☆Wine and Cheese Pairing - December 1

Home is where the good wine and cheese is! This week while I was home with my family for Thanksgiving break I had such a fun time with my parents (big wine lovers themselves) showing them all that I have learned this semester! It was also so great to be back in my favorite Texas Grocery store with an amazing wine selection with so many knowledgeable people and also a great selection of cheese.

Like I said in my last wine and cheese pairing blog, I am not super experienced with different cheeses and feel that I always gravitate to the more "basic" and popular cheeses! My mom and I went shopping and decided to try a pairing with Smoked Gouda, Brie, and Jarlsberg, three cheeses which I have never tried before! I am pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new things but when my dad explained to me I had to leave the cheese out before eating it so that the texture became more "squishy" I was a little concerned, but once again I surprised myself.

The first night my family and I tried the Brie and the Smoked Gouda with some crackers and one red wine and one white wine. I decided to pair the Brie with a Cabernet Sauvignon, which has become my favorite type of wine from this class! The Brie cheese really surprised me as I feel I have always had a preconceived notion about this type of soft ripened cheese. I think the Cabernet Sauvignon was a good pairing because it was more bold and bodied and went well with the soft cheese and salty crackers which I paired it with. I liked this cheese but I did feel it lacked a little bit of flavor especially in comparison to the next tasting which was the Smoked Gouda. I think perhaps in the future I could pair the Brie with a more fruity but also bold wine.

The next cheese was a Smoked Gouda which I paired with a Cotes Du Roussillon blend of Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris grapes. I loved this cheese and it was so flavorful and bold that I thought this pairing was perfect. The white wine was refreshing and light while the cheese was more dense and smoky and I think it was a great mix!

Lastly was Chardonnay and Jarlsberg! If we're being honest, I had never heard of this wine before my mom suggested it. This cheese was definitely my least favorite but I really enjoyed this Chardonnay! It was very smooth and I do not think it was why I didn't like the cheese. In my opinion the cheese was a little too rubbery and almost sour in my opinion. I think the wine was possibly a little to fruity and pear flavored which in my opinion didn't mesh perfectly with the cheese but I think that the wine would be perfect on its own.

I am so excited, and have already started planning, a charcuterie board for Christmas time for my family and can't wait to pair the meats and cheeses with some wines from all the things I have heard this semester!