Wine & Cheese Pairing #2

I was planning on attending the regular Thursday wine tasting today, but Blacksburg did it's usual surprise snow thing again and the Vintage Cellar closed at 4:00.  Instead of just abandoning the wine quest all together, I got my friends Oliver and Maggie and my awesome, down-for-anything boyfriend Will to have a wine and cheese party!  We headed next door to Kroger and stocked up on wine.  I took advantage of Rex Goliath's insanely well-priced deal and purchased a Free Range Red and a Pinot Grigio.  Maggie bought a Llama Malbec, and we also picked up wedges of gouda, jarlsburg, and manchego cheese.

Wine #1 - Rex Goliath Pinot Grigio
We started with whites and worked to full bodied reds like I now know you're supposed to.  This pinot grig was VERY light in color with a pale greenish/yellow tint.  It smelled absolutely delightful with honey, honeycrisp apple, grapefruit and a hint of butterscotch.  Unfortunately, it did not taste as great as it smelled.
Alone - it tasted like apple juice with a citrus finish.  The overwhelming flavors were apple and honey.  Note that I didn't chill this wine.  If I had, I don't think it would have tasted like anything at all.
Gouda - The gouda cut whatever acidity this wine had to begin with (read:not much at all) and made it taste like straight up apple juice.
Jarlsburg -  This was an okay pair, and rather than changing the flavor, it did something strange to the texture turning the Jarlsburg into what I imagine is the consistency of ear wax.
Manchego - The manchega stripped the sweetness out of the wine and made it taste like you were chewing on the end of a good old Ticonderoga number 2 pencil.

Wine #2 - Rex Goliath Free Range Red
This was a deep plum colored wine that smelled leathery, spicy, black cherry, oaky and earthy.
Alone - It tasted like spice, like you took a big bite of the skin of a Christmas ham and got a clove in there, too.  This wine had NO acidity at all, and you felt tannins on the back part of the roof of your mouth.
Gouda - Yum!  This combo was so drinkable at first sip.  The cheese became more buttery and pungent, and the tannins were gone from the wine so it effectively tasted like grape juice.  I tried this combo later on, though, and the combo made the wine taste TOO sugary.
Jarlsburg - The Jarls and the Red mix totally cancelled each other out in a confusing combo that left you wondering what exactly was in your mouth.
Manchego - Oh yum!  This combo takes the mild cheese and adds more dimension to bring out the advertised jamminess of the wine.  This was a close tie with the gouda for best pair.

Wine #3 - Llama Malbec - According to Maggie, this wine had a 93 rating when she picked it up from Kroger.  It had a pretty dark amethyst/garnet color and smelled like cassis, strawberries, and tomatoes.  It definitely smelled like a spicy old vine Malbec.
Alone - This wine had more tannins and acidity but the same amount of alcohol as the previous wine.  It tasted like it had half of a prune, metal, and a tiny bit like bile on the finish (but in a good way somehow).
Gouda - The fruit comes out to play with this combination.  I caught hints of blueberry and what couldn't be mango but sure did taste like it.  This relatively thick wine was turned to the consistency of grape juice.
Jarlsburg - Ew, this tasted bad with Jarls.  We have got to find a wine that this cheese will play nicely with, because this really doesn't work.  It seemed like they brought out the worst in each other with waxy swissy cheese and thin flavorless acidy wine.  My disgust could stem from the fact that I really don't like swiss cheese, so take this as my own opinion.
Manchego - This combo let the Manchego become buttery and stronger in flavor.  It stripped the thickness out of the wine and didn't leave it with much flavor.

This wine and cheese pairing experiment wasn't quite as successful as the first experiment.  I learned that there is, in fact, a reason why the Rex's were so inexpensive.  They really weren't balanced or developed wines to begin with, so with cheese, they almost lost all their flavor.  Til next time!

Wine & Cheese Pairing #1

Last night, 01/23/15, I hosted my first wine and cheese party.  The guests of honor:

• Hogue's 2012 Gewürztraminer from Colombia Valley, WA
• Château de Ségriès 2013 Côtes-du-Rhône from Lirac, France
• Bricco Del Tati's 2013 Piemonte Barbera from Piemonte, Italy
• French Camembert Suprême 
• French Comte 3 Comtois 
• Point Reyes Farmstead Original Blue Cheese
• Will, Oliver, Maggie, and Sarah

We began the party with a meal of chicken fajitas and potato pierogies (a weird combination, I know).  After everyone had eaten and our palates had a chance to reset, it was time to taste the wine.

Here's our tiny table set up for fajitas followed by wine and cheese.

With the help of the friendly wine guy at Empo Kroger, I chose three wines for our tasting.  A Côtes du Rhône with 14% alcohol by volume and no description on the label.  The label did include, however, the fact that the wine was bottled at the chateau and had the vigneron independant label, so I trusted it would be good.  The second wine was an Italian Barbera with 12% abv.  This wine was suggested by friendly Kroger guy as an easier-to-drink red with fruity notes and a less acidic bite.  The third wine was a Gewürztraminer chosen on the recommendation of the Kroger man as well as for the interesting name.  This 13% abv's label boasted of, "intense aromas and flavors of sweet lychee, rose petal and grapefruit."  Each of the wines were under $10.  The cheeses were purchased at Eats and included a runny Camembert worthy of Zola's descriptions, a hard Comtois that was a buttery cheese somewhere in between a swiss and a parmesan, and a good old smelly blue cheese.

From left: Sarah, Maggie, and Oliver excited to start tasting.

We began with the Côtes du Rhône.  It had a rich garnet color and medium legs (I'm not really good at legs yet, but they struck me as being medium for some reason).  At first taste, I was struck with the biting acidity followed by a sweet lingering aftertaste of cherries or black currants.  It had a metallic mid-palate.  With the blue cheese, the tannins were killed and the wine was much more enjoyable, but bland.  The Comte still reduced the punch of the tannins, but didn't overwhelm the taste of the wine.  The camembert did not pair well with this wine at all as it seemed to accentuate the bite of the tannins and make the wine taste like the rind of the cheese.  If you were looking for a pair which made the wine the most drinkable, go for the blue cheese.  If you're searching to bring out the most flavors, go for the comtois.

Here I am in my pajamas using a fancy aerator to unlock more flavors.

Next was the Barbera.  This wine was darker in color and the legs (if legs are actually how the wine drips down the glass after you swirl it) were dispersed further apart around the glass.  The wine smelled flowery with a hint of a metallic scent.  Upon tasting, I discovered a biting initial taste with a metallic aftertaste, and the heat broke through mid-palate (which I think is normal for a red wine?).  The blue cheese completely overwhelmed my taste-buds for this wine, and the camembert made the wine taste even fruitier to the point of being nearly too sweet for a red.  This wine paired the best with the Comtois, for the combination made the wine taste smoother and the cheese more buttery and smooth rather than Swiss-y.

Will really took the "get your whole nose in there" advice to heart.

We closed with the Gewürztraminer, a pale yellow wine with no real legs to speak of.  This wine smelled crisp and fresh with hints of pear.  It tasted even sweeter with hints of honey and rose and a spicy aftertaste.  I'd say this was a great dessert wine, but it really did not pair well with any of the cheese.  The camembert made the wine taste like vinegar, but left you with an apple aftertaste.  The blue cheese made this already sweet wine even sweeter, but the tastes of the two did not clash as badly as the camembert combo.  The Comtois and the Gewürztraminer effectively cancelled each other out and left a buttery aftertaste.  All in all, this wine is best on its own (or maybe with chocolate?).

Leftovers for the rest of the week!