Cheese and Wine Pairing, Round 2!

As mentioned in an earlier post, I love snacking on cheese.  I believe I inherited my fondness for cheese from my mom who always would cut up some cheese every night before she started to prepare dinner.  After this past semester I have finally started to enjoy drinking wine, so I'm happy I have the option of doing my own pairing.  Similar to the first wine and cheese pairing I blogged about, I did not do any research going into it.  I picked three bottles of wine and three cheeses and hoped for the best.

The three wines I choose for the pairing were Pinot Grigio, Merlot, and Melbec.  The three cheeses I choose were brie, creamy havarti, and gouda.  The reason I choose brie is that I have now just recently started to like it, and I know it's a popular cheese to serve at parties.  The reason I choose the havarti was I also have recently started liking it.  I did the last pairing with havarti too, but it was a very cheap one, so I wanted to spend a little more money to see if the cheese could get even better (and trust me, it did).  I also choose a gouda, because to my understanding I don't think I ever choose to eat gouda before so I wanted to try it.  I cut slices of each cheese to try with each of the wines.  I also had water and crackers to help cleanse in-between wines.

The first wine of the night was Pinot Grigio.  The bottle was only $5 at Kroger.  Surprising the wine by itself is really good although very acidic.  I first tasted it with the brie.  I liked the combination, because the taste of the Brie cut down on the overly strong acid taste and feel to the beer.  I liked this wine even better with the creamy havarti.  I was able to detect slight fruit flavors.  The third cheese, the gouda, was not the worst pairing of the night, but it definitely was not the first.  The wine overall was bland.  

Overall I preferred the havarti the best with the Pinot Grigio and would pair again.  I would NOT pair this wine with gouda again.

The second wine of the night was the Melbec.  I did not care for the wine by itself.  I tasted smokey spicy flavors.  When tasted with the brie, nothing happened.  The wine tasted the same as it did by itself.  Because of this, I would not pair them together ever again.  The second cheese, the havarti cheese, was a good match.  It cute down on the peppery spicy taste of the wine and made it more enjoyable.  The third cheese, the gouda, was an awful combination.  The smokey flavor was enhanced after I tasted the wine. 

Similar to the Pinot Grigio, I would only pair havarti with this wine and would not pair the gouda.

The third and final wine of the night was a merlot.  I bought it, because the packaging caught my eye.  The bottle is so colorful!   The wine ended up tasting like it was watered down.  Definitely not one of the better Merlots I have had.  The first cheese of the night, the brie, did nothing to enhance the flavor of the wine.  The second cheese brought out a taste of pepper, which I did not like at all.  The first and final cheese were awesome.  

Over all, the gouda cheese was my favorite with the Merlot. 

Dinner Blog Round 2!

This week's dinner I prepared for myself.  Whereas my first dinner blog included friends and their favorite foods, I choose to do this by myself to try to pair wines with my favorite foods.  My first course was grapes, crackers, and havarti cheese with a Melbec.  The main course was a garlic lemon tilipia with brown rice and steamed broccoli, carrots, and peppers paired with a Pinot Grigio.  My final course of the night was my favorite dessert, chocolate brownies, paired with a Merlot.  Overall, I think I did a decent job with the pairings and enjoyed the meal.

I choose to do cheese and grapes, because I usually have cheese before dinner.  It seemed like the natural way to start this dinner.  I choose the Melbec, because I've never had it before.  

The Melbec by itself was okay.  It was only $5, so I'd like to try a nicer one in the future.  The nose was peppery and spicy.  By itself all I could taste was pepper, which is not what I like in a wine.

The Melbec with the havarti cheese was a decent combination.  The cheese helped cut the spicy flavor so I could taste some of the fruit.  It was a good combination.  I also tasted the wine with the grapes, and the taste did not change at all.  

I usually eat fish 3 times a week, so I cooked tilapia for this meal.  I paired it with brown rice and steamed veggies.  Overall, the meal was delicious.

I paired this wine with a Pinot Grigio.  The reason I choose this wine was I had a similar wine with tilapia a few weeks ago, and the Pinot Grigio was bland so it didn't do much for me.  I decided to try again.  This Pinot Grigio had good flavor by itself.  I could smell the pear on the nose.  The taste was good but very acidic, a good sign that it would taste good with food.

The fish cut down on the acidic taste to balance the wine.  It was a very good combination that I would do again.  The brown rice did nothing for the wine, as brown rice is very bland.  The veggies were also not a great combination.  The made the wine taste worse.  So I would choose the wine for tilapia again, but I would definitely change the sides.  

As mentioned in some of my previous blogs, Merlot is one of my go to wines.  I choose this specific Merlot, because I thought the bottle was cool. Well I learned my lesson.  You should not by a wine based on the bottle, because this is one of the worse Merlots I have ever tasted.  The taste was just too watered down.

Surprisingly, however, the wine tasted very good with my brownies.  It lessoned out the spice and water to bring out more flavors in the wine.  I would definitely recommend this strange combination to everyone.




Overall, even though I did not research wines to go with my meals and just winged it, I think the combinations all worked.  Even the surprise.  I look forward to expanding my wine palette through the years as I try more wines and pair them with more foods!

Vintage Cellar Tasting: Bera Asti

Name: Bera
Variety: Asti
Region: Neviglie, Piemonte
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: $9.95

Vintage Cellar Review: 90 pts, Decanter Magazine
Bera is a soft and plush wine with creamy foam, lemony mousse and loads of fragrant peach blossom, honey and sweet almond on the bouquet. You’ll love the intensity of elegant,  fresh, rich flavours and vibrant acidity.  


Macy's Review: I loved this wine.  It was amazing. Best tasting wine of the day.  The man working the tasting said a customer purchased 11 cases of this wine the day before.  For a sparkling wine it was a nice mixture of not too sweet.  It tasted like grape soda.  I would definitely recommend this to everyone.     

Vintage Cellar Tasting: Tarima Monastrell

Name: Tarima
Variety: Monastrell
Region: Alicante
Country: Spain
Year: 2013
Price: $9.95

Vintage Cellar Review: 90 pts, Stephen Tanzer
Bright purple.  High-pitched red and dark berry scents show good clarity and pick up a licorice nuance with air.  Tangy and focused on the palate, offering juicy black raspberry and spicecake flavors with an exotic touch of candied violet.  Closes spicy and long, with silky tannins building slowly and adding gentle grip.  This is a fantastic value.     


Macy's Review: I've actually had this wine before, so it was a nice treat to taste it again when I have a little more knowledge of wine.  The first time I had it I did not like it.  Now I know why I didn't like it.  It was toasty and warm.  The finish was very unpleasant.  I would not recommend.    

Vintage Cellar Tasting: Coreto Tinto

Name: Coreto
Variety: Tinto
Region: N/A
Country: Portugal
Year: 2013
Price: $6.95

Vintage Cellar Review: Caladoc , Alicante Bouschet , Castellan , Pinot Noir , Tinta Roriz , Touriga Nacional.  Great as an aperitif, is a perfect wine for the day-to-day. Excellent addition to dishes with meats, stews, roasts, barbecue, pasta, pizza, vegetarian dishes, Mexican food, Chinese, Thai and cheeses. Excellent with food or by itself. You can follow for example, roasts, barbecue, pasta and vegetarian dishes or made of cheese. Serve at a temperature of 14-16ºC which enhances the fruity, also being much more enjoyable in warmer weather, on a terrace or a party.   


Macy's Review: The wine smelled wonderful, so I was excited to see how it tasted.  It was such a disappointment! All I could taste was toast.  It wasn't  unpleasant, but overall I did not enjoy this wine.  I would never drink it again.  

Vintage Cellar Tasting: Tarima Blanco

Name: Tarima
Variety: Blanco 
Region: Alicante  
Country: Spain
Year: 2013
Price:  $8.95

Vintage Cellar Review: (70% mereseguera, 20% viura and 10% moscatel):  Light yellow.  Perfumed aromas of Meyer lemon, melon and white flowers show good clarity and a hint of ginger.  Juicy, open-knit citrus fruit and peach flavors are firmed by a zesty mineral quality and a touch of white pepper.  The melon note repeats on the clinging but slightly warm finish.


Macy's Review: An interesting blend of grapes that I have never heard of.  The nose had hints of fruit and flowers.  Very acidic taste, but there was really no flavor.  Overall the wine was very bland, but it did have a strong finish that watered my mouth is the worst of ways.  I would not recommend this wine to anyone.      

Vintage Cellar Tasting: Dom de la Condemine

Name: Dom de la Condemine Macon-Peronne "Le Clou"
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Burgundy 
Country: France
Year: 2012
Price:  Originally $19. On sale for $7.95.

Vintage Cellar Review: Made from 100% Chardonnay. Sustainable agriculture: very low use of chemicals.  Their philosophy is to produce a wine in the traditional style of Mâcon, with minimal intervention and not use of Oak.  The soils is made of Clay and Limestone (Argilo-Calcaire) and the parcels are located right next to Viré Clessé Appelatio.  A light golden hue, floral aromas. Intense, clean and fresh on the palate. Citrus notes, bold acidity. Excellent match to seafood with butter or cream sauces or rich blue cheeses


Macy's Review: I usually do not enjoy Chardonnay's; however this wine was amazing.  I was unable to taste specific flavors, so I thought it was very well balanced and flavorful.  I did not buy a bottle, and I now regret it.  I would drink this again and again.  At $7.95 on sale, this is a steal for a Burgundy Chardonnay.