Thursday Night Wine and Cheese Pairing with Friends!

This Thursday my friends and I decided to pair some with some cheese and some Grey's Anatomy! We decided to pair a The Royal 2015 Chenin Blanc with havarti cheese with dill, a Hob Nob Wicked Red Blend with honey goat cheese, and a Sinols Rosat 2015 with brie cheese.

The first wine, The Royal 2015 Chenin Blanc with old vines steen from the Western Cape of South Africa, had a fresh apple smell with hints of other citrus. It had a smooth finish and tasted very fresh, woody, and oaky. When paired with the dill havarti, it completely enhanced the dill taste and made the wine less bitter. I thought it was delicious and very fresh and light!

The second wine, Sinols Rosat 2015 from Empordalia Vineyard, Spain, was paired with creamy brie cheese. The wine itself had a very floral and sweet smell. It had a very acidic and slightly dry taste, and did not taste sweet like the way it smelled. When paired with the brie, the mixture of the buttery cheese with the acidic rosé was incredible. The brie completely took out the heavy acidity of the wine creating a delicious combination!



The last wine, was Hob Nob Vineyards Wicked Red Blend from Vin de Pays D'Oc in southern France, was paired with honey goat cheese. The Hob Nob smelled of dark fruits. It tasted of blackberry and cherries, with a spicy almost meaty aftertaste. Paired with the goat cheese both of the flavors exploded! The sweet honey balanced the tannins in the wine and brought out a smokey flavor. It was by far my favorite pairing of the night!

Vintage Cellar Tasting - Primes Ruby Port

Name: Prime's Vinho Do Porto Ruby
Variety: Port
Region: Oporto
Country: Portugal
Year: Not listed
Price: $18 (Sale: $9.95)

Product Description: "Ruby colour; red fruit aromas; pleasantly sweet and balanced taste. As the wines used to produce Prime's Ruby Port age, they gain smoothness and elegance while retaining their fruitiness, intensity and youthful ruby colour. They are then blended together."

My Review: Smelled of strong alcohol, and a hint of caramel. The taste was very smooth. It was very sweet with an after taste of buttery, caramel-infused bourbon that I thought was delicious!

Vintage Wine Cellar Tasting - Lindemans

Name: Lindeman's Bin 80
Variety: Cabernet Merlot
Region: Southeastern
Country: Australia
Year: 2015
Price: $18 (Sale: $7.95)

Product Review: "A well-rounded wine with plush flavours. Features mouth-filling flavours and a soft, silky tannin structure."

My Review: I smelled raspberry in this wine. The taste was heavily spicy. I tasted cloves and cinnamon, almost like a slice of gingerbread. 

Vintage Cellar Wine Tasting - Domaine du Poujol Coteaux Cinsault 2011

Name: Domaine De Poujol
Variety: Grenache Cinsalt
Region: Landuedoc
Country: France
Year: 2011
Price: $13 (Sale: $5.95)

Shop Review: "Minerally and berry notes make for a savory blend of flavors in this fine-grained red. Dried berry fruit dominates, with accents of white pepper and dill seed. Delivers lively acidity on the finish. Drink now through 2018."

My Review: Smelled like dark berries, mainly black raspberry and maybe some cherry. Taste was very earthy. It had a almost cow-manure, soil, or mushroom taste to it. I did not like this very much. Slightly dry with overpowering earthy kick. 

Tasting- "Chateau Morrisette-Blackberry"

Chateau Morrisette - Orchard Series: Blackberry
-Apple Wine with natural flavors
-American- Floyd, VA - $11.99

Chateau Morrisette Winery Website Notes:

"Production Notes

This is an apple based wine with blackberry flavors.

Winemaker Notes

Imagine, thick & dark blackberry pie with vibrant aromas that fill the glass to the brim. Literally no different than having a mouthful of ripe blackberries right from the basket.

Food Pairing Notes

Serve chilled, between 49-52ºF. It's perfectly sweet aperitif to be paired with the likes of cheese or better yet, barbecue" 

My Review: This is one of the most delicious wines I have ever had. My boyfriend actually got me this for Valentine's Day after I had mentioned I wanted to try a blackberry flavored wine, and we just got around to tasting it. It really tasted like you were eating a handful of ripe blackberries, I tasted some hints of blueberries and even some cherry? Right from the start you could smell the delicious sweetness. The first glass was amazing, but after the first it tends to be a little too sweet for me. We tried it with chocolate, which is why I think the sweetness was a little too overpowering. I feel like this wine would be an amazing combo in the summer with a nice juicy burger. Overall I would definitely recommend, and want to try more of Chateau Morrisette's Orchard Series. 

Tasting- "Yosemite Road - Pinot Grigio"

Yosemite Road-Pinot Grigio
California-2013 $5.00

Apparently wines from 7/11 do not have many wine critics or descriptions, so here is a couple I found online:

"Light and crisp but needs to be really chilled to enjoy."

"Meh. It was cheap and did the trick."

My Review: As for me, I would have to agree 100% with both of these reviews. The reason I got this wine was because my roommates and I decided to make shrimp pasta, and I decided I wanted a glass of white wine with it. Unfortunately, it was pretty late and I was tired so I went to the nearest store that sold wine--7/11! The selection was terrible but you really can't beat the $5.00 price, but unfortunately the taste of a $5.00 is not very good. The Pinot Grigio tasted almost stale, it had subtle hints of pear and apples but was overpowered by almost a hints of sweat. I was not a fan, but I should've known already that I was going to get the quality that I paid for. I did have it with a parmesan cilantro shrimp pasta, it did enhance the flavor of the buttery shrimp a tad, but the overpowering taste definitely took away from the meal.