Wine and Cheese Pairing #3

 

 

Name: 19 crimes

Variety: Chardonnay

Region: South Eastern

Country: Australia

Year: 2021

Price: $18

Winery Review: "Full bodied with ripe stone fruit flavors balanced with high acidity, toasty oak, honey and hints of spice. Finishes with creamy notes of butterscotch and vanilla.

Wine Folly: It notes that chardonnay can range from sparkling blanc de blancs to rich and creamy aged in oak (this is definitely the ladder). It notes varieties from the California region are typically characterized by dry whites. I thought its note about how it can taste like "balanced brandy" was interesting too because I can really feel that with this wine.

My review: This is no ordinary chardonnay. The company is not kidding when they say it is "full bodied and high acidity"- it overpowered my mouth. I can definitely taste the bold butterscotch to at the end- I think its the oak that gives it that taste.

Cheese:

Pepper Jack: Woah- this chardonnay is unlike one I have ever had. It overpowers the wimpy pepper jack cheese I got- which honestly just gets in the way of the strong flavor of the wine. The peppers in the cheese really dont complement with the white wine.

Irish Cheddar: White wine and the Irish cheddar are a weird combo. It is two heavy weights going at it- but I don't think that they ever really come to an agreement. The fattiness of the cheese does cut through when drinking the wine and dulls a bit which is nice since this is such a full white.

Havarti: I feel that this is the best pairing out of all of them. The havarti, like the pepper jack, is wimpy, but its unique because of its aftertaste, which is buttery and lingers for a bit. While the wine still over powers the havarti- I feel that I if i got a more powerful/aged version of this cheese the pairing would be much better.

Name: Bay Bridge

Variety: Moscato

Region: Livermore & Ripon California

Country: USA

Year: 2021

Price: $2.99

Winery Review: "This fruit forward sweet moscato is bursting with aromas of ripe honeysuckle and a hint of citrus.

Wine Folly: It is interesting that Wine folly doesnt list moscato out in their table of contents. While I know that this is just from the muscat family, since it is such a popular wine drinkin these days I would think they would put it on there. It notes the wine to be very sweet and fruity flavored. It said it could be paired well with cheese like roquefort which I was surprised about since that is such a strong cheese.

My review: Super fruity wine with no almost no acidity. It is almost like drinking water or grape juice. I got this wine because of the price, 2.99, I haven't tried this brand as I am used to buying other cheap brands like barefoot or yosemite-after trying this I can say they are all one in the same. It has strong flavors of apple and pear juices. 

Cheese:

Pepper Jack: It was ok to pair the peppers flavor of the cheese with the light sweetness of the wine. To be honest, I think that cheese was best with this wine, but that isnt saying much. As a constant theme now- this cheese is just not very good quality but in this case, neither is the wine.

Irish Cheddar: I laughed when I tried this cheese with the wine-- the cheese is just so much more powerful than the wine. This cheese is meant to be with full reds--this light fruity white totally take it out of its element.

Havarti: the butteryness of the havarti and the light sweetness of the cheap wine is honestly a pretty good combination. While this is low quality cheese with not much potency, it is still able to outlast the even cheaper wine.

 

Name: Yellow Tail Shiraz

Variety: Shiraz

Region: Southeastern

Country: Australia

Year: 2020

Price: $10

Winery Review: "Rich and smooth, with juicy red berries and hints of vanilla and spice.

Wine Folly: While it is called syrah and all other parts of the world, when the grape is grown in Australia it is called shiraz. Wine folly notes that the southeastern parts of Australia particularly produce very intense wines.

My review: I was surprised in how bold this wine was given how cheap it was. I picked it because professor boyer said that if you wanted to try a wine that was meant to be buttery- pick up a yellow tail shiraz. As expected, he wasnt wrong and this wine was strong with buttery smoothness. Shiraz just isnt my style I think and is just to bold for me.

Cheese:

Pepper Jack: The peppers in the pepper jack actually do somewhat complement the bold flavor of the shiraz- what really is lacking in this pepper jack, is the actually cheese its self. I feel like it just isn't strong enough to pair well with this wine, the flavor of the wine is not really altered like it is with other foods/cheeses. The peppers are the part that you can taste with the wine and i'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Irish Cheddar: This was the best pairing by far. There is just something about red wine and Irish cheddar cheese for me. The rich fatty ness of the cheese is able to knock the strongness of the wine off for me and have a nice pairing effect. When you add some meat cheese cracker and fig jam--it creates a pretty awesome pairng.

Havarti: The Havarti was ok with this red. As mentioned in the first analysis of this cheese, I feel like if i got a more quality brand or if it was more aged and had a more potent flavor, it would be a much better pairing.