Wine & Cheese Pairing #2

 The Cheese Plate Selection

 Left: Stilton Blue Cheese 

Center: Whole Milk Brie Cheese

Right: Wensleydale Cheese with Cranberries

 The 3 Wine Choices

 

Cousino - Macul

Cabernet Sauvignon

Maipo Valley, Chile 

Critic Review: The smell has hints of spice and cherries, with a body of blackcurrants and is a perfect match for roasts and grills.

Tasting: Has an aroma of black berries, and slightly oaky. The taste is slightly fruity, acidic, and has a dry slightly hot finish.

Before Brie: Doesn't change the cheese flavor too much but gives it a slight acidity.
After Brie: Brings out the oaky flavor, but adds a slight spicyness to the wine.

Before Blue: Brings a spicy flavor to the blue cheese, an unexpected but good pairing.
After Blue: Gives the spicies in the wine a very good blue flavoring.

Before Wensleydale: Doesn't change the cheese taste much but gave it a wierd texture.
After Wensleydale: Sweetens the wine a bit and really brings out the red fruit flavor.

Woop Woop

Shiraz

2013

Australia

Critic Review: Woop Woop Shiraz has a bright violet color. Powerfully scented with blackberry and blueberry, with a more serious licorice character coming up in the glass. Flavors of dark berries, bitter cherry and mocha show both depth and verve, sweetened by a touch of vanilla. Gains firmness with air and finishes with good clarity and length. Definitely shows the polish I've come to expect from a Ben Riggs wine.

Tasting: Has a nose of smokey black fruit with a taste of spicies mixed with strawberries but with an odd middle flavor I could not figure out; but has a nice after taste, not too dry.

Before Brie: Gives buttery cherry flavor to the cheese.

After Brie: Cuts through most of the acidity, and brings out a lot of blackcurrant flavor.

Before Blue: Gave the cheese a very salty taste, not a good combo.

After Blue: Gives the wine a blue strawberry flavor, odd but interestingly good mix.

Before Wensleydale: Really sours the wine, not a good pairing.

After Wensleydale: Great pairing afterwards, really brings out the cranberries in the cheese.

Casas del Bosque

Sauvignon Blanc 

2013

Chile

Critic Review: The Casas del Bosque sauvignon displays energetic, precise lemon and pear qualities, with floral, herbal and mineral accents adding complexity; year in and year out, this wine punches far above its price point. It possesses the depth and power to work with richer foods, but also the finesse and energy to be enjoyable on its own, or alongside simply prepared salads or seafood, even sushi.

Tasting: Has nose of apples with gooseberries with uric acid and slightly green notes. The taste is that of cat piss on a gooseberry bush and a very nice finish of peaches.

Before Brie: Gives the a slight floral flavor but cuts most of the butteriness from the cheese.

After Brie: Brought out a yeasty flavor from the cheese into the wine and gave a slight ctriusy taste to the wine.

Before Blue: Gave the cheese a much stronger blue flavor and a salter taste, not a great pairing.

After Blue: Kind of a bland pairing. The wine cuts the left over blue flavor while the cheese cuts out all of the gooseberry.

Before Wensleydale: Brings out the cranberries in the cheese while leaving a sweet aftertaste.

After Wensleydale: Not much of a change to the cheese flavor but turns the wine to almost water. A bad pairing.