Cline Zinfandel

Last year Cline Zinfandel was one of my favorite wines, and I haven't had it since the day I moved into my apartment at the end of November! I figured a 6 month lapse was long enough and it was about time I revisit my favorite wine. This time when I tasted it, I had some delicious cheeses to go along, which no doubt heightened my tasting experience! I found that I still love this wine! I haven't had too many zinfandels, and for some reason always think of them as harsh and spicy, but this one is not like that. It has a sweet fruity finish, which is something I dont find too often, and has just the right amount of spice to balance out the fruit. The smell is a bit overwhelming - very alcoholic, but is misleading, as the actual wine is absolutely delicious. Overall, I don't know if I like this wine AS MUCH as I used to, mostly because I have just tasted so many other great ones since then. However, I will still keep it on my list of very good wines I need to keep on my (ever expanding!) wine rack.

To pair with the wine I had two cheeses I picked up from Whole Foods - campo de montalban and fleur du nord.

Campo de Montalban - I sampled this cheese at Whole Foods and was just amazed. It is a blend of sheep, cow, and goats milk cheese from Spain and is VERY good! This is quickly becoming my favorite region for cheeses. It is salty and the texture varies depending on how close to the rind it is... can be soft and creamy or hard and chewy. Very robust, the blend of the 3 cheeses gives it a very intriguing flavor mostly reminiscent of sheep cheese. This is one of my favorite cheeses in a while and I will definitely be getting it again! LOVE IT!

Fleur du Nord - I also picked this cheese up after a sample, because I wanted to try more of it. Its a bit nutty, not very sweet, and very mild. The closest resemblance I can think of is just a mild cheddar - nothing too amazing yet a solidly good cheese. I was thinking it would be great as a medium cheese in a cheese plate - it would balance out other stronger and more pungent cheeses. It is also very inexpensive, so Im wondering if you could maybe put it on a salad or in some pasta! Overall it is good, but not great.