Wine and Cheese Pairing #1

 

My social pod and I had a great time doing our first wine and cheese pairing together. We all brought a bottle of wine and a cheese of our choosing. The biggest takeaway from our evening is that we learned it is pretty hard to have a bad time while tasting wines and enjoying cheeses together. To make things even better, we watched Blood into Wine while doing our tasting. We had a blast. 

Wines:

Lapis Luna Zinfandel 2018

Emancipation Red Blend 2016

Pinetti Notte Zinfandel 2019

Burgo Viejo Rioja Crianza 2016

Cheeses:

Manchego

Brie

Gouda

Crackers:

Balsamic Triscuits

Rosemary and Olive Oil Triscuits

Club Crackers

Meat:

Red Pepper Coated Italian Soppressata

    I will start with the Lapis Luna Zinfandel. This wine had a bold, jammy, delicious fruit structure with ample tannins to balance the wine. My favorite pairing for this wine was the manchego cheese. The hard texture and bold flavor from the manchego brought out the jammy notes in the wine. I felt like the brie and gouda made this wine taste somewhat flabby and I lost some of those delicious raspberry jam notes that the manchego uncovered. 

    The second wine I enjoyed was the Pinetti Notte Italian Zinfandel. This wine had an aroma of lighter fluid mixed with a small hint of fruit. I tried this wine on its own and immediately determined it was young zinfandel that needed to be paired with some sort of food. My favorite pairing for this wine was still the manchego cheese. I felt like the manchego cheese allowed this wine to come out of its shell and I could start to taste specific tastes of raspberry and blackberry.  This was enjoyable with the softer cheeses (brie and gouda) as it provided a body to the zinfandel that I thought was missing. The creamy notes brought out vanilla notes from the wine that I could not discover on its own. 

    The third wine I tasted was the Spanish Rioja.  This wine was 90% Tempranillo and 10% Graciano grapes. The employee at the Vintage Cellar told my friend that this wine would pair specifically well with the manchego cheese, and he was absolutely right. The manchego cheese brought out notes of nutmeg, coffee beans, and overripe fruits from the tempranillo grapes. This was tasted delicious with the gouda and brie as the neutral, creamy cheese let the spiced notes of this wine take center stage. I would like to try to pair this wine with some traditional Spanish foods, such as seafood paella, to open this wine up even more. 

    The last wine I tasted was the Emancipation California Red Blend. This wine is made up of 44% Grenache, 34% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre, 6% Petite Sirah, 2% Zinfandel, 2% Mission, and 2% Valdiguie. This was the best California red blend I have ever tasted as it had a beautifully crisp yet juicy flavor. I immediately tasted bright red cherry that almost tasted like a maraschino cherry. This was the sweetest wine of the night. After trying this wine with the creamy brie cheese, I was able to uncover notes of cream that led to me tasting notes of strawberries and cream. Most importantly, my favorite pairing of the night happened after I tried this wine paired with the spicy Italian soppressata salami. The sweetness of this wine tasted absolutely delicious with the spiciness in the meat and it was a combination that I could not put down. The spiciness of the food brought out even sweeter and more brilliant cherry notes that were extremely enjoyable. I can't wait to try some wines on the sweeter sides with spicier foods as it seemed like a match made in heaven. 

    Overall, I had a great time doing my first wine and cheese pairing and can't wait to enjoy this activity for the rest of my life. Cheers!