Wine and Cheese Blog #1

Last week I got together with my friend Guiliana who is also taking this class and we spent the afternoon trying a few wines and cheeses. We bought a sparkling rose, chardonnay, and merlot. We chose the rose and chardonnay in a smaller bottle since it was just the two of us and we weren’t sure what we would like. We then bought a cheese flight with a Copper Kettle, an Altu (Gruyere-style), and a Tuscan Rubbed Fontal Cheese. In addition, we bought a Brie Fermier to pair with the sparkling rose. 

Sparkling Rose 

We first tried the sparkling rose, the OGIO sparkling rose from Italy.  I thought the rose was pretty dry and not very sweet. It was a little fruity with some hints of tree fruits. We first tried it with the Brie which I thought went pretty well with the sparkling rose. The Brie was “Murray's Brie Fermier” which is a pudgy brie with a bit more flavor than a typical brie.  I found the softness of the brie helped a lot with the dryness of the wine and balanced it out.  This type of brie has an earthy, and a bit mushroomy taste which was something I had never really tasted before. I think a regular brie would have been better as this one was a bit overpowering. Next, I think that the  Tuscan Rubbed Fontal was a bit overwhelming with the rose because there were a lot of flavors going on. The sparkling along with the herbs was a bit much, however the creaminess and mildness of the actual cheese went well. Finally, we tried the rose with  the Altu which I thought paired pretty well. The cheese was pretty subtle and did not overpower the rose and the nutty notes complimented it well.

Josh Chardonnay

Next was Josh Chardonnay.  I found this wine pretty subtle and no one flavor was overpowering. It wasn’t super dry and I tasted a bit of citrus as well as hints of fruit like peach and pear.  I thought the Tuscan Rubbed Fontal cheese went very well with this chardonnay. I thought the cheese was light, mild, and creamy which  balanced out the flavors of the wine. The cheese had flavor which depending on how many spices you got could overpower the wine a bit, but overall I thought it paired well. The brie with the chardonnay, I thought, did not pair very well. The earthy and mushroom flavors of the brie seemed to clash with the lighter flavors of the chardonnay.  Finally, the Altu cheese paired well with the chardonnay. The flavor is nutty and subtle but complemented the citrus and acidity of the wine.

Barefoot Merlot

Finally, the Barefoot Merlot was not super flavorful and was pretty tart. I do not think I have ever had a merlot and have never had anything like this wine. The label on the wine said it had flavors of boysenberry and chocolate. Me and Guiliana did not find hints of chocolate, however we are pretty inexperienced wine drinkers.  We first tried the copper kettle which was a rich and nutty cheese with hints of caramel. This cheese was not like anything I had really had before and was pretty flavorful which didn’t seem to compliment the bitterness of the wine very well. Next, the Italian herbs and spices  of the Tuscan rubbed fontal could overpower the wine if you got  a lot of spices. However the delicateness and softness of the cheese helped offset the acidity of the merlot a lot. The Altu cheese went pretty well with the merlot and helped counteract the acidity and tartness. I thought the nutty flavor of the cheese also complimented the flavors of the merlot without clashing or overpowering. 

Overall,  I enjoyed trying the different wines and new cheeses and observing how they interacted. The Altu cheese seemed to go well with all the wines which were interesting to note. I would also like to try a more traditional brie with more wine in the future. As a cheese lover, I look forward to trying more wines and cheeses!