Wine and Cheese Pairing Report: 3/17

Wines: Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir

Cheeses: Brie, Aged Cheddar, Havarti

Wine #1: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2022

Impression: The wine is extremely fruity with a predominantly passion fruit and apple flavor. It contains a wonderful tangy and acidic mouthfeel that balances the sweetness spectacularly and as a result, this wine is one of my new favorites.

Combination #1: Sauvignon Blanc and Brie Cheese

Impression: The salty brie matches very well with the acidic and tangy notes of the wine. Brie is can be a very overpowering cheese depending on what its paired with, and the Blanc was a good match that did not allow any overpowering notes from either side.

However, although they paired well, they did not bring out the

flavors of either side, in any spectacular way, they just complemented each other well.

Wine #2: Josh Cabernet Sauvignon 2021

Impression: The cabernet was chock full of dark fruity flavorings with tastings of black berry and cherry present throughout the sip. There were also strong hints of vanilla along with other spices like cloves, and a nutty, woody taste that held strong in the background. It was also a little sweet and not very tannic which created a nice, comforting mouthfeel, although I feel like that lack of a strong mouthfeel was to its disadvantage personally.

Combination #2: Cabernet Sauvignon and Aged Cheddar

Impression: This was likely my least favorite of the 

combinations. The cheddar muted the tannins and acidity which worked to take even more away from the mouthfeel of the 

cabernet sauvignon. In addition, the taste of the cheddar also somehow removed most of the subtle flavorings, leaving nothing but the stronger dark fruits behind to pair with the cheese. These flavorings were certainly good, but I felt that the wine clashed too strongly with the cheese and it resulted in the wines defeat with the undertones surrendering to the salt of the aged cheddar cheese.

Wine #3: Meiomi Pinot Noir 2022

Impression: Pinot noir is one of my favorites and this was no exception as I was immediately hit with a very fruity and spicy aroma upon sniffing and the taste matched my expectations well with raspberry and cherry holding the reins while vanilla, and earthy flavors flowed in on the undertones soon after. The wine was also lightly tannic and maintained a wonderful balance and mouthfeel.

Combination #3: Pinot Noir and Havarti cheese 

Impression: Upon tasting the havarti cheese and following it with pinot noir, I was rather let down, although it likely should have been expected. The havarti cheese has a strong buttery taste that it carries more so than salt, and it contrasted strongly with the pinot noir, which resulted in the flavorings of the havarti immediately being washed away by the flood of pinot noir entering my mouth. The wine however, remained unscathed and maintained its flavor rather flawlessly. I liked the wine, I liked the cheese, but they did not mesh well together.

My thoughts: I rather enjoyed this experience. The idea of experimenting with different wines and cheeses to see what works and what doesn't was a fun experience and it encouraged me to pick up wines that I normally ignore because I wanted to make sure I could find three small bottles. I also learned from this experience that Sauvignon Blanc which I had not had previously, was fantastic and is now one of my favorites. Speaking of favorites, first place goes to the Sauvignon blanc and the brie which complimented each other fairly well. Second place goes to pinot noir and the havarti, though that is mostly due to the wine as the cheese did not contribute much. Third and final place goes to the cabernet sauvignon and the aged cheddar which was my least favorite and assured me not to try that again. Frankly speaking, the red wines being the weakest link in this tasting method makes sense considering the strong tastes tend not to complement lighter cheeses, but I still wanted to experiment. I learned that lesson, and I created a new goal for myself of finding better wines, similar to the sauvignon blanc, that will mesh well with a variety of cheeses the next time I do something like this.