Wine and Cheese II

Sunday Night April the 26th my partner in wine Renee Robus and I got our wine and cheese on for a second time.

Our wines and cheeses were as follows:


Gallo Family Chardonnay
and Bruschetta Jack

The Chardonnay had a delicious nose of apples and citrus. Lemons were very present on back end of the nose and there was a small hint of melon that added the perfect amount of complexity. There was a good deal of oaky smell that made its way through the nose and made a strong appearance in the flavor as well. The cheese pairing for this wine was not ideal unfortunately. The Brushetta aspect of the cheese was really mild and creamy and I think that it would have blended better with a complex red wine instead of an in your face chardonnay. The Chardonnay was sweet and sour and had a lot of zing, while the cheese was really mellowing and it caused for this clash of flavors that fought a battle right on the middle of the tongue. I will say that the "Jack" part of this cheese, AKA the spices were a great complement to the zing of the chardonnay and those two aspects did get along quite well. However overall I think that we could have paired better. 

Gallo Family Merlot
Smokey Chipotle Cheddar Jack

The Merlot presented with fantastic notes of black cherry, caramel and cinnamon. It had a very warm smell about it that I usually associate with red wines. This Merlot was the perfect blend of sweet and dry and that is something that you will very rarely hear me saying. We pairing it with Chipotle Cheddar Jack was slightly confusing for me. The dryness of the wine did not allow the taste buds to escape the onslought of spice from the cheese and so it seemed that the wine and cheese clashed. It was even more confusing however because the creamy texture of the cheese did blend well with the thick complexity of the Merlots texture. I am not sure whether I think this paired well or not. I find that I am quite neutral on it and that I could take it or leave it. There are definitely better pairings out there. 

Cooks California Chardonnay Brut
and Garlic and Herb Jack

Finally the Brut. This wine was fairly similar to the first wine that we paired. However there are some differences to note. There was a more noticeable note of pears in this wine that really brought about a difference that necessary. It was also a champagne so the bubbles created this odd sensation when they mixed with the cheese that was almost like a palette cleanser. Finally there was some notable toasty smell on the nose like a nice piece of breakfast toast.  This pairing experienced the same downfall that the first pairing suffered from unfortunately. The jack was a good deal sharper the bruschetta and paired well with the Brut. As before the spicy notes in the cheese were sort of "put out" by the crispness of the wine and it created a great blend in the mouth. The flavor of the cheese itself was just sharp enough that it was able to be tamed by the Brut but not so mild that I would have preferred a red. 

The more wine and cheese I seem to pair together the more I am realizing I would much rather pair a red wine with almost any cheese. It seems like no matter what the cheese is, I don't enjoy it with a lighter colored wine. I really enjoyed doing this again though and probably will continue to after this class because it is not only fun but is educating for my taste buds.