Wine and Cheese

 To celebrate Spring Break, my boyfriend and I had a wine and cheese night tonight. His roommate also joined in. 

We tried each wine with each cheese. Below are my observations:

Line 39 pinot noir 2022 – Smells earthy, alcoholic, slight sweet, slight industrial cleaner smell, light/medium body, lasting bitterness

• Blue cheese – The sharpness of the cheese doesn’t interact well with the bitterness of the wine. The taste of the cheese remained in my mouth while drinking the wine in an unpleasant way.
• Truffle cheddar – Makes the wine taste very sweet, removes the bitterness, soothes the palate
• Butterkase – The cheese is mild so the wine totally overpowered the flavor of the cheese. Not much interaction.

 

Villa Jolanda Vino Spumante Extra Sec – Extremely mild apple juice smell, notes of pear, light bodied, leaning towards sweet

• Blue cheese – Leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, cant identify any flavors in wine
• Truffle cheddar – Cheese completely overpowers the wine, not terrible, makes the wine slightly sweeter
• Butterkase – Enhances the flavor, more peary, in a positive way

Tilia Malbec 2022 – Slight berry, slight acetone smell. Smooth, heavy body, a bit tart, cherry flavor

• Blue cheese – Pairs best out of any of the cheeses. Makes the wine taste a bit oaky, tastes pretty good, smooth.
• Truffle cheddar – Wipes out the initial flavor of the wine but leaves the bitterness at the end. Not a good combo.
• Butterkase – Conflicted opinions on how they mix among tasters. I thought that the richness of the cheese paired well with the body of the wine. However, there was a slight bitter aftertaste  

Tasting - Apothic Pinot Noir

Name: Apothic Pinot Noir       

Grapes: Pinot Noir                         

Region: California                                                                                        

Country: USA                                                                                  

Vintage: 2021                                                                                                  

Price: $11.99

Wine critic review: "Great tasting Pinot...2021 vintage has nice full blackberry flavor with a medium-full body. Highly recommended Pinot that is good with cheese and crackers, a meal or on its own" - Kevin C. Johnson, Vinio

My Review: The Apothic Pinot Noir had a berry-like smell, which reminded me of cherries. It was fairly sweet and mild flavored with a buttery-like, smooth finish. I found this wine to be medium-bodied without any bitter flavor. Overall I really enjoyed this wine and plan on purhcasing again! I like this much more than the Pinot Noir that I tried last week. I had this wine with a meal of mashed potatoes, roasted chicken thighs, and veggies. I thought the sweetness of the wine really complimented the saltiness and richness of the potatoes. 

Wine Folly: Pinot Noir is described in Wine Folly (page 238) as being very versitle in terms of food pairings. This is mainly because of its low tannin and higher acidity. I found this to definitly be true, considering that the wine went so well with the rich and salty potatoes. It also says that Pinot Noir is known for its raspberry flavor, which I did pick up on a little bit (page 238). 

Tasting - Black Box Pinot Noir

Name: Black Box Pinot Noir       

Grapes: Pinot Noir                         

Region: California                                                                                        

Country: USA                                                                                  

Vintage:  not specified                                                                                                  

Price: $4.99

Wine critic review: "Good acid balance, fresh black-fruit flavors and light tannins make a winning combination in this medium-bodied wine. Black cherry and black currant notes are nicely concentrated" - Jim Gordon, Wine Enthusiast Magazine

My Review: The Black Box Pinot Noir had a very strong tabacco/earth-y smell upon opening it. The color was a very deep red. I picked up notes of berries, like blackberries or cherries, along with an earthy flavor. It was a pretty dry wine and didn't have much sweetness at all. Overall I liked the flavor of the wine, but wasn't crazy about the smell. It was a bit tarte for my taste, but I would have it again on occasion. 

Wine Folly: Pinot Noir is described in Wine Folly (page 238) as having notes of cherry, raspberry, clove, and vanilla. It also says that Pinot Noir is considered to be one of the most popular light-bodied reds and is particuraly loved for its spice flavors (page 238). A chart shows it to have the lowest level of sweetness, which I found to be true. I was surprised to see that notes of vanilla could be detected in the wine - I did not pick that up upon my first taste of it.

Tasting - Starborough

Wine Tasting - Starborough

Name: Starborough Sauvingnon Blanc                                                                                                                                                                      Grapes: Sauvingnon Blanc                                                                           Region: Malborough                                                                                        Country: New Zealand                                                                                  Vintage:  2022                                                                                                 Price: $13.99

Wine critic review: "The Starborough Sauvignon Blanc had the typical light, straw like color typical of Sauvignon Blanc.  The nose (classy term for smell), was lemon and melon.  Flavor notes I detected in the Starborough Sauvignon Blanc were pineapple, melon, and lemon.  This wine was slightly sweet, but had a dry finish; not incredibly dry-just a little pucker at the finish.  Like many other Sauvignon Blanc varietals, Starborough was slightly acidic." - Ericka, Daily Dish Magazine

My Review: The Starborough Sauvingnon Blanc had a distinct smell of green apples. It was very "sharp" tasting, and I could feel the sourness of it in the back of my mouth. It tasted like citrus and I particularly could pick up notes of lemon. I enjoyed the lightness of this wine and the hints of citrus, however I thought it was a bit too sour for my taste.

Wine Folly: 

On page 260, Wine Folly describes Sauvingnon Blanc as having the highest level of acidity with little sweetness. This is similar to how I felt about the wine! It also says on page 260 that New Zealand is the biggest producer of the grape. In the New Zealand section, it states that New Zealand is the "Sauvingnon Blanc capital of the world!"

                                                                                                      

                                                                    

 

Post-Valentine's Day Wine and Dine

Following the midweek celebration of Valentine's Day, my boyfriend and I decided to spend an evening inside to cook dinner together and taste three different wines. We took a trip to the Vintage Celler to pick out some wines we wanted to try, and then began brainstorming dinner ideas. 

We settled upon baked chicken breasts with roasted potatoes and a veggie medley consisting of artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and onions. 

While dinner was cooking, we decided to open each wine and do a taste test and assess the flavor profiles. 

Wine 1: Apothic Crush - Soft Red Blend

Variety: Blend with Petite Sirah (primary grape), Pinot Noir

Region: Califronia

Country: USA

Year: 2021

Price: $10.99

My review: The Apothic Crush wine was very buttery, in both mouthfeel and taste. It smelled strongly like cherries and had notes of raspberry in flavor. Overall, I really enjoyed this wine.

   Wine 2: Fernlands Sauvingnon Blanc

Variety: 100% Sauvingnon Blanc

Region: Malborough

Country: New Zealand

Year: 2022

Price: $13.99

My review: After hearing Professor Boyer describe New Zealand's Sauvingnon Blanc as "cat piss", we knew we had to give it a try. This wine was very dry with no sweetness at all. It had a crisp citrus-like flavor, with strong notes of lemon. The taste was overall a bit sour with a slight smell of "cat urine". Overall, I enjoyed the lightness and critrusy flavor of this wine.

Wine 3: Menage a Trois Exotic Blend

Variety: Blend with Chardonnay, Moscato, and Chenin Blanc

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2021

Price: $9.99

My review: Similar to the Sauvingnon Blanc, this white blend also had strong notes of citrus both in taste and smell. It also smelled like flowers, which nicely enhanced the lightness of the wine. It had a slightly sweet flavor. Overall, I enjoyed the floral notes of this wine and liked how light it was.

After writing down our thoughts on each wine, we cleansed our palates with some water and plated our dinner. 

Carefully assessing each food, we again tasted all the wines with our dinner to determine how they paired:

Roasted Potatoes

Wine 1: Apothic Crush - Soft Red Blend - This wine did not pair well with the potatoes, it counteracted the fattiness and made the wine seem excessively strong.

Wine 2: Fernlands Sauvingnon Blanc - We used duck fat when roasting, so there was a good contrast between the fattiness of the potatoes and the tartness of the wine.

Wine 3: Menage a Trois Exotic Blend - There was a nice contrast between the richness of the potatoes and the floral taste of the wine, it was a good balance. It enhanced the flavor of the wine and I enjoyed it more.

                                                               Baked Chicken Breast

Wine 1: Apothic Crush - Soft Red Blend - The butteriness of this wine combined well with the chicken, although the white wines still paired better with it.

Wine 2: Fernlands Sauvingnon Blanc - It matched well with the lightness of chicken, the flavors both seemed to taste midly "bland" but not in a bad way.

Wine 3: Menage a Trois Exotic Blend - This wine mellowed out the spices that we had put on the chicken, which made it a great combo. It felt almost "clean" tasting.

                                                                    Veggie Medley

Wine 1: Apothic Crush - Soft Red Blend - This wine matched very well with the mushrooms and veggie blend, it tasted very mellow. 

Wine 2: Fernlands Sauvingnon Blanc - The mushrooms had a very earthy flavor, which seemed to linger for longer in an odd way when paired with this wine.

Wine 3: Menage a Trois Exotic Blend - The veggie blend overpowered the taste of the wine, and it was not very detectable. 

Overall, we had a great time preparing dinner and trying different wines. I believe I gained a little more knowledge on how to pair wine with different dishes, and what flavor profiles go well together.