Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Yum, yum, yum! I had no idea goat cheese cheesecake existed, but I ran across it at Specs during the wine tasting! So of course I had to get a slice to try it. Goat cheese usually has a distinct flavor and texture, so I was a little bit nervous to see its take on cheesecake but it was really delicious! In fact, it tasted exactly like a regular cheesecake haha. It wasn't overly sweet, which I liked, and there was a bit of cherries or cranberries or something that paired well with it.

Im not a huge cheesecake fan, but this was pretty good. Im glad I tried it, just to see what it was, but I probably wouldnt get it again because it just tastes like regular cheesecake.

Texas Hills Orange Moscato

This Texas Hills Orange Moscato is probably one of my favorite wines. I visited the winery about a year ago and took home this bottle and decided to finally open it this week.

This wine comes in a 2/3 sized bottle and is 14% alcohol yet still sweet, so its almost like a dessert wine. It is... SO good.

I cant even describe it well enough, so here is the description from the winery's website -

"The Orange Muscat grape has a natural orange zest essence that presents itself in the wine. Pleasantly sweet, (less than 5%Residual Sugar); nicely balanced; with an alcohol level of 14% (highest alcohol level we've ever done with the Orange Moscato) this wine has a smooth orange zest presentation with just a hint of peach and tropical fruit. "

It really is sweet, but not overly so like a lot of moscatos Ive had. I think its cool how that particular grape has a natural orange flavor, and the almost bitter orange zest flavor pairs so well with the sweetness of the wine. If you've never had it, I would definitely recommend everyone go out and get this wine! :)

Stocking up at Grapevine

Ok so Im not going to lie - I spent a fortune at Grapevine Market. All the wines were 30% off! I took this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to stock up on some of my favorite more expensive wines that I never buy. So here they are...

I actually have two more that I bought after the picture was taken. On the left are 2 Schloss Vollrads, which is an AMAZING german riesling that I had a few years ago in a restaurant. Its usually $15 and with the discount they were only $10 each. Then I have 2 orange moscatos from Texas Hills and Flat Creek, both around $19, discounted to $13. Then a Pine Ridge chenin blanc/viognier that I like, not too pricey but delicious. Then an argentinian torrontes that is one of my faves, from $16 down to 11. The rest are just wines I like and would probably buy otherwise. Spanish and Chilean red wines and 2 vino verdes that I got just because they were super cheap and its good to have those around (I think they were like $5 and $6 with the discount).

I also got an almond sparkling wine from Flat Creek ($15 down to $10) that I predict will be amazing, based on the past 3 almond sparklers I've tried. Also I got the Chisholm Trail Desperado wine($20 down to $14), because I've been to that winery and remember it being very good. So basically my wine rack is completely full and in fact overflowing now. Im not planning on buying wine again until after I move next summer!

Cheeses!

I just love the Whole Foods mini cheese section. I went there and got 5 mini cheeses ranging from about 50 cents to a dollar. I got a garlic cheddar, brigante (never tried it), green heart gouda, havarti with jalapeno and traditional emmenthaler.

The garlic cheddar was very good, and the havarti with jalapeno was better than I expected! I got it just to try it, but I turned out liking it a lot. The emmenthaler swiss was not very good - it was kinda hard and tough. Im sure I will be trying the other 2 soon!

Grapevine Market is closing! :(

Noooooooo! It cant be true! Grapevine Market on Anderson Lane is closing for good. This makes me sad because they had some cool events I never got a chance to go to (and always wanted to), and a unique cheese department that I loved to check out. I loved going in there to browse and sample a dozen cheeses or so!

HOWEVER, there is one huuuge upside to a store closing... clearance sales! :o From now until the store closes, they will be selling all wines and foods at 30% off, and liquors at 25% off. This means that I can finally get some of those more expensive things I've tasted and been eyeing, and maybe stock up on some lesser expensive favorites. I have to say Grapevine's regular prices are a little high, so I have to factor that in. Im wondering if they will offer even deeper discounts as the sale goes on. Either way, I went yesterday and a lot of the nicer stuff has already run out but there are TONS left. So... people in Austin... get yourselves down to Grapevine asap and see what you can find!

Tilia Chardonnay

I got this chardonnay at a Whole Foods tasting probably close to 6 months ago and just now opened it. They were doing a tasting of probably 10 wines all from Argentina including about 5 malbecs, which was REALLY cool to be able to taste so many similar wines together. Our favorite ended up being this atypical chardonnay!

Its fresh and juicy with lots of fruit flavors and was wonderful to drink. Im always on the lookout for inexpensive chardonnays to keep around and this one is one of my favorites so far. Its not as interesting as the Printhie Chardonnay, but definitely more subtle and easy to drink. Its a bit cheaper too, around $11 or 12 and I would probably buy it again if I saw it somewhere on sale.

The Past 2 Weeks

I keep forgetting to keep up with this blog while there are so many other things going on right now! Here is what has been going on wine-and-cheese-wise the past few weeks:

We had our October Wino Divino which was fun as always. The theme was white wnes and I'd say the selection of wines this time was really amazing. I wrote them all down but seem to have misplaced the paper somewhere... anyway I remember some of them! We had the Carl Sittman Riesling from the Twin Liquors wine class and it was delicious the second time around just like the first. We also tried 24/7 Riesling and it was pretty good too, nothing too special. Mine was a moscato d'asti which was a slightly sparkling sweet white and it was DELICIOUS! I had gotten it at a Specs tasting and I need to look up that tasting paper and find out exactly what it was so I can get it again. We also had a champagne that was pretty sweet and delicious - I like sweet dessert style wines. Finally we had a port which everyone loved as well - Otima either 10 or 20 yrs. The only bad wine was a sauv blanc that smelled and tasted like pickles. :/

In the world of cheese, we decided to deviate from the norm this month and got a few smoked, soft, and kinda bland cheeses. Usually we go for the aged, potent, melt in your mouth cheeses so this was a big change. We got smoked mozzarella, smoked provolone, and a soft swiss. They were all alright but nothing blew me away. I know these cheeses are meant more for melting on things or as part of a sandwich, but we ate them in little chunks like we usually do. I couldn't even tell the difference between the mozzarella and provolone.

Finally, I tried a few bottles of wine this month that have long been finished and mostly forgotten. I tried the Blackstone Merlot (Sonoma Reserve) which was originally $19 but I got it on sale at HEB for $11 a while back. I also tried the Pegovino Granache and Syrah blend which was recommended to me by a Specs guy as one of the best of its style. I liked the merlot more than I thought I would, but was a little disappointed with the Pegovino. I had high hopes for it and I thought it was kinda bland with nothing special about it. Both were good, but not something Id get again.

Wine Grapes

So I was looking around at Whole Foods and they had wine grapes!!! :o There were 3 - grenache, carignan, and a white grape one I forgot the name of. I ended up getting the two red ones and was SO excited to see what they tasted like. Would they taste like wine? Perhaps thats stupid, but who really knows? The one on the left was the grenache and the right one was carignan.

Basically they tasted like regular grapes haha. And whats worse was that they had SEEDS! I guess I've been spoiled on seedless grapes because I cant even remember the last time I had grapes with seeds. :( Big, hard ones! Its just too much work to eat these, so I'm not sure what Im going to do.

So not too exciting, but cool to try!

Helfrich Pinot Gris

Mmmm this wine is delicious! I got it from a Specs tasting a few months ago and loved it there and loved it a second time tonight. I found out not too long ago that pinot gris and pinot grigio are actually the same grape, just named differently depending on where they're from. I've tried a few pinot grigios before and never been impressed, but this wine was just fantastic.

It was not only delicious, it was interesting. The smell alone was like whoa. It smelled all smoky, possibly like a smoked ham. There were also a lot of fruity flavors like peach and apricot and it was a little bit earthy. And yet... creamy as well! It was just the full package and it disappeared before I knew it! At around $12 or 13 dollars its pretty reasonable too! Extremely drinkable, delicious, and intriguing - I give it an A and will definitely buy it again.

Specs Wine Tasting

The September wine tasting was pretty good overall. It seemed a little heavy on the reds, which I prefer over whites, but when its a tasting I think its best to have about an equal number of both. Why? Because by the end of the night I could hardly taste anything due to all the similar super tannic bold reds. Aside from being delicious, the whites act as a nice palate cleanser and break between reds. Thats why I love when there is a red and a white at each station. This time there were only 6 whites compared to 14 reds.

Because of this, I tasted some really great reds, but they all tasted about the same. :( Sad. I did get to taste a carignan for the first time which was cool, and I was told by other people there that it was really great. My favorite of the night was an Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, which was tart and citrusy yet still FRUITY. Very balanced and delicious, but I didnt end up getting it.

There were also more expensive wines tonight. The Meerlust Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were normally $26 (on sale for $23) and I tried them and thought they were great! However, I wonder how much the price influenced my opinion of it. There were also several other ones over $20, which are always interesting to try since I don't normally buy wine over about $15.

There were 2 wines I hated, and surprisingly (or not) they were from the same producer - Andeluna Chardonnay and Malbec. Very alcoholic tasting and just very... gross.

There was also some very delicious cheese there and a super nice lady who let us keep coming back for more samples! My favorites were the wine washed goat cheese and cave aged gruyere! Unfortunately there was also a super gross one from Neal's Yard. This is about the 5th or 6th time I've tried a cheese from there and I've hated them ALL! How is that even possible?

Even though I may hate some of the wine and cheese I still love to try them! I cant wait until the next tasting!