Wine and Cheese: The Second Experience

This week, some friends and I got together to do a wine and cheese pairing. We all have very different tastes, so we were very curious to see what each of us would enjoy, and what we wouldn't like so

Goat, cheddar, and brie cheese

much. We had three different kinds of cheese: goat cheese, cheddar cheese, and brie. We also had three different kinds of wine: a merlot, a pinot noir, and a sweet red wine. Each of us took something different away form each pairing, and there were some none of us were fans of.

For our first wine and cheese pairing, we used the pinot noir. This pinot noir was a 2013 Estancia from Monterey County in California. By itself, it was slightly bitter and had hints of earthy tones to it. I actually didn't mind this pinot noir, which surprised me. When I tasted it with the goat cheese, I was surprised. The goat cheese by itself was very smooth and creamy, but with the wine it was quite bitter. The tannins in the wine seemed to be enhanced, and I was not a fan. The cheddar cheese was not much better. By itself, the cheddar had a smooth buttery taste to it. When paired with the wine, it really seemed to enhance the tannins in the

Estancio Pinot Noir, 2013

wine. This wine did not have a good start to how well it was pairing with cheese. Unfortunately, it finished just as weakly with the brie. The brie by itself was smooth and had a bit of a punch to it, but with the wine the punch was pushed up a few notches. Not only did the cheese pack more of a punch, the wine did as well. I was not a big fan of this wine with any of the wines we chose to sample it with.

The next wine we tried for our wine and cheese pairing was the merlot. This Mondavi Merlot was a nice dark color, and it had many earthy tones with quite a bit more tannic acid than I prefer. It left a sort of spicy after taste behind in my palate. Pairing this wine with goat cheese was not horrible, but not great. The cheese again enhanced the tannins in the wine, but the wine did

Mondavi Merlot

not take away from the smoothness of the cheese. The cheddar cheese actually sweetened the merlot. By itself, this cheese was very buttery tasting. Whatever made it buttery rubbed off when eating this cheese with this wine. I liked the pairing of the cheddar and the merlot. I had quite a different response to the brie and merlot. This combination burned. The spice factor in the merlot was greatly enhanced, and my throat had quite and after burn after this combination. 

The last wine we tried with cheese was the sweet red. I have wanted to try a sweet red for awhile, so I decided with cheese would be a good time to do it. I discovered there might not ever be a good time to do a sweet red. I picked up a bottle of Childress Muscadine Sweet Red Wine, and I can honestly say I have never been so disappointed in a wine. My immediate thought when

Childress Muscadine Sweet Red Wine

tasting this wine was cough syrup. My friends didn't think that at first, and they actually didn't mind the wine. As soon as I said cough syrup, that was all they could taste. I hated this wine so much I was not able to stomach it with the cheese. I would imagine that none of these cheeses would have paired well with this wine. I imagine that not much of anything pairs well with this wine. This was very disappointing to me.