Wine and Cheese Pairing Report

 WINES:

Planeta Red Blend 2019

H3 Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Yellow Tail Chardonnay 2023

Cheese:

Provolone:

The Provolone had a much more gassy taste as it is the most evident tasting of the three cheeses we had in these pairings. It was definitely more overpowering than the other two and I think that this will definitely play a large role in how the pairings with it end up going depending on each wine.

Aged Cheddar:

The aged cheddar contained lots of backings of spice almost, due to its age compared to the other cheese and reminded me of the cheddar cheese doodles snack. This cheese was able to be much more hit or miss with people due to its very outgoing flavors.

Fontina: 

Tasting the fontina cheese it was very light and had hints of cheddar but nothing enough that overpower the palate, a much more softer flavor of cheddar. This one will be interesting to see if theres more slighter changes to the taste of the wine as it has the softest flavors.

Thoughts!

Planeta Red Blend 2019

Solo Tasting:

Upon tasting the Planeta you could immediately tell the hints of darker grape and natural dark cherries and the smell agreed with this as well getting hints of the cherries as the primary scent. I personally liked this because I am a fan of cherries however Charlotte was not as happy with the flavor as she can be quoted saying "It tastes red". 

Paring notes:

With the Provolone there was not a lot of change in the flavor of the initial sip of wine, more just reinforcing some of the hints of cherry that was previously tasted. However, on the back half as I noticed there was much more a pleasant flavor that came out with the wine due to the fact it was able to reinforce those fruiter flavors rather than the fuller more acidic hints of this red. With the Aged Cheddar, you really got the darker berry notes from the wine rather than the lighter cherry hints. I think this is because the aged cheddar had such a prolific hint of spices that it overpowered those softer flavors of the wine and only allowed you to taste the larger ones. With the Fontina I didn't really enjoy the taste as I found the wine came out with more of oily taste and the fruiter softer hints were oddly enough taken out by the cheeses taste.

H3 Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Solo Tasting :

When tasting this cab I noticed very bold dark berries coming out of the woodworks as well as slight hints of chocolate towards the ladder of the taste. The scent of the wine was strictly a berrfy-full flavor reminding me of heavier fruit juices I used to drink back in middle school with notes of chocolate as you continued smelling.

Pairing notes:

With the Provolone the cocoa flavors of the wine were brought out into a much larger light allowing for you to be reminded of hot cocoa when drinking this. There were also notes of cranberry along with that which made the pairing enjoyable to the taste buds all together. With the Aged Cheddar I continued getting these same notes of cocoa and cranberries as well as some lighter berry flavors that poked out towards the end of my taste, however I still preferred the provolone with it more. With the Fontina I actually received none of these same flavors rather again like the last wine it brought out a more oily taste that I didn't think agreed with the wine in its totality.

Yellow Tail Chardonnay 2023

Solo Tasting:

When drinking this chard I first noticed a lighter citrus smell of oranges and upon tasting I got this same feel to it along with small hints of lemon/peach and other floral components. It reminded me a lot of sunny-d the orange juice drink due to its sweet flavor and citrus levels of the wine.

Pairing Notes:

With the Provolone I got a more peachy flavor with the wine and the cheese seemed to kick off some of the more citrus flavors and introduce melons and peaches into the equation of taste. This honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I like tasting other portions of the wine by way of pairing this with the cheese. With the Aged Cheddar I got the same peachy flavor from previous, yet here there was also hints of vanilla mixed in and that was able to bring a lighter more floaty taste to the wine which was also very enjoyable. With the Fontina I didn't receive any of the same taste from the other two cheeses rather more melon and earthy flavors that were brought out which I did not taste thus far in the chard. Overall, this wine paired with either the Provolone or the aged cheddar was my favorite blend the whole tasting.