Wines:
1. La Cappucciana Soave
2. Raywood Cabernet Sauvignon
3. Chateau Morissette 5
4. don Rodolfo Tannat
Cheeses:
Beer Cheese
Asiago
Extra Sharp Cheddar
La Cappuccina Soave. 2013. Verona, Italy. 100% Garganega.
Oh my gosh I love Verona so much. I was only there for a day, but it was insanely romantic and beautiful. It was fruity without being sweet, which I appreciate. I don't know what Garganega is, but I want to try more. It had some acidity quality which I think may be interesting with cheeses.
Beer Cheese: No. Not really blending super well. I think this is just too strong of a cheese with such an acidic wine.
Asiago: So this was recommended to Hannah as a good pairing. Overall, it was not my favorite wine/cheese pairing of the night, but I guess it didn't clash. I think pairing is a palate specific thing, so a vague recommendation is good, but I think we have to learn from ourselves with specific wines and cheeses. It was a good conversation surrounding it at least.
Cheddar: This was a pretty mediocre cheese to begin with, so it wasn't doing the wine any favors.
This had a lot of red berry by itself. It wasn't spicy, but had some sort of herbal quality to it. Not a bad Cab Sav, but I have tried some that I think I prefer. This needs a nice strong cheese or dinner to pair it.
Beer: This had a good sharpness that paired well with the wine. Definitely a good start to the tasting. This was odd that it worked well because this tasted nothing like beer, but I guess its that strong initial flavor which pairs so well.
Asiago:The hardness of this cheese really didn't work well with anything, and not with this Cab Sav. I wanted something sharper but a creamier texture like the Beer cheese. This asiago had areas in it that were harder than others, so it was just really weird. I like asiago, but not with this wine.
Cheddar: Again nothing outstanding about this pairing. It wasn't bringing anything super special out of this wine. sorry, Cheddar, you're like the cheap Chardonnay. Nothing spectacular, but you always know what you are going to get.
Some of the boys had slices of prosciutto, which they said they really enjoyed. I have no interest in trying that, but I believe them.
This was interesting as a table wine, which I assumed was normally a pretty sweet red. It definitely had some spices to it, and the sweetness was there, but not quite as present as I expected. I appreciate that, because it made it a good pairing with cheese. Sweet wine and cheese does not seem great.
Beer: This was good! I think its because some of that spice is picked up in the mustard in the cheese, and it almost cancels out the sweetness. Gosh this beer cheese. Need to try again with other things. We really liked it.
Asiago: Here we go. Asiago paired really well. This was good because we worried that if it didn't pair well with the white wine, how were we going to find something that would work? I don't know what it was that did it. The hardness may was good against the sweetness of the wine? not sure.
Cheddar: Still a no. I think cheddar just goes well with crackers and sandwiches.
These people keep talking about how great their altitude is. We laughed that they talked it so much, we better be able to taste the clouds. By itself, this wine was really strong. We hoped that the cheese would pair it down, and it definitely did. I also had this with garlic bread the next day, and that was fantastic. By itself, it tasted like straight pepper.
Beer: This was too strong. The spices, especially with the mustard infused in the cheese, was an overload. At this point, it was just better to have the cheese by itself. That stuff was like a meal.
Asiago: This I also enjoyed. It was good to mix the spicy and the sharpness of the cheese.
Cheddar: This was actually the best pairing of the cheddar all night. I think this wine just had so much strong pepper flavor it was carrying the team. That's ok.
