Old World Rosés
Cantele Negroamaro Rosato 2004 (Tasted in 2005) $9.99 at Austin Wine Merchant. 12.5% alcohol. This wine is so much fun. It's a great bridge between red and white. Gorgeous pink color with a tinge of peach. From Salento, in Puglia, the heel of the boot of Italy. The bottle reads: "Our Negroamaro Rosato is made by allowing contact with the skins for between 12 and 18 hours -- until the correct intensity of colour is achieved. The free-run juice is then fermented slowly in stainless steel tanks at around 15 degrees celsius." It has a rich, almost roasted flavor, plus very light minerality and bright fruit flavors. The color is gorgeous, like ruby red grapefruit. It has a mellow, almost buttery, intensity that I don't always find in rosés. I found this wine again in 2006 on close-out for $6.99 and bought as much as I could. It is still drinking fine.
Cantele Negroamaro with Burrata. Excellent! The wine is from Puglia, as is the cheese -- a Mozzarella style confection filled with cream and Mozzarella strands. This was a perfect match because the wine is tart and bright, and the cheese, tangy and creamy. The wine has just enough structure to handle a big, creamy butter monster.
Cantele Negroamaro with La Tur. Salty and funky soft cheese. This is ok, but the cheese makes it bitter. The salty flavors in the cheese overpower the light wine. Otherwise, this wine can handle a smelly cheese. I like this pairing, but I am not sure if anybody else would. The cheese takes a lot of fruit away from the wine. I am going to bring this to the party for a back-up, but I am going to serve Asiago Fresco because it's safe.
Cantele Negroamaro with Robiola Bosina. This cheese looks mild, but it's really kind of smelly. Not so great. Actually, it's ok. It's hard to say because I'm tasting it at 7 a.m.
Côtes du Rhône Rosé and
Blue de Graven. Awful!
Very very bitter. I thought since this wine was so dry and almost like a white
wine that maybe it would be good with a blue cheese, but it wasn’t.
Côtes du Rhône rosé and
Fontina Fontal. They didn’t fight
each other, though there was some bitterness.
They really didn’t complement each other either.
Faustino V Rosado 2001 (Tasted in 2004) $7.49 at Central Market. Rioja wine. 12.5% alcohol. It is a pink/orange color. It doesn't have a strong aroma. I think I smell some flowers, but it is very faint. The finish is dry and bitter, but also floral. The guy at Central Market said that the flavors in the wine tend to fall off quickly, but that it still complements cheese well. It tastes floral, too. It is very crisp. The CM guy also said that it should go well with something nutty and that it was great for the price. The Bodegas Faustino is one of the leading wine producers in Spain. They are known for Riojas. This wine is made from Tempranillo and Garnacha grapes. It is is fresh and fruity. This winery was founded in 1861 and is still managed by the Faustino family. Rioja owes its popularity to the climate and soils of the region and also to the aging process of the wine. The wine is first barrel-aged, and then aged in the bottle. I served this wine for a summer wine/cheese pairing class and, for some reason, most students didn't like it.
Faustino Rosado with Manchego, 6 month. The aftertaste is bitter, but that is because the wine is bitter by itself. It's interesting. It's not the best thing in the world, but it's ok. I like it because it is light and fresh, and I also really just like the colors together. It is very appealing visually. I eat the cheese and get a nice sheep flavor that is a little sweet and a little nutty. Then I drink the wine and taste less sheep and sweetness, but more nuts. I do like this ok. With membrillo paste, it is not so great. The wine is too tart. It takes some bitterness away from the wine, but the sugar just makes the wine taste like pickle juice. Brad and Patrick liked this combo. Patrick said there is a little bitterness. The cheese is strong enough to stand up to this bright wine. I think this works because the texture of this cheese is semi-hard, but it has a very creamy flavor that is a nice complement to the wine. I think this wine wouldn't work with too soft of a cheese.
Faustino Rosado with Pure Luck Chèvre. This is good, but it doesn't taste as artful as the Selle-sur-Cher does with the wine. I think the Old World flavors go better together. Christine said that after tasting the Jacquin cheese with this wine, the Pure Luck seemed almost clumsy. It is still good. It was a little too salty for me with this wine.
Faustino Rosado with Selle-sur-Cher fresh goat cheese from France. This cheese is so citrusy. It really tastes like lemons. The wine overpowers the cheese a little, but it's a good match. It is a very delicate, lacy kind of cheese.
Faustino Rosado with Varé Spanish goat's milk cheese. This cheese is salty and hard with a delicious flavor of some sort of herb. It is almost a citrus flavor and very floral. I smell the goat, but I don't taste it too strong. Boy is this a good cheese. It is almost a mint flavor. It reminds me of eating shamrocks. Oh, this is yummy together! I like the salty, floral, herby goat flavor with the flowers in the wine. I am glad I picked out this cheese. I went by smell alone. I think the tangy goat cheese is good with the dryness of this wine. The grassy aromas are a bonus.
La Vieille Ferme "VF" 2004 (Tasted in 2005) $7.99 at World Market. 13% alcohol. Rhône Valley Vineyards, Costières de Nîmes. Made in Orange, France. 75% Grenache, 15% Cinsault, 10% Syrah. La Vieille Ferme means "the old farm" in French. This is the bottle with the chicken on it. They just changed their label so that the chicken is less prominent, but it's still a chicken! This winery has been in business producing value wines for 30 years, and the wines are now made by the Perrin brothers. Vines were planted by the Romans in the Costières de Nîmes area 2000 years ago. I have tasted their red blend and their Chardonnay, and I like the rosé best of all. It is a gorgeous, deep, shimmery red color that perfectly matches the foil on the screw cap. It smells like strawberries plus something darker, like plums. I smell a little bit of cream when I swirl it. Dry, but with some residual sugar. Tannins and some alcohol burn (or maybe that was the salsa from earlier), spices and floral, like a ginger flavor, and then once again the bright berry flavors.
*La Vieille Ferme with Crottin de Chavignol. Wonderful! What a surprise. Usually I put this Loire Valley goat with a Sancerre, but it also seems to like red grapes. The cheese is tangy and chalky, but with a creamy aftertaste, and the wine is tart and berry-ish. The berry flavors really shine through, but only with a younger Crottin. It wouldn't be so great with an aged one.
La Vieille Ferme with Fleur Verte. This herbed goat cheese has been a staple of my fridge lately. Pretty good. They don't fight. The herbs in the cheese almost overwhelm the wine, but the wine has enough structure to it to stand up. Some bitterness. I lose some of the fruit in the wine due to the heavy tarragon in the cheese. Second runner up.
La Vieille Ferme with Fromage d'Affinois. Just say no! I thought, "Wow, wouldn't a rosé be pretty with a light, creamy, smooth Brie?" The only thing that went right with this pairing was the colors. It would have looked great on the cover of Food and Wine, but that's about it. It tasted like rotten fruit. Sometimes that happens with bloomy rinds and fruity wines. After the initial discomfort came the onslaught of bitterness and then something foul that reminded me of walking around New Orleans early in the morning.
La Vieille Ferme with Roasted Ricotta. OK, but nowhere near what the Crottin was. A little bitter on the finish. The cheese became too sheepy after tasting the wine. It was a great texture, but not tangy enough. I am not sure what was wrong with this pairing. The cheese seemed salty and way too southern for this wine.
Lagrein Rosé by Alois Lageder, 2004 (Tasted in 2005) $13.99 at Grapevine Market. 13% alcohol. I tried this at a portfolio tasting in Austin and loved this wine. I had never had a Lagrein before, and enjoyed both the Lageder Rosé and Estate. This wine is from the Alto Adige in Italy, in the northeast corner heading towards Austria and Switzerland. It is a gorgeous color of dark pink and amber, and has a nose of strawberries. What I like best about it is the minerality and slight effervescence. It has such a great finish, especially for a rosé. Some bitterness. This is delicious. I think this is one of the best rosés I have ever tasted. It has some sweetness, but it is really well-balanced between the tart and the sweet. Boy is this good. I only had $20 in my pocket and I spent most of it on this wine. http://www.lageder.com
Lagrein Rosé with Vintage Irish Cheddar. This cheese, as mild as it is, was too earthy and nutty for this berry-flavored wine. I get a lingering flavor of Cheddar that overpowers the subtlety of the blush wine. I think this would be better with a mild sheep's milk cheese.
Sancerre Terres Blanches 2002 (Tasted in 2004) $19.99 at Austin Wine Merchant. 13% alcohol. This wine has been made by the Thomas family for 10 generations in the Loire Valley in France. It is 100% Pinot Noir. The grapes are planted on slopes with clay limestone called Kimeridgian. There is minimum clarification during the bottling which keeps the intensity of flavors and possibly a light sediment. I would like to try this wine with a Jacquin goat cheese. This is almost a peach color. It smells fruity. It doesn't smell quite like a white wine, but not like a red, either. It smells a little, like when watermelon is too ripe. It is dry, very light tannins, juicy red fruit, but very light. It's like light strawberries or watered down cherries. I like this a lot. It has a very warm finish. Tangy, lemony.
Sancerre Terres Blanches with Cravanzina. Fresh sheep and cow cheese in a soft-ripened round. It is a little older and more bitter than I like my Cravanzina. This is awful together. It is metal and dirt all the way. It's sewage. My friend Brad says it tastes like a sick hospital room from when his grandmother was dying.
Sancerre Terres Blanches with Jacquin Valençay Pyramide. OK together, but the cheese disappears. The cheese is tangy and citrusy, but also rich. The wine is just dry enough. The wine overpowers the cheese somewhat. I guess it is the red fruit flavors. It's good together -- doesn't fight -- but doesn't do a lot together. You taste more of the wine. The cheese gets washed away.
Sancerre Terres Blanches with Old Amsterdam Gouda. My friend Brad put these together and said they were awful. He was right! It doesn't make me make faces, but it is like eating a sharp cheddar with a wine spritzer. It is also bitter.
Sancerre Terres Blanches with Wensleydale. Bitter, bland, sharp, dry English cheese. It is passable. It's the best so far, but it's still bitter. They are both kind of light and dry together.