We purchased the Pinot Noir back in June during our trip to Wente, http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/88717310148/trip-to-livermore-part-one-its-been-over-a. And who could pass up a cheese with a lighthouse display at TJ’s! Let WineAndCheeseFriday begin…
This week we’ll be tasting our homemade goat cheese so you’ll get to hear all about how it came out! (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/99075294173/making-goat-cheese-over-the-weekend-we-tried-our) The wine we chose was a raffle prize from my work Christmas Party. I’ve never opened an “older” bottle of wine so I was apprehensive but also excited!
When I attended The Strange wine tasting, this wine really intrigued me! (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/90139827273/the-strange-this-week-i-attended-a-wine-tasting) I couldn’t wait to share it with Neil as well as see what happened when I paired it with cheese. This cheese stuck out for us when we read the description, “not your typical deli case provolone”. Let’s see what these new and exciting wine and cheeses hold for us?
We purchased this Lodi Zinfandel during the BevMo 5cent sale. (http://www.bevmo.com) I have heard that Lodi is the Zin capital of CA so I had to check it out! According to the Lodi website, http://www.lodiwine.com/vineyards/old-vine-zinfandel, the wines are known for their “intense red and black fruit flavors of cherries, raspberries, and blackberries.” The BevMo description of this wine recommends pairing a strong cheese so I figured the Gruyere would fit the bill. We’ve used this cheese once before at the very beginning of WineAndCheeseFriday and I remember it being a little too intense for me. (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/46997403195/pinot-noir-and-gruyere-sunday-march-24-things) Let’s see if my palate has changed?
For this week’s entry, we’ll comment on some of our favorite entries this year. I’ve been enjoying the “new flavors” and noticeable reactions that have happened in a couple of our past entries; these are the ones I chose for my selections. Neil has had a couple where he exclaimed about the pairings, so I chose these entries for his favorites. They are listed in order of Maria’s Favorites, entries 1-3 and Neil’s Favorites, 3-5, with the overlap being Entry 3.
We purchased this wine a couple weeks back at Cline Cellars, http://clinecellars.com. Cline was an impromptu stop after visiting Morton’s Warm Springs, for a day away from our “SF summer” (www.mortonswarmsprings.com) Our friends, Sabrina and Geoff, have visited Cline Cellars a few times and they were excited to share it with us. It didn’t hurt that Cline offers complimentary tastings.