You Want Some Cheese With That Wine - A Wine & Cheese Pairing

So a couple of weekends ago, I went back to Smithfield, VA for our annual Wine & Brew Fest! Last year was my first wine festival and it was all a big blur from both excitement and all of the flowing beverages! After another whole year of tastings and with help from this class I was able to go into it with a clearer head and some actual knowledge on wines. ...I will say though, that that clear mind was quickly blurred by DELICIOUS wines!

But, first... Let me take a selfie!

Now, in addition to attending this festival, I also went home to help my mom out with the family bakery, Yummaries. At Yummaries we make everything from pies, to cakes, to cookies, to breads, to what goes along with wine festivals the most, cheese spreads! I decided to do my cheese and wine pairing with the 6 spreads that we make. 

Asiago, Cheddar, and Feta opened

Parmesan, Cream Cheese, and Blue Cheese opened

The description from our website and Facebook: Our savory cheese spreads add a creamy twist to the traditional cheese and cracker appetizer. Perfect with our homemade Cheddar Crisps or your choice of crackers, toasted crostini, and fresh veggies. Many customers top grilled meats with the cheese spreads; for example: top salmon with our Feta Dill Cheese Spread, hamburgers with our Cheddar Cheese Spread, and rib eyes with our Blue Cheese Spread with Cranberries and Pecans. Other flavors include Asiago Cheese Spread with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Basil and creamy Parmesan Cheese Spread. Our Pineapple Pecan Cheese Spread is the perfect blend of crushed pineapple, pecans, ginger, and just the right amount of sweetness.

Best Friends: Delaney and Jessica

YUMMM CHEESE!

Now, what is cheese without wine?! We tried way over 60 wines and ended up buying a couple bottles that were our favorites during tastings and that we thought would go well with all of our yummy snacks! 

Here are some of the wines we ended up getting:

Cooper Vineyards Sweet Louisa

Description: Our unique blend of Norton, Concord, and Merlot with 6% residual sugar. Intense Concord grape flavors and aromas make this "grape juice with an attitude". Best served chilled.

My Review: OMG. AMAZING. This was actually our #1 for the day. Best description of this came from my friends Jessica and Delaney, "adult grape juice". Legitimately, you could only taste concord grape juice! So good, but definitely a wine you only have once and a while.

Best with which cheese: I liked this with the cheddar cheese spread because it is a simple cheese and it let the wine shine. ...plus it didn't hurt that it sent all of us back to being 5 years old (getting home from school and having juice and cheese and crackers). So yummy with all of the cheeses, but for the cheddar it was just the best!

Cooper Vineyards Pinot Grigio

Description: Great aromatics of lemon and citrus begin this exceptionally well balanced wine. Restrained but abundant fruit marries perfectly with undertones of almonds and dried apricots. This zesty and refreshing wine is a perfect aperitif. Enjoy with sun and friends. 

My Review: ...and enjoy in the sun and with friends we did! WOWZERS! So yummy! Pear, pineapple, citrus, all classic PG flavors and scents. I will say it was one of the best PGs at the entire festival. It was just the right combination of dry and sweet.

Best with which cheese: It was nice with all of the sharper and louder cheeses! The asiago, blue cheese, and feta I would say paired with this wine the best in my opinion. They can be really strong cheeses and this just settled them! I also liked it with the cream cheese spread because that one is the sweetest and creamiest!

Cooper Vineyards Seismic Sangria

Description: Summertime fun in a bottle! Tropical lime, tangerine and pineapple flavors combine with soft red wine to create this party in a bottle. Serve chilled by itself, or add in fruit slices to create your own signature Sangria. 

My Review: So many spices, so many fruits! Cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, raspberries, strawberries, oranges, apples, a little watermelon and pineapple, and some mango/apricot on the finish. Was delicious and my friends and I talked about getting a couple bottles and adding fruit to it for a great drink and snack at the beach this summer!

Best with which cheese: I thought this was best with the parmesan, blue cheese, and asiago. Sort of like the Sweet Lousia in the way that it brought out different spices in the cheese and in the wine. The asiago brought out the fruits and the nutmeg of the wine. The blue cheese brought out cranberry, raspberry, and strawberries. Finally, the Parmesan just let the wine shine and let the spices, like cloves and cinnamon shine.

Overall it was a great day to drink wine and eat cheese and an even better day to sit around in the sun with friends reminiscing of times past and discussing a lot of great wines! It was such a great day, and  we have all already marked our calendars to buy tickets for next year's festival in January of 2015. One of the best wine days I've ever had!!

Wine and Dine - A Review of a Wine Dinner

DINNER SELFIE!

Last Tuesday, 4 of my friends and I got together and cooked a delicious meal and paired it with some fabulous wines! I am on the bottom right in the turquoise and gray!

We started our evening off with cheese, avocado/mango salsa, and of course WINE while we finished up the cooking! We had Conde Villar's Vinho Verde which I have already blogged about which went nicely with some of the calmer cheeses (Blue Cheese mainly). We also had Veritas Sauvignon Blanc which was DELICIOUS and went really well with the 2 Goudas we had (one was a bacon smoked hickory Gouda and the other was a plain Gouda). The Sauvignon was a little sweet, a little dry, a little bubbly, and a whole lot of everything I love! Cheeses aren't exactly my thing, but the wines really brought out the subtle flavors and creaminess of the Blue Cheese and then the strong bacon/smokey flavors of the Goudas.

Sauvignon Blanc and the 2 Goudas!

Avocado/Mango Salsa! YUMMM!

Bacon Wrapped Steak BEFORE!

After everything was cooked up we sat down, popped a bottle of Shiraz, and chowed down on the Bacon Wrapped Steak, Grilled Asparagus, Sautéed Mushrooms, Fresh Mashed Potatoes, Rolls, and a Mixed Green Salad with Cranberries and a homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette.

DINNER TIME!

Shiraz!

As I've said a million times before in this blog, red isn't my favorite. I love the smells and the flavors you get from the scent of reds, and I like the flavors in reds, but I HATE the way it makes your mouth feel with the tannins. However, I will say that when paired with things like steak, the Shiraz's tannins were not that bad. The earthy, black pepper, clove, and a little smokiness flavors of the Shiraz went really well with the grilled steak! The bacon that was wrapped around it's flavor was even better with some of the tannins. I think the only improvement would have been if we had added a little clove or cinnamon to the spice mix on the steaks! Yumm! All of the sides were good with the Shiraz, but after a small glass of it I switched back to the Sauvignon and they were amazing with the white. Because the Sauvignon wasn't overwhelming with meaty flavors it allowed me to taste the flavors and spices in the sides. 

Lemon Brownie Bar... YUMMERS!

Zee Moscato!

After we were through with dinner we cleaned up and moved onto desserts! I made the group a lemon brownie bar with a lemon zest glaze. We had it with a Moscato D'Asti. It was a super sweet and super bubbly wine and was divine with the tartness and sweetness of the lemon bars. Definitely they both brought out all of the citrus and tart of each other. Such a great way to end a great meal! 

OVERALL GREAT TIME, GREAT FOOD, GREAT WINE, GREAT FRIENDS!

Visiting Vineyards: Attimo Winery

Panoramic of a few of their vines!

My friends and I decided to take this beautiful, 80 degree, blue and sunny skies, Blacksburg day and head off to Attimo Winery. I've had a couple of Attimo's wines at tastings and festivals over the last couple months and enjoyed them!! The owner also has talked in a few of my classes, so it was cool to go to the place where it all happens! Attimo means "In the Moment." Each of their wines has a unique name and backstory and are all dedicated to the making of a distinct wine. Last year alone they had over 34 or 35 thousand people visit last year. Attimo has also been attending a lot of festivals (over 30) in the past year or so. 90+% of their business is through their tasting room, though.

Main Building

Attimo is old school in the way they produce wine. They still hand press all of their grapes which is very labor intensive. They use French, Hungarian, and American barrels to age wine, as well as plastic containers. They use the barrels until they "die" and afterwards repurpose them into wine racks and a couple other things to sell in their tasting room. They are able to use their barrels way longer than most other wineries because they use wood chips to impart flavors into their wines. Fun fact though, the wood chips go into panty hose from the Dollar Store in Christiansburg and then go into the barrels... the owner said he was the largest purchaser of the product! Weird but interesting!

Award winning wines... Every wine of theirs has won awards!!

Rik Obeso and his wife own the winery. Rik has a PhD in microbiology and his wife has a degree in architecture. Rik makes the wine and his wife manages the business. He believes that Science and Art together make good wine. They bottle their own wines. They bring in a tractor trailor every year to expand their space for their bottling process. They have future plans to expand their current vines and possibly get into crafting beer. They are almost at capacity for their current wine production.

Tastings:

Wine #1: Yesterday's Song (Chardonnay)
Price: $18
Description: Dry white, crisp, lightly oaked, pear notes.

My review: This wine was pale with a pear nose. It tasted dry with hints of pear and apple. It had a nice light finish. It was nice that it wasn't overly oaken like so many other chardonnays

Wine #2: Vidal Blanc
Price: $17

Description: Dry white, crisp, floral, hints of fresh greens.

My review: This wine was pale with a slight floral nose. It had a nice texture, a little vanilla, hints of oak, and a little creamy.

Wine #3: Off the Cuff (Riesling/Chardonnay)

Price: $16.50

Description: Semi-sweet white, fruity with mineral and citrus notes.

My review: Pale, sweet, fruity. Tasted like pear, sweet fruits, and had a slight acidity in the finish. I liked this wine because it combined a dry Chard with a sweet Ries!

Wine #4: Just Kissed (Vidal/Raspberry)
Price: $16
Description: Semi-sweet blush, fruity, distinct berry.
My review: Yellow/pale pink color. So sweet and fruity, super yummy! Bought a bottle! So nice!

There were 8 different wines that we tasted but these were my favorite four!

Tasting/Food Menu, Wine Glass, and Information Packets!

Oak Barrels for aging!

Plastic Barrels for aging/storing!

Vivacious Vino - Review of Rosemount Estate Moscato

Name: Rosemount Estate Moscato

Variety: 100% Moscato

Region: ??

Country: Australia

Year: 2012

Price: $12 (On sale for $3.95)

Alcohol Content: ??

With/Without Food: No food

Wine Review:  Clear, medium-lemon yellow in appearance; lovely citrus and honeysuckle aromas with lemon, honeysuckle, apple and ripe yellow plum flavors.  Serve chilled with angel food cake or fresh fruit and mild cheeses.

My Review: Sweeeeet. Smell: yummy, citrusy, and honeysuckle. Taste: peach, oranges, apples, and I can see where they got the plum, but I didn’t get that right off. Decent Moscato and so cheap!

Vivacious Vino - Review of Ironstone Old Vine Zinfandel

Name: Ironstone Old Vine Zinfandel

Variety: 100% Zinfandel

Region: Lodi

Country: California

Year: 2011

Price: $15 (On sale for $7.95)

Alcohol Content: ??

With/Without Food: No food




Wine Review:  Grown in vineyards that are over 45 years old, this medium-bodied Zin has exceptional varietal character with lovely aromas of dark fruit and blackberry. Subtle pepper spice mingles with richly concentrated fruit flavors of blackberry, ripe plums and fresh red raspberries. Barrel aging created its smooth, silky finish and unprecedented depth. 

My Review: Smell: bubblegum, licorice, cinnamon, black pepper, blackberry, raspberry, overall like jam. Taste: yummy, a little oaky, dark fruits, and a slight citrus for some reason! Not my favorite Zin, but a nice tasting.