Wine, Cheese, and Friends

My best friend in the whole world is visiting from California and we had to get together for wine and cheese. He is even more of a wine and cheese aficionado that me, and brought some amazing things for us to enjoy together.

He brought a chilled Peju blend that looks like a rose, but is actually a blend of red and white wine. This was one of his favorite casual drinking wines and I loved it as well.

Its soft and very drinkable with still some intrigue. It's one of those wines you drink and are like "wow this is really good..." and get back to your conversation. Its not something you have to ponder and think about, which I liked.

To go with the wine we had an interesting cheese plate. He brought an 18 month aged gouda and a Moliterno sheep cheese with truffles.

The gouda was SO GOOD. Seriously it's one of my new favorite cheeses. It was aged for just the right amount of time where it was potent with crunchy spots yet soft and smooth overall. It was just... perfect. The sheep cheese was a little more complex. It was a cheese with truffle bits chopped in, but also it was infused in truffle oil. It was REALLY good at first, but the more I ate, the more overwhelming it tasted. It really was quite delicious, but I would stick to small amounts of this one.

Since we were trying cheeses, I wanted to get his opinion about that crazy coffee and lavender cheese I bought.

The consensus was that this cheese is weird. Its interesting in that it has crazy flavors and perhaps the middle part is ok, but overall its just... weird. The coffee dusting leaves a strange taste in your mouth, and we didn't taste the lavender at all this time. It was kind of a bust.

Just for fun I had him try a piece of that Fiscalini Cheddar I hated... he spit it out and called it an abomination in the name of cheese.

While we were eating and drinking we got on the subject of (what else?) wines. While talking about the vouvrays I was recommended to try, he told me they are the same thing as chenin blancs! All of a sudden we wanted to try one, so I got out the Pine Ridge chenin blanc/viognier from my birthday dinner!

Mmmm it was smooth and creamy and as delicious as before. I didn't take notes of any particular flavors or details but Im sure I will be buying it again. We all agreed it was great.

It was a big night full of lots of wine, cheese, and catching up, simply amazing! :)

I Won!

I always forget to turn in my raffle ticket at the Specs wine tastings and have only remembered the past 2 times. Well this time I actually WON!

It's mostly just snacks in there - some that look good and some I will no doubt give away. Sadly there is no wine but there is a wine book so thats exciting! Im so shocked and thrilled! :)

Update: It is NOT a wine book, it is a WHISKEY book haha. Interesting...

Specs Wine Tasting

Wow what a tasting! Last month I went to Specs I didn't end up getting anything but this time was an absolute goldmine. There were so many amazing wines this time I had a hard time choosing.

The winner of the night was the Helfrich Pinot Gris. Normally I don't like these types of dry whites, but this pinot gris was very fruity and sweet in the middle and dry at the end, making it very refreshing without being overwhelming. My other favorite was the Castello del Proggio Moscato. As I've said before, Im starting to really love moscatos. I used to really like rieslings because they were so sweet and refreshing and have taken the next step in moscatos since they are even sweeter without being overly fruity. I ended up getting both of these wines for about $12 each.

Tonight was really cool because it seemed to be an unofficial Spanish Tempranillo night. There were FIVE tonight and since I love this type of wine it was really cool to try so many different ones almost side by side. The wines ranged from $7 to $17 and my favorite ended up being the Arzuaga la Planta, although I can't say exactly why. Just a personal preference perhaps, but I didn't end up getting it because I had too many other things and all were so good it was kinda hard to choose.

The wines I did NOT like were only three - 2 California chardonnays that tasted very unoriginal and blah and one African Shiraz that was just weird. On top of the 3 I really liked and the 3 I really didn't like, were about 10 other ones that were very good. I decided at the last minute to get one other wine because it was pretty good and only $3.73! It was a sauvignon blanc fron Chile and although it was not fantastic, it was solid and still delicious and definitely worth the few dollars I spent on it. These types of wines are good to have on hand for a super casual night or even as a second bottle of the night :o.

As always happens at wine parties, you get to chat with some really cool people about wine. We ended up talking to this guy about the moscato and he recommended I try a vouvray so we went to look at some and Specs ended up not having the one he was talking about. That brought me to an employee and we started talking about rose's and he had some great recommendations for me. I almost got one of those too, but seeing as I already had quite a few to buy and the rose was not one of the featured (and on sale) wines, I decided to wait. It will probably be the next bottle of wine I get though.

Now for the cheese!

The cheeses here are always interesting to try and I usually get a few. There was a cheese with fenugreek seeds in it that tasted like maple syrup which was really cool but not really my thing. One of the cheeses I ended up getting was a trucket and was really good and wanted to sample it further. Probably the most bizarre cheese was a cheese that had coffee and lavender flavors and when you first try it you think WHOA... but as you keep eating it you keep wanting more and more. So I got the trucket and the coffee/lavendar cheese and found a Parrano that was for some reason 50% off so got that too.

Hooray for Specs wine nights being back on track! Id say 75% of the wines were either good or great, which is how it should be in my opinion!

More Goat Cheese

I cant stop! Goat cheese is too delicious and I want to try it all! Since Whole Foods apparently has a few different soft goat cheeses in roatation, I will just have to try each one and compare them. I got this one, which has cracked pepper around the edges:

This was alright, but not great. The pepper flavor was weird and Im not a huge fan of pepper anyway. I DID put it on some crackers with the smoked tomato pesto and it was soooo good! It was suggested to me that I should just buy a chunk of plain cheese and then put my own herbs or whatever around it, so that will definitely be something I should look into! What a great idea!

So I had to get a plain one as well! Of course it tastes like the middle of the other ones and I haven't yet decided what to add on to it so for now Im just eating it as is. Its probably not the most flavorful or creamiest plain goat cheese I've had, so unless Im getting an herby one I will stick with another brand.

Full Quiver Farms Strawberry Cheese Spread

As I've said before, I love cream cheese, especially flavored ones. I still have the jalapeno cream cheese from the farmers market and Im trying to decide what to pair that with, but in the meantime I decided to get another one! I was at Whole Foods and wanted some to eat with crackers so I got the strawberry kind.

Its pretty good! I was surprised to find that its whipped... I don't remember the other ones being like that but who knows. This made it surprisingly light and fluffy and it actually reminded me more of icing on a cake! Delicious! Unlike at the farmers market, Whole Foods sells it by the pound, so I think it was actually a little cheaper there.

Maybe people who don't know me very well are wondering "Does she really eat ALL that cheese"? It seems like I should be 500 pounds by now eating all the cheese I write about! The truth is I get very small amounts of everything, and always share it with other people. If I get huge chunks of something I will get bored of it anyway.

Printhie Chardonnay

This is one of the wines I bought a few months ago at a Specs tasting because it was so interesting and different from many chardonnays I've tried in the past. Normally I don't like chardonnays because I think of 2 things: oak and vanilla. I have actually tried quite a few through tastings because it seems to be a popular type of wine, but have rarely found one that has any kind of actual flavor.

This Printhie Chardonnay is completely different though. Its from Australia, and I think one of the things that makes it taste so good is that its actually 90% chardonnay and 10% viognier I believe. There was another Printhie wine being sampled (I think sauvignon blanc) and it too was mixed with a little viognier and it was good as well! It is very creamy without tasting like vanilla, and it actually tastes like fruit. I still have some left so I will take better note of those flavors the next time I drink it.

One of the main things that struck me was the smell. It almost smelled like something was toasted or smokey, and a little nutty. I don't think I've ever smelled this before in a wine so it definitely caught my attention.

When I first tasted this wine at Specs I loved it and had to buy it because it was so unique. At a higher price point than I am used to (around $17) it makes me think that there may be hope for me and chardonnays. I really liked this wine and enjoyed drinking it and tasting it again, but I'm not sure it will be added to my list of wines I love and have to keep on hand.

Rondin Honey Goat Cheese

Mmmm this cheese is amazing! I got this at Central Market because I was curious what a honey goat cheese would taste like. Previously, I had bought a honey goat cheese spread, but the flavors were obviously mixed together in the little tub along with others... and this piece of cheese looks just plain! I was also worried it would be too fakely sweet and its not! Its smells delicious and just tastes like a normal cheese with a touch of sweetness. It is SO good! Like the dill one, this is another cheese that makes a good breakfast! :)

Fiscalini Cheddar

The cheese I am trying tonight is Fiscalini Cheddar... although it doesn't taste very much like a cheddar to me. I'm having a hard time figuring out what this tastes like, as its pretty bland and tasteless. When it warmed up I could taste a hint of white cheddar, but Im working hard to taste it. The texture is ok, but a little rubbery for my taste. Overall this cheese is pretty tasteless and odorless, and since I like a nice robust cheese, I don't think its really for me. Good thing I just bought a small chunk to try. There are too many amazing cheddars out there for me to get this again unfortunately.

Sunset Valley Farmers Market

Since I was in the area this Saturday morning, my boyfriend and I decided to stop by the Sunset Valley Farmers Market. I used to go there every few weeks but haven't been in probably a year or so because it's a little far from me. There are too many delicious foods to mention everything but among my favorites are the pestos, fresh lemonades, and of course the cheeses.

One of my favorite cheese places near Austin is Pure Luck creamery but I didn't see them at the market today. My other favorite is Full Quiver Farm, which makes a delicious array of cream cheeses and as I found out today, hard cheeses as well!

Here are some of there delicious cream cheeses, which are flavored as spinach artichoke, chive, jalapeno, and some fruit ones like blueberry, strawberry, and pineapple. I've gotten a few of these before, but ended up getting the jalapeno cream cheese this time. I was thinking it would be great on crackers, maybe with some jam.

They also have more cheeses which I've never seen in stores before - a cheddar, colby, feta, mozzarella, pepper jack and gruyere. All of the ones I tried were delicious and although they didn't have a sample, we decided to get the gruyere.

There was another cheese place at the Farmers Market that had amazing goat cheese but I forgot the name of it. They had a great blueberry lemon goat cheese that I wanted to get, but at $10 for a small container I had to pass this time. To go with the gruyere and jalapeno cream cheese, we ended up getting 2 really great pestos - Smoked Tomato and Cilantro Serrano which are AMAZING. I definitely need to start going to the farmers market here more.

Goat Cheese for Breakfast

While most people eat cereal or eggs for breakfast, my favorite way to start the day is with cheese. The best cheeses are something soft and flavorful, preferably on a cracker. I've started to crave cheese spreads, cream cheese, and most of all goat cheese.

I feel like the cheese festival made me realize just how many amazing cheeses there are out there, and especially opened me up to the large variety of soft goat cheeses, as I've already mentioned those were my favorites there. Im thinking about getting a variety of a few and comparing them maybe side by side later this week.

Tthe cheese I am currently eating is "Capricho de Cabra Herbed" which looks like a small round chunk of creamy white cheese with dill and lemon zest around the edges. I looove these kinds of cheese and I had never had one with dill before.

Anyway, this cheese was delicious as always, but i wasn't really loving the herbs around the edges. It makes the cheese taste a little too tangy and sour for my taste, but once I got past the outer edge, the inside was pretty good. I actually prefer when the herbs are more robust.

Daily Texan Article!

While at the cheese festival, my friends and I were approached by a writer for the Daily Texan, who asked our thoughts about the cheeses there. We told him our favorites and our least favorites and when he asked to see the bad ones we directed him to the chocolate cheddar and the 10 year cheddar (which I personally liked but nobody else did ). He took some notes and we have been wondering if we'd be in the article...

and it turns out we are! :)

"Three recent UT graduates, Dominique Tremino, Becca Aiello and Katie Gannon, were huddled around a fresh mozzarella table and giggling as they watched me try “cocoa cheddar” and a cheddar aged for 10 years, which they affirmed were the “nastiest” cheeses at the festival."

Hooray!

Chalone Vineyard Cabernet and Goat Brie

I have so many bottles of wine on my wine rack and buy wine so frequently that I sometime forget about bottles for long periods of time. I thought it was about time I try one of my oldest bottles, and that was this Chalone Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.

I bought this bottle at HEB once when they were having a half off sale, and it was originally $16 and I have just seemed to forget about it until now. I've probably had it for about 2 years now, and Im pretty sure its not the type of wine that needs to be aged.

One thing I immediately noticed about this wine that was it was not as dry and tannic as I would have expected. It was very smooth, fruity, and drinkable.

To go with the wine, I had a goat brie that I picked up at Whole Foods. As is pretty obvious, Im really into goat cheese lately and at the cheese festival I found that I really do like bries, which surprised me. I used to not like them at all, but maybe they are growing on me.

Festival of Cheese - Market

I went back to the Hilton Sunday morning to see what kind of cheese I could buy at the cheese market. I didn't really know what to expect other than that the cheeses would be heavily discounted and I should probably get their early. I arrived just after it opened, around 10:15 and already there were about 100 people roaming a very small room with mountains of cheese in their arms. The cheeses were in HUGE chunks, like whole wheels and multi-pound blocks.

What was truly amazing was the fact that ALL cheese was being sold at $5/lb. FIVE DOLLARS A POUND! You cant even get a chunk of kraft cheddar at the grocery store for that. We're talking artisan cheese at $20-30+ a pound normally. So anyway this was amazing, but would have been even more amazing if you could buy smaller chunks of the cheeses. I really don't want 5 lbs of gouda even if I do love it! Although I looked hard, it appears that any small chunks there might have been had been snatched up already.

Another annoying thing was that hardly anything was marked. The cheeses were vaguely arranged by types on the tables, but you couldn't tell what anything really was. So aside from having to buy a huge chunk of something, it might not be something you love.

Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, my favorite cheeses of the night were all soft cheeses and those were all in individual packages and containers. So thats what I focused on. I ended up getting 5 things and wish I had gotten more. I found a container of Alouette cream cheese spread (also available at HEB) that I always love, as well as an herb covered goat cheese from Pure Luck Austin cheesery. I also found one of my favorites from last night, the soft cheese with raspberry puree. Rounding out my purchase was a small unflavored goat cheese, and a goat brie. I couldn't tell how much all that would be, and there really wasnt too much to choose from, so I just stopped there.

At the cash register I picked up 2 boxes of these AMAZING crispbread crackers to go with all the soft cheeses. These crackers are wafer thin and pretty much taste like an ice cream cone - which is nothing. They add no flavor to cheese, have barely any calories, and are just perfect.

My total for the 5 cheeses was only $10 and at $2 a box of crackers, my total came out to be $14, which is WAY underpriced for all the stuff I got! I only wish I had bought more!

Festival of Cheese

I decided to go to the cheese festival after all and it was AMAZING! I went with 2 friends and we were all super pumped to see what 1000+ cheeses would look like displayed in the Hilton ballroom and we were in pure shock at the outcome. First of all, everything was beautifully displayed on silver platters in sections arranged by type of cheese. There were all kinds of fruit, crackers, and breads on the tables as well to compliment the cheeses. Each cheese winner also had a ribbon nearby to alert you to the really good ones.

My goal for the night was to try 100 cheeses, so I tried to watch what I ate and drank. I skipped all the bread, fruit, and only used small bits of crackers when necessary, so that I could try as many cheeses as possible. At first we went crazy, trying anything and everything that looked delicious, but soon found out that was a bad idea. After about an hour (and 50 or so cheeses) we were full and lethargic. Oops. So we took a break and sipped some of the complimentary wine they had there. I chose an ice wine and actually liked it a lot! The crisp sweetness paired really well with all the crazy rich and salty cheeses. Then we got to trying some more, and I tried to be more selective this time to save room. I tried to take pictures of some of my favorites:

This cheese wasnt something I had heard of but it was so delicious and creamy and had a blackberry puree in the center that mixed with it.

There were seriously sooo many goudas and it was cool to taste a few side by side.

I really liked this 10 yr aged cheddar, but it got mixed reviews among my friends. There were actually 4 whole tables just of cheddar so it was impossible to taste even a good sampling of them all.

This was just one of the tables filled with cheddar.

This was the WORST cheese of the night! It claimed to be chocolate cheddar, so of course I had to check it out and it ended up being DISGUSTING! It didn't taste like chocolate at all and instead was way way way too strong and almost bitter.

I didn't have an absolute favorite cheese of the night, but rather a favorite table. That would be the collection of soft goat cheeses. There were just plain goat cheeses in logs, soft cheese spreads, and spreads mixed with other flavors and all, ALL were incredible. Its the only time I actually ate a cheese twice. Tomorrow there is a cheese market where you can buy any of the cheeses from tonight and if I got a thing or two it would be a soft goat cheese. Here are some pictures:

Actually it was the goat cheeses that got me to my goal of 100 cheeses! I saw some of them the first time around, but I only had about 80 cheeses with 15 mins to go and I spotted a whole new table of them! So I ended up trying 100 unique cheeses tonight! Id say about 80 - 90% were delicious, with a few being meh (unpasteurized goat cheese... who knew?) and only a few being downright terrible (Im talking you, chocolate cheddar!)

A final cool thing about the night was that there was a blue ribbon table where all the best cheeses were displayed.

And here was the best in show cheese ... drum roll...

I tasted this blue cheese and it was pretty good, but Im not personally a big blue lover so Im not the best judge. Apparently the festival people thought it was pretty amazing though!

Anyway, overall the festival was just amazing, amazing, amazing and I probably gained a few pounds but this is probably the only time I will get to go to something like this. I am very happy I decided to go, and yes it was worth the $75. Hooray!

Barefoot Moscato

After writing about and drinking that Gallo White Zinfandel, I had a craving to try my old stand-by, Barefoot wines. It really has probably been a couple of years since I have had one, and since I used to like them so much they deserve a second chance. One time I went to the store when they were on sale and got like one of every flavor to try haha, so I was pretty familiar with all of them.

EXCEPT the moscato! I went to HEB and looked around for one to try and saw they have a new one out! Also, moscatos and muscat canellis are becoming one of my new favorite wines since the Austin Wine Festival, so of course I had to get this one. I even got a chance to try out my new wine glasses! I went to a GoodWill recently to look for The Sims 3 (found it for a dollar!!!) and saw a matching set of 4 colored champagne flutes which were miraculously not broken.

The bottle says this wine has hints of peach, apricot, lemon, and orange and thats a pretty accurate description. It especially tastes like peach and lemon to me and smells AMAZING! It smells sweet and floral, maybe like a honeysuckle? Not sure about that, but either way its delicious. Its also a very light wine, coming in at 9% alcohol. Overall Id say this is a delicious, light summery wine that I would definitely get again. What's even better is that its still only $5.99!

One more thing... the Austin Cheese Society is coming into town on Saturday for their annual Cheese Festival and I WANT TO GO! This is a once a year festival that moves around the country every year and may not ever come to Austin again, so its really a once in a lifetime chance. There will be 1000+ cheeses from all over the country along with snacks and wine and you get to meet the cheesemakers as well! Its held at the Hilton hotel downtown, so its sure to be a fancy affair. The only thing possibly holding me back is the pricetag of $75 a ticket. Still, its a once in a lifetime chance and Im strongly considering going.

Gallo White Zinfandel

Even wine connoisseurs (in training) need a day off and sometimes you have to go back to basics. When I first started drinking wine years ago, my favorite thing was white zinfandel. It was light, fruity, and totally accessible. It was also super cheap and abundant. My old favorite was Barefoot White Zinfandel, which broke the bank at a cool $4.99.

Anyway, I recently got a 4 pack of Gallo White Zinfandels recently! The great thing about the 4 packs is that you don't have to open a whole bottle of wine and risk it going bad before you can drink it all. Its great for when you just want a little bit of something. For this reason I used to get these fairly frequently a few years ago.

Its been a while, but it was time to taste them again. This wine is bright pink and tastes like a sweet strawberry. Its as simple as that - tastes like a strawberry. But a delicious strawberry! This wine is also very light (9% alcohol) and can easily be drunk on its own - Im not sure what it would pair with. Its delicious, simple, and convenient. I wouldn't want this for special occasions or all the time, but it was a nice treat! Im also wondering if it would be good mixed with other things, since its so sweet and cheap. Perhaps throw in a shot of vodka? Sangria? Mix into a cocktail? I might be exploring some options! :o

Specs Wine Tasting

This Wednesday was the monthly Specs wine tasting so I set off with high hopes. One thing I noticed right away was that it was incredibly busy inside. Let me just take a moment to explain how the wine tasting is set up.

There are 10 barrels places around the store... in the aisles and in the corners usually... and there are 2 wines at each barrel. Usually the 2 wines are related in some way usually being from the same winery. There are a few employees at each barrel to punch your tasting sheet (so you cant come back and re-taste) and pour you some wine. Usually they are very chatty and love to tell you about the wines and get your opinions. HOWEVER, when the store is overcrowded, it messes up the flow of the whole tasting. I had to pretty much stand in a line at each barrel to get a taste, and the employees were very rushed and not as interested in talking. The crowds made it hard to move around the store, and a few times I was poured a taste of something with no explanation of what it was. To be honest thats my favorite part of the Specs tastings - learning about the wines.

So I was a bit disappointed but still, its free delicious wine so I cant complain. As I went around the barrels trying wine I realized something else weird though - I wasnt really loving any of it. I write a rating next to each wine I try, an X, a dash for meh, a check or a check plus. At the end of the night there were no check pluses, and only a few checks. Hmmm... usually I love about 5 or 6 wines and have trouble choosing which ones to buy at the end. This time I bought NO wine, which is a first. There just was nothing that wowed me, and everything was very average.

Which prompts me to wonder - how do they choose the wine for the tastings? Is there a theme among the 20 wines? Or are these the wines in the store that haven't been selling very well because they are less well known? (I usually cant recognize 90% of the wines at the tasting) Or are they wines that Specs gets paid to promote? I would like to find this out.

In the end, I just bought one cheese - which was one they weren't even sampling. Its just a plain soft goat cheese that I thought would be delicious on salads. Im trying to recreate that warm goat cheese salad I had on my birthday. So it turned out to be an interesting specs tasting as always, but not terribly productive.