Wine and Cheese Pairing #1

 

Intro

    A few friends and I wanted to do the wine and cheese pairing, so we made a charcuterie board. We got three kinds of cheese and three wines to go with those cheeses. The cheese we had was extra sharp cheddar, triple cream brie, and Robusto gouda. The wines were all recommended to us at The Vintage Cellar. We also made sure to try each pairing before enjoying the board as a whole

Cheese 1 - Triple Cream Brie and Opera Prima Brut

    On its own, this sparkling wine was decent. I wouldn't say it was amazing, but I enjoyed it enough. There were flavours of apples, pears, and pineapple. But, they were very light. The wine was also very dry. The brie helped immensely in bringing out the flavours of this wine. The fruity notes were strengthened by the creaminess of the brie. It reminded me of how fruit jams pair very well with brie. Any dryness in the wine was lost and the sweetness was accentuated.

Cheese 2 - Robusto Gouda and Santa Bella Colli Piacentini Malvasia 2020

    This malvasia from the Colli Piacentini region of Italy was a sweet/dessert wine. The aroma of wine was distinctly like that of apple butter. When drinking it, I could pick up flavours of apple juice, pears, honey, and some floral notes. But, overall the wine was just a little bit too sweet for me. I know its a sweet wine, but it was a little too strong for me in this case. So, when it was paired with the gouda, it was perfect. The smokey and nutty flavours of the gouda helped mask the sweetness of the wine. The fruity notes of the wine also were masked making the honey, floral, and earthy tones of the wine come out. It led to the wine almost tasting like mead. 

Cheese 3 - Extra Sharp Cheddar and Saltram S2 Shiraz 2019

    The one red wine of the night was this Australian Shiraz. Overall this wine was good, but it isn't what I have come to expect from Shiraz. There wasn't any jamminess and it was a little bit tart, but it would be a good Shiraz for someone looking to try it for the first time at a cheaper price. This wine was only 5 or 6 dollars. I would expect something of this quality to be closer to $15. Upon smelling this wine the main things I could pick up were smoke, burnt wood, blackberries, cherries, raspberries, and leather. The flavours of the wine were in line with what it smelled like. Cherry and smoke were the strongest notes with a little bit of pleasant bitterness. The wine had a light to medium body. It was also dry, but it had a short finish. This wine probably changed the least when paired with cheese compared to the other two. The biggest change was the loss of that hint of bitterness. The cherry and blackberry flavours were a bit stronger, and the smokey notes were held back a little.