Wine and Cheese Pairing #2

 

I started out this wine journey at my house- where my mother gave me a bottle from her stash. The first bottle was:

Name: Incarnadine

Variety: Pinot Noir

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2020

Price: $27


Winery Review:"the sky ablaze with golden and rose...a delightful glass"


Wine Folly: Wine Folly starts about by saying how Pinot Noir's are the most popular light bodied red and is loved for its red fruit and spice flavors, along with soft tannin finishes. It says that it is best paired with foods like duck, chicken and pork.


My Review: Wine Folly's food pairing suggestions I agree with totally. Because of the lightness of this red- it would pair with other light flavored foods, like chicken. I was very suprised with this wine- I think that I can now say that pinot noir is my favorite style of red. The light tannin's and sweetness- but still being able to have body and flavor, is what attracts me to this wine.


Roquefort: This is a blue cheese that I picked out because I had never really experimented with blue cheese (and am typically not the biggest fan) With the pinot noir- I found this to be a bad pairing. I think that the extreme burst of flavor in the cheese doesn't suite well with the lighter fruity flavor of the wine.


Brie: I got this from my house as well- it is my parents favorite cheese to pair wine with. I have had it before- but in such little amounts I had never really tried it. I was surprised on how mild of a flavor this cheese had- I was expecting an explosion of flavor like the Roquefort, but it never came. This paired better with the pinot noir because of there equal mild flavors. 


Irish Cheddar: I got this cheese again because I knew my roommates and I liked this the best. It holds true after this tasting too. It's sharp saltiness counters well with the sweetness of the wine. It gets even better when you combine it with meat and crackers.


 


Name: Zinopolis

Variety: Zinfandel

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2018

Price: $18


Winery Review: "indulge in the aromas of sun dried cherries and blackberry spice as each sip slowly mesmerizes your senses."


Wine Folly: Everything I am reading on wine folly is agreeing with what I thought of this wine. It talks about fruity Smokey flavors with exotic spice notes. California zinfandel's are said to continue the smokey flavors.


My Review: After trying this wine right after having the pinot noir- I was slightly disappointed. The zinfandel Smokey and spice flavors were something that I am not a huge fan of- but I can see what attracts people to this wine. Interestingly, my roommates, who are not big wine people, liked this red better than the pinot noir.


Roquefort: This paired better than the pinot noir because of its stronger flavor. As mentioned before- the bold flavor of the Roquefort (which I am not really the biggest fan of) is countered better with the Zinfandel's stronger and bolder flavors.


Brie: This was an ok pairing. The spice of the Zinfandel does pair well with the subtle salty flavors of the brie. I liked the pinot better with the brie--but that is mainly the wine talking and not the cheese.


Irish cheddar: This cheese pairs well with any red. The saltiness counters the spice from the zinfandel very well.



Name: Bogle

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2020

Price: $16


Winery Review: "barrel aged in American oak for 9 months, Nutmeg and Vanilla flavors, hints of pineapple and guava."


Wine Folly: it notes that this variety is typically made to sparkling blanc de blancs- to creamy rich white wines aged in oak. The wine listed is definitely the ladder. It notes that California Chardonnays often have more tropical flavors--and the use of aging in barrels can change the wine to a more buttery smooth flavor.


My Review: My friends and I all agreed that this was not our favorite wines...The oak aging really comes off strong. I think that we are not used to having white wines have so much flavor- so the distinct buttery/oak flavor in this surprised us.


Roquefort: Not a great pairing. I think this was expected as this wine has the lightest flavor, and this is the strongest cheese. The butteryness of the wine, doesn't pair with the strong saltyness of the cheese.


Brie: Shockingly good pairing. The lightness of the brie (which I originally was not expecting) suited pretty well with lightness of the chardonnay.


Irish Cheddar: I really like this cheese- so I can't say that I don't like the pairing of these two--but I must say that together, this pairing is just ok. The bold flavor of the cheddar is not a great match with the light wine.









 


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