WhiteBarrel Winery
- Vidal Blanc Reserve
- Variety: Vidal Blanc
- Region: Blue Ridge (VA)
- Country: USA
- Year: 2018
- Price: $25.99
- Winery Notes: "Made in a traditional Kakhetian style (Georgia) where the skins are aged in the wine during fermentation providing for a bold, amber-colored wine with strong tannins and bold flavors."
- Tasting Notes (without cheese): This wine was a dark yellow color. It smelled very oaky and smoky like a campfire. Immediately you taste bold smokiness with a charred and burned finish. You can certainly taste the strong tannins and heavy flavors.
- Paired with Asiago: With the cheese, you can certainly still taste the smokiness but at the end, the asiago flavors emerge most prominently. This cheese definitely helped lighten up the wine! I wasn’t a huge fan of this bold white to begin with but I think it's much less intimidating paired with the cheese!
- Rkatsiteli
- Variety: Rkatsiteli
- Region: Northern (VA)
- Country: USA
- Year: 2018
- Price: $27.99
- Winery Notes: "Best described as restrained and refreshing, with crisp green-apple flavors and hints of quince and white peach."
- Tasting Notes (without cheese): This wine was a very light yellow color. It smelled strongly of apple and some sort of tropical fruit, such as pineapple. The wine itself is very light with very subtle flavors such as peach. It has a very smooth, acidic finish which ultimately felt like a palate cleanser.
- Paired with White Cheddar: The cheese in combination with the wine made the tropical fruit flavors come through much more prominently. The wine remained just as light and fruity as it was on its own. The acidic notes did not come through nearly as strong with this pairing. Ultimately I really enjoyed the wine itself with and without the cheese!
- White Barrel Chambourcin
- Variety: Chambourcin
- Region: Blue Ridge (VA)
- Country: USA
- Year: 2016
- Price: $20.99
- Winery Notes: "Made in a traditional Kakhetian style (Georgia) where the skins are aged in the wine for a bold, deep, and rich color with cherry undertones."
- Tasting notes (without cheese): This wine is a beautiful light red. It smells of deep flavors with hints of cherry or plum. Upon tasting, I was pleasantly surprised with how light it was. The wine had a small amount of tannins with a soft, fruity, and dry finish.
- Paired with Brie: This cheese definitely masked the tannins in this wine. It also emphasized the dryness of the wine. The fruitiness from the cherries and plums came through much clearer and carried through to the finish. Once having the wine, the cheese tastes very mellow. Overall I think they paired nicely!
No comments:
Post a Comment