Wine and Cheese pairing #2

 Wine and Cheese Pairing #2

For our second wine and cheese pairing my roomates and our friends and I went to Kroger to get our cheeses and The Vintage Cellar to get our wine. The three cheeses and wines we paired with them were a Sarvechchio Parmesan with the 2020 Little Sheep Charnonnay, murrays smoked cheddar paired with the Treveri Sparkling Syrah, and murrays Pecorino Tartufello paired with a 2016 Castellani Sangiovese. 

The first wine we drank was the Little Sheep of France 2020 Chardonnay. It was a medium body and semi dry. It smelled very similar to some California Chardonnays that I have had and tasted very similarly as well. There was an overpowering buttery flavor as well as some citrus and pear notes as an aftertaste. The Parmesan was very light and had a mild flavor, but was very rich. The cheese with the wine helped tone down the butteryness of the chardonnay and helped the acidity come out. While I would get the cheese again I would not get the Little Sheep Chardonnay.

The next wine we had was the Treveri Sparkling Syrah. It smelled and tasted very sweet and was very light bodied and slightly tannic. The first impression from the taste was one of black cherry or an overripe plum, in a good way. The sweetness was good for a glass, however I would not have more than that. We then paired it with the Smoked Cheddar, and the cheese was amazing. It was very smokey and soft, and could be eaten on its own. The pairing however was complicated, with the positives of both slightly disappearing. The smokeyness of the cheese and the cherry/plum flavor of the wine being less intense when paired together. Overall I would buy both again on their own but would not have them together.

The last wine we had was the Castellani Sangiovese. It had an incredibly strong strawberry and cherry smell, which also carried over to the taste with some plum as well with a medium body. This was definitely a wine that I would have for a nice dinner with family or my girlfriend. We then had the Pecorino Tartufello cheese, which had a very overpowering mushroom flavor which I was not a fan of and left me with a long lasting bad aftertaste for several minutes. When paired together it helped to tone down the cheese but not enough to make it enjoyable. The wine is one I would get during my next stop at the Vintage Cellar but I will not be getting the cheese again.

Overall my favorite part of this wine and cheese pairing was the Treveri Sparkling Syrah and the smoked cheddar cheese pairing, as they both were the stars of their categories and didn't bring out any bad flavors from each other. All of us enjoyed this experience and are looking forward to another one and some more wine dinners with each other.