.
Read this article do find more about Moscato.
Chardonnay vs Moscato: Which grapes are used to produce them?
Here you’ll find a brief overview of Chardonnay vs Moscato from a grape point of view.
Chardonnay is made with Chardonnay grapes.
For Moscato, Moscato Bianco or Muscat Blanc are the grapes used.
Both are is a white-wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera.
Chardonnay vs Moscato: What's their alcohol content?
Here you’ll find a brief overview Chardonnay vs Moscato from an alcohol content point of view.
Alcohol content or more precisely Alcohol By Volume, i.e. ABV, measures the alcoholic strength of a drink.
There is a direct relationship between the sugar left in the wine after the alcoholic fermentation has taken place, i.e. Residual Sugar or RS, and ABV.
During the alcoholic fermentation, the yeast transforms the sugar in the grape juice into alcohol.
Grapes with high residual sugar will therefore produce dry wine with a high ABV.
Chardonnay’s ABV ranges between 10.5% to 14.5% depending on the style, whereas Moscato’s ABV is usually 5%.
Chardonnay vs Moscato: What's their taste profile?
Here you’ll find a brief overview of Chardonnay vs Moscato from a taste profile point of view.
Chardonnay is a dry to off-dry wine with a pale lemon to deep gold color. Depending on the style it can be light, fresh, and crisp if unoaked or rich, buttery and full-bodied if oaked.
Typical flavors for unoaked Chardonnay are lemon zest, peach, honeysuckle, and green fruit or tropical fruit depending on the ripeness.
These wines tend to have medium-high acidity and a medium-full body.
Typical flavors for oaked Chardonnay are butter, vanilla, spice, apple, chalk, and citrus fruit for cool climates or tropical fruit for warm climates.
The wines tend to have medium-low acidity and a medium-full body.
Moscato in its dessert style, is sweet with notes of ripe pear, lemon and honeysuckle.Â
Expect medium-low acidity, light-body, light bubbles (2.5 bar), and an ABV of 5.5%.
Chardonnay vs Moscato: Are they sweet or dry?
Here you’ll find a brief overview of Chardonnay vs Moscato in terms of sweetness level or residual sugar.
The sweetness level of a wine is expressed in grams of sugar per liter, aka g/L, or as a percentage.
10 g/L equals 1% which, if you are interested, represents 6 calories per 5 oz serving.Â
You can find Chardonnay primarily in dry to off-dry sweetness levels.
A dry wine has less than 15 g/l and and off-dry wine has between 15-30 g/l.
Moscato, on the other side can be found in both dry and sweet version. The most popular style is the dessert wine which has more than 50+ g/l.
A dry Moscato will have less than 15 g/l.
Read this article to know more about wine sweetness level.
Chardonnay vs Moscato: Which are the recommended food pairings?
Here you’ll find a brief overview of Chardonnay vs Moscato from a food pairings point of view.
Chardonnay pairings depend on the style.Â
Unoaked Chardonnay goes well with salad, veggie risotto, paté, chicken, shellfish, sushi. Cheese wise go with fresh cheese like goat cheese.
Oaked Chardonnay can be paired with bolder flavors like prosciutto crudo, pumpkin, pork, grilled meat, roast chicken, grilled fish smoked salmon, and crab cakes.Â
Cheese wise go for cream to triple cream cheese like Brie or Brillat-Savarin.Â
Chardonnay vs Moscato: How should you serve and store them?
Here you’ll find a brief overview of Chardonnay vs Moscato in terms of serving and storing the wine.
Chardonnay shouldn’t be decanted. The service temperature and the storing period depend on the style.
For Unoaked Chardonnay serve at 45 – 50 °F (7 – 10 °C) in a Chardonnay or Viognier glass. [1] The recommended storing period is 2-3 years for normal bottles.
For Oaked Chardonnay serve at 50 – 55 °F (10 – 13 °C) in a Chardonnay or Viognier glass. The recommended storing period is 5-7 years for normal bottles.
Moscato doesn’t need to be decanted. Serve it at 43 – 46 °F (6 – 8 °C) in a flûte or Viognier glass.Â
The recommended storage period is up to 1.5 years.
Chardonnay vs Moscato: How much do they cost?
Here you’ll find a brief overview of Chardonnay vs Moscato from a price comparison point of view.
Let’s start by saying that both wines are affordable.
Chardonnay‘s price range is on average between $10-$50. You’ll find more expensive Chardonnay over $100 especially from France, Italy, and the US.Â
If you are after some luxury bottle, there is a rare example of over $10k a bottle, yes $10k, such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet Grand Cru.
For Moscato dessert wine expect to pay between $10 – $20.
Our Verdict
If you have been through the guide, by now you are a Chardonnay vs Moscato expert!
You should also have a good idea of what to expect from your glass of Chardonnay and Moscato.Â
Our recommendation is based on what you’d fancy the most at a particular given moment or event.Â
Unoaked Chardonnay are usually good choices for a hot summer day since they are refreshing, very light, and easy to drink.
Oaked Chardonnay offers more complexity and can be paired with bolder flavors like grilled meat or fish. It’s therefore a more all-year-round wine in a sense.
Our recommendation for Best Value Chardonnay is Louis Jadot Petit Chablis.
For Best Overall Chardonnay we recommend Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay.
Are you instead after something light, sweet with light bubbles? Then Moscato is your best bet.
Our recommendation for Best Value Moscato d’Asti is Stella Rosa Moscato d’Asti and for Best Overall is Ruffino Moscato d’Asti.
As always make sure to serve your Chardonnay and Moscato at the right temperature and glass, so that you can enjoy them at their best.
