Zingaro and Muenster

We purchased this wine in August during our trip to Castello di Amorosa in Napa, CA. (http://mferraro73.tumblr.com/post/59728142614/first-trip-to-napa-8-27-neil-and-i-took-our) We tried this wine back then but other than a pretty cool ambiance in the Castle, we really didn’t remember the specifics of the wine. The description on the bottle says that it is a Zinfandel created in the Primitivo style. And if you’re wondering, Zingaro means gypsy.

When I was starting my S’s of wine tasting, the first thing I noticed was that it looked somewhat light in color, more red than a darker purple. During the swirling I noticed dark fruits and spice aromas while Neil identified that dark fruit as sweet blackberry and cassis. He also picked up a slightly floral aroma. Neil tasted the same sweet blackberry and cassis but found the wine to be a little dry and it made his mouth water. I would describe the wine as having a full flavor including spice, prune, cedar, and a vanilla finish; very smooth!

We chose Muenster from a recommendation online to pair with Primitivo. We’ve never tried Muenster for WineAndCheeseFriday and now we have been exposed to so many new cheeses. Neil and I both looked at this cheese differently. I thought it was soft, mild and nice but not exciting. He said it was a mild cow cheese with medium softness and a slight saltiness but very versatile. Although this cheese did slightly coat my tongue, it doesn’t seem like one that will do much with wine. Let’s see what happens?

When we tasted the wine and cheese together, Neil gave it quite a review, “the wine gets a delectable pop of spice and the cheese gets a tangy zing!” Obviously he found it to be a good pairing that worked well together. When I paired the wine and cheese, the cheese caused the wine to have more spice on the tongue and brought out the alcohol in the wine. It also felt kind of warm, and come to find out the alcohol percentage was 14.9. We were both pretty surprised by that since it only came out when paired with the cheese. I agree that the cheese is more tangy with the wine and prefer the cheese with the wine. We did speculate though, that the cheese would be delicious in a grilled cheese!

I love grilled cheese sandwiches and just recently had one for my birthday dinner. One of my birthday gifts from Neil was a book called “The Essential Scratch and Sniff guide to becoming a Wine Expert.” I can’t wait to learn some new wine descriptors. (http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Scratch-Sniff-Becoming-Expert/dp/0544005031) Look for some new vocabulary in our upcoming WineAndCheeseFridays!