On Thursday March 5th two of my friends and I sporadically put together a wine a cheese pairing and movie ensemble. This was spurred on by a snow storm that came out of nowhere and shut down the university. Looking for something to do we decided to storm Kroger and pick up the essentials to satiate our boredom.
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| The wines and cheeses all laid out. |
- 2013 Dellatorri Chianti
- 2013 Robert Mondavi Priavte Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2013 Gnarly Head Cabernet Sauvignon
- Gouda
- Asiago Parmesan
- Goat Cheese
My tastings for the cheeses are as follows.
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| L to R: Gouda, Asiago, Goat |
- Gouda: Smoky and spicy. Tastes like easy cheese.
- Asiago: This cheese was grainy and about the same consistency as Gouda.
- Goat cheese: Yogurty, super soft and quite creamy. This was the most delicious of the three.
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2013 Robert Mondavi Private Selection
Cabernet Sauvignon from Central Coast |
2013 Robert Mondavi Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon: Good wine from a classic winemaker. Robert Mondavi's Private selection Cabernet Sauvignon had very strong tannins and was filled with ripe berries. There were slight hints of licorice and chocolate. Overall a solid medium bodied wine. When paired with the Gouda there was not a whole lot of distinction to be honest. After trying the Asiago this cab became kind of bitter on the mid palette. The Asiago was definitely reaffirmed on the finish. The goat cheese was definitely the stand out cheese to pair with this wine. Chocolate and licorice-ness went full throttle with the goat cheese.
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| 2013 Dellatorri Chianti |
2013 Dellatorri Chianti: This is maybe the second Chianti I've had since the start of the semester and the difference was like night and day. This bottle brought a whole lot more to the table and was much, much more impressive than the touristy looking, odd shaped and packaged bottle I had in my last cheese pairing actually. The forefront of this bold full bodied wine was a spice component. On the nose I picked up licorice, berries, and spices. The palette is what distinguishes this wine though from. It was very tannic and very peppery. It was to the point where it felt like my mouth was being attacked. Actually that numbing sensation reminds me a lot of Chinese peppercorns. Anyway, probably not the most balanced wine, but a far superior product to the other Chianti. On to the actual pairings now. I first paired this with Gouda. Unfortunately due to the nature of this wine I had difficulty really picking up anything new. Nothing stood out to me, however the insane mouth numbing finish did disappear. The Asiago was at least different. The Dellatorri developed into a coffee-esque drink bringing out hints of mocha and vanilla. And finally with the goat cheese, my personal favorite, this Chianti developed into a softer tasting more drinkable wine. Less tannic structure, less bite, and a bigger emphasis on the cheese again. Overall this was actually a pretty difficult wine to pair with the cheeses we picked out, but let's move on.
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2013 Gnarly Head Cabernet
Sauvignon |
2013 Gnarly Head Cabernet Sauvignon: Toasted Head, and Gnarly Head: I've been wanting to try both of these vineyard's products for a while. And alas, finally I got the opportunity. I really wanted to try a Chardonnay to see if I could really pick up on the barrel flavors, but hey beggars can't be choosers. As it turns out this wine was my favorite of the three, it paired the best with every cheese, and the oak was not difficult to discern in the slightest. Gnarly Head's Caberenet brought distinct notes of fresh strawberries and jam accompanied with pepper and of course oak. Both sets of smells transferred over to the actual taste, but the ratios were a little different. Oak was a major player in this, lets say quad-fecta of flavors. And then obviously the jaminess that you'd get from a Cabernet. There was a nice balance to this medium bodied wine. I first had the Gnarly Head with some goat cheese. It was pretty interesting. I picked up on oak and butter components more. The fruit components actually vanished entirely. As weird as that sounds it actually wasn't all that bad, and it left my mouth with this warming sensation probably from the breakdown of tannins. Pairing with the Gouda incited the complete opposite reaction; no oak, no butter, and no tannins, just fruit. The last cheese, the Asiago, was kind of a let down. It didn't leave me with a lasting impression like the previous two did. The Asiago paired pretty similar to the Gouda only the texture, that is the gritty and grainy feel of it, distracted from the overall taste.
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| Joel and Wes discussing and blogging their thoughts on the wines. |
All in all not a bad night, and afterwards we got to sit back and watch Red Obsession while sipping on the rest of our wines. Next time I have a cheese pairing I want to include a floral white like Viongier and I'd like to vary the reds. I'll probably include a Shiraz or a Pinot Noir. As for the cheeses, the goat was a slam dunk, and like last time the Parmesan kind of struggled.
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| Enjoying the movie with some wine. |
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