Behold this lovely (albeit less than fancy) cheese board on a baking trey! Hand-crafted with passion by myself and two of my friends, each of us selected one cheese and one wine to create this extravagant conglomeration. Side note - if you would have told me that my friends and I would be stoked to plan a wine and cheese night together prior to this semester, I would have called you certifiably insane - oh how the tables have turned. In the picture above (from left to right), the wines are as follows: Castello la Leccia Chianti Classico (100% Sangiovese), Viejo Isaias Cabernet Franc, and Pedroncelli Merlot. This group is comprised of a unique assortment of red wines that are not necessarily known to pair incredibly well with cheese, but they are varietals that my friends and I have wanted to try for quite some time so we figured this would be the perfect opportunity to do so! Moving on to the dairy portion of this photo, I was very excited to try each of the block cheeses as I am a huge fan of cheese. We did not have a particular method of choosing these at the grocery store, it was a pretty random process. The bottom left (light yellow) cheese is Irish Cheddar, the top left (bright yellow) cheese is French Comte, and the top right (white-ish) cheese is BellaVitano Merlot. I am usually a cheddar or mozzarella kind of guy, so I was eager to try these new cheeses and evaluate how they interacted with the wines that we selected!
It took an immense amount of inner strength and fortitude to prevent myself from diving into the wine and cheese before everyone else was ready. Of course, the friendship and discussion shared while consuming wine and cheese is a large component of what makes it so enjoyable, so I convinced myself to be patient.
As we started the process of deciding how we were going to conduct the wine and cheese pairing, my friends and I decided to taste one wine on its own and subsequently pair it with one cheese before moving on to the next wine and cheese. Although it may not be the typical (or best) method of completing this process, we are beginners and did not want to get overwhelmed by mismatching different wines and cheeses and confusing our simple-minded palates.
We decided to start with one of my friends favorite wines - Merlot. This wine did not possess an overly strong aroma at all, but there were a few hints of dark berry and maybe even a little cherry. Its flavors were also not incredibly powerful or vibrant (mainly a taste of fig), but it did have a full body and very astringent sensation. Its finish was rather short and concise, with a touch of spice towards the end.
The cheese that we chose to pair this Pedroncelli Merlot with was BellaVitano Merlot. As its name suggests, this particular cheese is crafted with Merlot, so we figured that they would pair well together. On its own, the cheese maintains a dull, creamy taste. When paired with the Merlot, its creaminess removes the mouth-puckering sensation and allows the dark berry flavor of the wine to intensify. Neither this wine nor cheese was my favorite on their own, but they definitely improve each others flavors when paired together.
The second wine that we consumed was a Viejo Isaias Cabernet Franc. Related to my favorite varietal, Cabernet Sauvignon, I was extremely excited to taste this wine. Its primary aroma was that of raspberry, although there was also a hint of spice as well. Unfortunately, I did not sense a great flavor in this Cabernet Franc; however, it possesses a very smooth body that is easy to drink. It did not seem to me that this wine has a deep level of complexity, but I did appreciate the mild experience that it offers.
We chose to pair Irish Cheddar with the Cabernet Franc. I was thrilled that some form of cheddar made it into our pairing, and I was relieved not to be disappointed. By itself, this cheese tasted relatively similar to typical cheddar, but its flavors were intensified. It paired extremely well with the Cabernet Franc because the wine offered a blank slate upon which the Irish Cheddar could express itself. It really felt like the smoothness of the wine allowed the strong flavors of the cheese to emerge. Although it might not be conventional, I would highly recommend this pairing to anyone who is a cheddar cheese fan.
The final wine that we tasted was a Castello la Leccia Chianti Classico comprised of 100% Sangiovese. It had an odor of raspberry with a slight "cleansing" smell. After tasting it, it is quite clear that this wine is made to be paired with a flavorful, hearty dish. It knocked my socks off with an overwhelming full body that made it difficult to sense any of its individual flavors. Its finish was surprisingly crisp, but I would not recommend drinking this Chianti by itself.
The final cheese that we selected to pair with the Chianti was French Comte. On its own, this cheese was quite pungent - a very unpleasant smell. It tasted better than it smelled - similar to parmesan cheese, and it was salty and relatively smooth. It paired nicely with the Chianti (although it seems like almost any type of food would help reduce its boldness). Neither this wine nor cheese was my favorite, and I did not necessarily enjoy them together either.
While I did not absolutely love all of these wines and cheeses, I thoroughly enjoyed the process of putting everything together and evaluating the interaction between the beverage and food. I feel like my palate is expanding and I am very excited to continue learning more about wine and cheese pairings and what I like. In the future, I think that I will search for some generally accepted pairings to see how I feel about those before I explore and create combinations on my own again. Ultimately, this experience provides a unique opportunity to talk and laugh with my friends, and I think that is what I appreciated the most.
