Class 5 Hurricane Tropical Sangria with Camembert

The top weather/news story here in Florida this week is Hurricane Hermine. And, playing off this theme, we chose a wine called Class 5 Hurricane. Lucky for us, Hurricane Hermine was barely a hurricane at only class one and did very little damage where we are staying, but still a fun way to build on our current Florida experience. This wine is made by Florida Orange Groves Winery, http://floridawine.com, that uses “untraditional” fruits for winemaking. Their tagline is, “Finally! Wines that taste good”! Although many of you reading the blog would typically choose wines made from grapes, join us in this fun break from tradition.

We began our wine tasting just after we took a walk around the neighborhood to assess the current damage. There was a pretty big tree that fell a couple blocks down but luckily it fell away from the houses and missed all cars! Once we knew all were safe, we were able to begin our swirling and sipping. As we poured the wine, we could smell the fruits jumping from the glass. I identified guava and strawberry aromas while Neil noticed pineapple and honey. It smelled great! The wine was definitely on the thicker, sweeter side but it did have a tasty pineapple flavor with a surprising crisp finish. Neil called it “fruit juice plus” and had no problem pouring himself a second taste. He also agreed with guava aromas after I mentioned them. I’d love to chill this wine and sit by a pool but I guess I’ll have to settle for inside while the rain pours down around me.

We weren’t really sure what type of cheese would go well with this wine so we chose Camembert as a wild card. We haven’t had this cheese in about six months but remembered really liking it, http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/138366728843/carmenere-and-camembert-this-weeks-wineandcheese. We made sure we let it adjust to room temperature, which really enhanced the cheese tasting! Neil was super excited about this cheese and said, “Wow, look how soft it is! It smells so good! Yum, Yum.” Needless to say, he was happy with his choice of cheese. This was certainly a good cheese with its aromas of funk, salt, barnyard, grass and straw. Neil was impressed with it being so farm fresh without being overpowering. The texture was perfect for a soft cheese, so smooth with a  soft, edible rind. I picked up a light sweetness and tanginess with flavors of butter. I second Neil’s Yum Yum!

So what do you think, will the pairing work? In Neil’s opinion, the wine squashed the cheese. Oops! He said the funk disappeared and the wine was sweeter. He votes No for the pairing. I disagreed with his notes: the wine was still sweet, smelled the same and the flavor got a little tangier. Then the funk increased in the cheese and a honey flavor appeared. There was a lot of funk on the finish too. Probably still not a great pairing but we’d definitely enjoy these two separately again. Maybe next time we can sit poolside and add some pieces of fruit to make it a proper sangria.