Pinot Grigio and Chèvre with Herbs

Since we’ve been in CA, we haven’t found many Pinot Grigio’s, so we decided to have one this week during Wine And Cheese Friday. This Pinot Grigio is from Italy, maybe there aren’t many produced here and that’s why we haven’t seen them? Most of our wine pairings involve red wines so this will be a nice change of pace.

During our initial swirling, I noticed crisp, slightly acidic aromas, perhaps green apple and Neil found melon and pear aromas. As I tasted the wine, I identified lemon and green apple flavors. The flavor did linger and there was a hint of creaminess. Neil picked out honeydew, cantaloupe, and pear flavors and called it clean and crisp. I would agree this wine was crisp and it made me realize that I prefer a more full-bodied white. Apparently my palate is changing because I used to prefer a more crisp white wine.

This week’s cheese is chèvre coated in herbs. We just went with our gut that this type of cheese would work with a Pinot Grigio. The herbs on the cheese were so savory, I think they would be a nice rub for a pork roast. The cheese was creamy, smooth, rich and tangy. Neil liked the herbs too, he said they were “Italian herbs that pop in your mouth!” We liked the cheese so much, we ate it by the spoonful.

As we paired the Pinot Grigio and chèvre, the wine smelled richer, still crisp but not as acidic and seemed to have more depth. I didn’t notice a change in the cheese but Neil called it a good pairing where the wine and cheese balanced each other well.