Syrah and Bacon Cheddar
Living in a construction zone can be a challenge. Add some bacon to make it better!
wineandcheesefriday (264)
Mbali Chenin Blanc/Viognier and Herbed Goat Cheese
When we last visited Trader Joe’s we saw this white blend from South Africa. Since we haven’t had many South African wines, we figured we’d give it a try. The salesperson said it would be a good wine to enjoy in the Florida sunshine. Not being familiar with these varietals, we googled what type of cheese would work, and chose herbed goat cheese. Let’s see if we made the right choice?
Petite Sirah and Super Berries Chocolate Bar
We found this wine at Vino Simpatico Wine Shop in Pasadena, FL. (http://www.vino-simpatico.com) They just happened to have a bottle open to taste from their event the night before. Neil couldn’t believe what a big wine it was, considering that it had already been open for a day. Since he was enjoying it, his mom found a bottle of the Petite Sirah on the shelf and purchased it for him. We had been saving the wine for a day when we could really relax and enjoy it. During our grocery shopping at Aldi, we found this Super Berry Chocolate Bar and thought it would complement the rich, dark wine nicely. Let’s see if we were correct?
Domaine de la Becassonne Côtes du Rhône White Wine with Gouda and Double Gloucester
Neil went out of town for work at the end of January so I figured that’d be a great time to have my neighbor Valerie over for some wine! We’ve done a few wine tastings together* and it’s always a fun time! She usually likes white wines so I thought this Rhône Blend would be something new for her to try. (Sadly, this wine is our final one from our Christmas present at West Palm Wines.) Without looking at the label, I gave her some varietals that would be in the wine and she set out to find some foods to pair with it. She was really into it and found the appropriate cheeses, fruits and even snack mix to complement the wine. Her research pointed her to Gouda, Double Gloucester and green and red pears. So without further ado, our night of wine, cheese, fruit and analysis!
Pecorino and Pecorino
We promised more wines from West Palm Wines and here you go! During our trip there, we saw this Pecorino wine and knowing there is a Pecorino cheese, I had to get it for a WineAndCheeseFriday Pairing. The cheese is Pecorino Romano and you’ve probably already guessed that we found it at Trader Joe’s. We did try out another store first but they didn’t carry it. We should have just gone to our old standby to start. I was so curious to see what the link between the wine and cheese would be for them both to be named Pecorino. I thought it might have been where they are from in Italy.
Château Les Grandes Mottes Bordeaux and Huntsman Cheese
This wine will be the first in the set of wines recently purchased at West Palm Wines. We went there just before Christmas to purchase our gift to ourselves?. We chose this bordeaux wine with the idea that we really liked how bordeaux wine smelled in the past. We also figured one that was more Merlot based would be easy to drink. French wine can be challenging to navigate when you don’t know the different chateaus so be sure to ask your salesperson! Thanks for your help Mark! The cheese, huntsman, is a combination of 2 different cheeses, how could we pass it up? We spent New Years Weekend with our friends Pam and Josie, fellow winelovers, so what better way to bring in the New Year! And now the pairing of Château Les Grandes Mottes Bordeaux and Huntsman Cheese.