Wine & Cheese Pairing #1

 The Cheese Selection

 New Bridge Garlic & Herb Cheddar

 Kroger Brand Pepperjack Cheese

 President brand Brie Cheese

The Wine Selection

 

Sweet Mountain Apple

Chateau Morrisette

Floyd, Virginia

Critic Review: Aroma of fresh apples with a palate of smooth, sweet apples a crisp refreshing finish.

Tasting: A very appley smell with a hint of hard cider. The last is straight apple cider with a very refreshing finish.

Before Brie: Gave an appley taste to the cheese.

After Brie: Cut the apple taste, very sweet, almost candy like.

Before Pepperjack: A sweet, peppery combo, one of my favorites of the night.

After Pepperjack: Spicy, apple taste, gave a notticable drier finish.

Before Cheddar: No real difference, not a good pairing.

After Cheddar: Give the wine a carmelly taste to the wine and a dry-ish finish.

 

Castle Rock Pinot Noir

ST. Helena, California

Critic Review: Elegant and medium-bodied offering aromas of cherry, tea and herbal spices. On the palate it is smooth with silky texture and mild tannins, giving floavors of blac cherry, plum and spice, and finishing long and harmoniously.

Tasting: Smells of oak and black fruits. Has a taste of smokey, acidic and woodyness with spices. Has a dry finish.

Before Brie: Gave a fruityness to the brie.

After Brie: Gave a buttery fruity taste to the wine with a slightly spicy finish.

Before Pepperjack: Not much a change, does not pair well.

After Pepperjack: Gaves the wine a slight spicyness, sweet, flavor with a woody aftertaste.

Before Cheddar: Slightly brought out the herbs in the cheddar but did not make much of a change.

After Cheddar: Gave the wine a floral, garlic, slightly sweet finish.

 5 Red Grapes

Chateau Morrisette

Floyd, Virginia

Critic Review: Aroma is loaded with cherry and graham crackers. The palate is well-rounded mid-palate with fresh acidity and has a long, smooth finish.

Tasting: The smell is that of cherry with brown sugar dough. Has a balanced, buttery taste with a lasting finish.

Before Brie: Gave the cheese a fruity flavor with a bit of a floral taste.

After Brie: Cuts the acidty of the apples and gives a sweeter taste.

Before Pepperjack: Really spicy pepperjack.

After Pepperjack: Much tarter a bit more acidic with a overly spicy finish.

Before Cheddar: Sweetens the cheddar, much better taste.

After Cheddar: A bit blander, cheddar overpowers the flavor, tart-ish finish.

Homemade Southern Style Dinner

 Cheese stuffed steaks

 Roasted-herb encursted potatoes.

 Peppered bacon southern style green beans.

The three wines choices

Girardet Pinot Gris

Umpqua Valley

Roseburg, Oregon

Critic Review: The rich fruit flavors of the umqua valley giv this pinot gris alluring aromas of melon pear and fresh citrus fruits. The crisp medium-bodied flavors of honeydew and pear delight the palate for a soft finish of apricot and sweet almonds. 

Tasting: Has very cirisy smell with a flavor of green apples and a earth slight fruity finish.

Steak: Has a bit more of a apple aroma with sweetened taste which really brings out the cheese in the steak.

Green beans: Really brings out the apricot smell. Much sweeter tast and crisp finish.

Potatoes: Not much of a change, but the dill over powers the apple flavor.

Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon

North Coast

California US

Critic Review: Elegantly layered with blackberry and ripe cherry complimented by rich roasted vanilla, mocha and baking spices, surrounded by smooth lush tannins.

Tasting: Has a very floral aroma with hints of black fruit. The tasts is that of black fruit and cherry with a slightly earthy hint but without much of a aftertaste.

Steak: Gives the wine a buttery taste with spices and gives a much smoother finish.

Green Beans: About the same aroma, the taste is "holy pepper." Not a very good pairing with the cab sav.

Potatoes: Gives a smooth mouthfeel, some spicyness but really brings out the garlic in the potatoes.

 The black dog

Chateau Morrisette

Floyd Virginia

Critic Review: Has a fruity aroma. A palate of berries and subtle spices with a smooth finish. Off-dry, medium bodied.

Tasting: Smells of cherries and blood oranges, with a very black berries taste, and dry finish.

Steak: Gives the wine a slightly tart taste and covers up much of the fruityness. Not a very good pairing.

Green beans: Gives the wine a slightly peppery taste that lingers which worked much better than excepted.

Potatoes: Much fruiter tastes to the wine and balances the after taste while mellowing out the garlic flavor in the potatoes.

Winery visit: Chateau Morissette

 

 

 This is where we meet the tour guide to start the tour and learned about the history of the winery. The most interesting fact we learned when starting the tour was story of how blue the dog became the symble of the winery for his love of red wine.

Here we were able to see all of the winess currently produced by the winery and even tired a couple of their more populur wines.

In there aging area morissette is able to produce over 200,000 gallons of wine. In the picutre are 5,00 gallon storage vates with two 50,000 gallon vates at the back of the rows.

Here they use french oak barels to store many of their againg wines. To have a quick way to tell between the againg whites & reds, they use a black paw print that is said to be place on the barels by blue trying to get into any of the reds.

In the above two pictures is where our tour guide showed us the area they bottle every wine produced at morissette. They are capable of producing around 5,000 bottles a hour which are all corked and labeled by hand.

 At the end of the tour we saw a barel that morissette is in the process of developing. The concept, which is in the process of againg a test wine, would use the same wood that composes the againg barels but would be able to be deconstured to shave the inside of the wood to expose the unused porition, thus becoming a new barel.

Tasting - Bolla Moscato

• Bolla
• Moscato

• Pavia
• Italy
• Price: $9.95

• Critic Review
• Loaded with juicy exotic fruit, mature apricot, yellow peach and tangerine flavors, this sweet and delightful wine is perfect for Sunday brunch or picnics.

• Tasting Review
• A standard moscato with a bouquet of peaches & fruits. A taste of tangerines & apricots and a crisp, sweet finish.

• Did not pair with food.

Tasting - Monte Degli Angeli

• Monte Degli Angeli
• Sangiovese (100%)
• 2013

• Puglia
• Italy
• Price: $7.95

• Critic Review
• The aromas are rich and dark, with lots of black cherry and a hint of balsamic. In the mouth the wine is round and energetic, with cherry and black raspberry fruit complemented by hints of damp earth. If you like Sangiovese-based wines like Chianti or our best-selling Colsanto from Umbria, you'll love this! The wine is ripe, fresh, and fruit-driven with a wonderful dash of earthy complexity at the end. Buy it by the case and drink with pizza, grilled poultry, and pasta.

• Tasting Review
• This sangiovese has a very floral, rosey nose with hints of black berries (cherry, strawberries). The taste is exactly that of a rose with earthy notes and a crisp finish. Great example of a nice sangiovese that is reasonably priced.

• Did not pair with food.

Tasting - 2013 Monte Aman Rosado Ribera del Arlanza

• Monte Aman Rosado
• Tempranillo (100%)
• 2013

• Castile and León
• Spain
• Price: $12

• Critic Review
• It has a cherry red color, live, fresh, clean. Very fruity, berries (strawberries, cherries), elegant and surprising. The palate is well balanced and fresh wine in step, with good acidity and is pleasant and enjoyable.

• Tasting Review
• This rosado has a very floral nose with notes of black cherries, the taste has parts of red berries and apple, with a slight spicy finish and nice acidity.

• Did not pair with food.

Tasting - Alvarez de Toledo Godello

• Alvarez de Toledo
• Godello

• Bierzo
• Spain
• Price: $7.95

• Critic Review
• Clean pale yellow color. Nose fruity, persistent and elegant armoas. Good backbone on the palate.

• Tasting Review
• Has a bouquet is heavly fruity with slight woody hints. The taste is light with apples and pears and a slight taste of greens. Clean finish.

• Did not pair with food.