Wine and Cheese Pairing #2

 As the weather gets warmer and it starts feeling more like Spring, I decided to do an outdoor wine and cheese board with some of my friends to start setting the seasonal mood. 

Wine List:

For our three wines, we chose a Barefoot California Riesling, an Andre Brut Champagne and a Dark Hose California Pinot Noir.

Cheese List:

To pair with our wine, we chose a 12 month aged Wisconsin Sharp White Cheddar, a classic Sartori brand Parmesan, and a smoked Gouda.

My favorite wine of the bunch was the Barefoot Riesling, it was very sweet and went down easily.  For pairing with the cheeses, the Riesling worked better with the saltiness of the Parmesan and Gouda better than the Cheddar.  The parmesan especially had the salt and nutty tones to perfectly contrast with the sweet and acidic Riesling.

The second of my favorite wines was the Champagne, the champagne on it's own provided a nice flavor and aromas but was nothing spectacular.  My research stated that Champagne usually pairs better in regards to the saltiness level of the cheese, but my experience turned out to be the opposite.  The Gouda and Parmesan both were too bitter in my opinion to be an effective pairing, it was not until I paired it with the cheddar that the sharp earthy taste worked in great unison with the citrus of the champagne.

When I first think of pairing wine with cheese, I usually think of red wines.  The red wine chosen for this pairing was the Dark Horse Pinot Noir made in California as apart of the 2020 vintage.  For a pinot noir the wine disappointingly was lacking in many distinct flavor profiles.  The wine also seemed to be very low in acid and having a medium dose of tannins.  For pure taste as a wine, the Dark Horse was my least favorite, but it proved to be the best wine when paired with the cheeses.  The fruit nodes I was able to taste from the wine paired well with the earthy and bitter tones of the cheeses, especially the cheddar.