Wine and Cheese #1

On Sunday the 18th my boyfriend (who is also in this class) and I went to Put A Cork In It in Bricktown for this assignment, and I had a blast getting to try new wines and cheeses I had never heard of. The wines I sampled were as follows; Bedlam Blush, Skinny Dip, and Bricktown. Bedlam Blush was a dry Rosé at 10.5% alcohol content. Skinny Dip was a Sweet White wine at 8% alcohol content. Lastly, and my favorite of the three was Bricktown Pinot Noir at a whopping 12% alcohol content. In addition to these various wines I chose to pair 5 different types of cheese with them. They are pictured from left to right: Bellavitano, Havarti, Smoked Gouda, Sharp Cheddar, and “Merlot” & Brie.

The first wine I tried was Bedlam Blush and I was personally not a fan of this wine, when I drink a Rosé I usually do sweet ones, so the dry and bitterness to this wine was not satisfying. This wine was described with hints of plum and wild cherry, I tasted small traces of cherry which in turn overpowered the plum flavors that I was not able to taste. The Bellavitano, Smoked Gouda, and Sharp Cheddar did not pair well in my opinion, their flavors were all so strong that they almost overtook the flavors of the wine. In particular, the Sharp Cheddar masked the wine. After sampling Cheddar, I was no longer able to taste the wild cherry in the wine, instead the strong taste of Cheddar stuck in my mouth and overtook my tastebuds. In contrast the Havarti and "Merlot" & Brie blended perfectly with this wine, I think particularly due to the silky texture of both cheeses. However I could just be bias because Havarti is one of my favorite cheeses. The "Merlot" & Brie, although not my favorite flavor had the perfect texture and combination of sweetness to contrast this dry wine. Drizzled on top of this cheese was some sort of honey that evened out the bitterness of the wine.

The next wine I sampled was called Skinny Dip, it was just a simple white table wine, that showed hints of kiwi and pear flavors. It smelt like straight pears, and I also was able to taste the pear in it, however no traces of kiwi. This one was a sweet wine, and didn't pair too well with the Smoked Gouda or Havarti. However, I thought it went well with the Sharp Cheddar, the sweetness of the wine and the intensity of the Cheddar almost seemed to balance the two. The Bellavitano was an interesting flavor to pair with this certain wine, although it wasn't my favorite (mainly due to the crunch in the cheese), I think it went better with a chilled wine like the Skinny Dip.

The final wine I tested, and my favorite of the three was the Bricktown Pinot Noir. I did not enjoy any of the cheeses with this particular wine, I believe it was because I enjoyed it so much I would just rather drink it by itself. If I had to pick one type of cheese that paired decently with this wine, it would be the Smoked Gouda, the smokey flavors really accented the wine. It was almost like two completely different flavors melding to one really strange but delicious flavor. I personally think that a sweeter snack would pair better with this wine, in the cheese plate a small milk chocolate candy was included and that was absolutely delicious to drink the wine with those chocolate flavors coating my mouth.

We recommend Put A Cork In It because they let you taste three wines for free! We really enjoyed getting out of our normal routine and getting to try new wines and cheeses, and of course, being able to say it was all for an assignment!