Wine Cheese 3

Wine photos:   

Cheese photo:  

Photo of me:  

Pairing 1:  Barton & Guestier Vouvray Chenin Blanc w/ Murray's Stilton

• Wine alone
• Aromas of pear and slight crisp green apple; overall a sharp smell.  Smooth and sweet flavor, with notes of sweet honey, pear, green apple, and a tropical fruit that I cannot identify.  The aftertaste had a stronger alcohol taste, with a dry fruitiness that I haven't been able to pin down.  Overall a smooth, velvety, and pleasant sweet wine.
• With cheese
• The cheese had a strong nuttiness, and a very strong blue cheese-like flavor.  It was musty, but the combination with the wine was incredible.  The cheese immediately made me think of walking along the sandy flats in Florida heading to the beach, where I could smell the palm trees and the wet, rotting bark of broken parts from the trees.  The wine immediately turns the crumbly cheese into a smooth flavor profile that almost melts into the wine itself.  The fresh and fruity aspects of the wine brought out the flavors I would smell from various pear and orange trees walking along the paths of Florida.  Not one other wine and cheese pairing has brought forth memories like that, and this was truly an incredible pairing; the best pairing I have tasted thus far.

Pairing 2:  Morenita Sherry w/ Gorgonzola Dolce

• Wine alone
• This is an orange wine, and there is clearly some kind of whiskey or other liquor mixed into this Sherry.  Strong aromas of alcohol, almost no fruitiness to be detected simply from how strong the alcohol smell is.  I'm sure the right person may enjoy this, but I found this Sherry to be far too alcoholic and sweet in all the wrong ways.  It is smoother in the mouth than I expected from the smell, but it is almost syrup from how sweet the taste is.  Overall, I think with the right dish this wine could be spectacular, but by itself it is far too strong.
• With cheese
• The cheese is very smooth and has a sweetness to it that I expect to match some of the intensity of the Sherry.  To its credit, the Gorgonzola cancelled out a good portion of the alcoholic intensity and sweetness.  However, I still found that the intense bourbon/whiskey flavor is too much for me.  My roommate who tasted with me enjoyed it quite a bit, but he is also a whiskey drinker.  Overall I think the pairing is quite good, but the wine itself is not something I prefer.

Pairing 3:  Tawny Port w/ Point Reyes Original Blue

• Wine alone
• Like the Sherry, there is a strong alcoholic smell to it, but not as sharp and biting as the Sherry.  Despite having a higher alcohol content, there is not as strong of a liquor flavor in the Port as in the Sherry.  There are hints of raspberry, oak, and a richness to it that mirrors chocolate.  Again, not my cup of tea, but I prefer this to the Sherry any day.
• With cheese
• The blue cheese had an intense fatty richness that soaked up much of the alcohol, making the fruity, jammy, and raspberry flavors come out more.  The cheese also had a strong stink to it that was cancelled out by the tannins in the Port, making for a very uniform experience between the two.  Overall, this paired much better than the second pairing with the Sherry.  The Port was not nearly as strong, and any overwhelming flavors from the wine were measured out against the strength of the blue cheese's nuttiness.  However, this type of wine is not my personal choice, and I am finding that I prefer mild reds that have a balance between dryness and sweetness, in addition to having a low presence of the distinct alcoholic flavor.