Cameron Hughes Lot 170 - Zinfandel

We were so impressed with the first Cameron Hughes wine we tried, we wanted to see what their zinfandel was like. I had high hopes for this wine, because I remember hearing the word Lodi on some of the bottles of zinfandel out in the wine country, and they were delicious. However, I just looked it up, and its actually a region about an hour and a half away from the Napa/Sonoma area, so I don't know what I was drinking after all.

ANYWAY, the wine ended up being very good! Again, it was a bit strong for me - 14.9% alcohol! I'm finding out that this level just seems to be too much. Here is the description of the wine from the website, which says it tastes like strawberries, dark chocolate, and peppercorns! :o The mouth feel was great, it was a great balance of fruit and tannins overall. Very good, but didn't really have that WOW factor the syrah did. I must say that this wine was better the second time I tried it, after being open a full day! Maybe it just needs to open up a bit. I would give it a solid B rating.

Wine at Olive Garden

It’s my brother’s birthday today! Not only are we celebrating his birthday, but he just graduated college and just got a job offer ON HIS BIRTHDAY! My family’s favorite restaurant is Olive Garden so we decided to go there for a late lunch to celebrate everything.

We had a really nice waiter, Josh, who gave us some wine recommendations and I FINALLY got my mom to order a glass of wine! She got a sample of Chateau St. Michelle Riesling but ended up not liking it THAT much, so she got the Castello del Poggio moscato, which she loves. This wine is all over the place recently! Its super sweet and only 7% alcohol, so it’s just perfect for everyone. I tried the red wine sample, which was a Rancho Zabaco Zinfandel and I liked it pretty well. I don’t know if its as good as the Cline Zinfandel I like but it was still yummy so I ordered that for lunch. My mom hated it btw (no surprise there).

I’m still not sure about pairing wines with food, because I’m pretty sure my zinfandel would have gone well with a steak or beef of some sort but I don’t like those things so I had it with shrimp. To me, I like the wine and I like the food so that’s enough for me. Perhaps it is something I will develop later on though.

Applewood Smoked Goat Cheddar

Im still finishing up the Cline Zinfandel from a few nights ago... I've had a cold and wine is almost a waste when you cant smell it so its going slow. The last time I went to Whole Foods I discovered something amazing - mini cheeses! There is a part of the cheese section where you can buy small pieces of cheeses just a few ounces at a time. All these cheeses are under $3, which is great for trying lots of different cheeses and not getting tired of them! I foresee a lot more cheese tasting in my future. To kick off this new discovery, I had to get a few. Because I am still finishing up my zinfandel, I decided to try the applewood smoked goat cheddar they had. Im still not sure exactly what "goat cheddar" is, as I thought cheddar was just a type of cheese made from cows, but apparently it exists - and is quite delicious!

Oddly enough, I didn't think this cheese actually tasted like cheddar. Its kind of dry, and is more reminiscent of a gouda. I was a bit wary of the "smoked" aspect, as this can sometimes taste fake, but I thought this was a subtle smokiness that went very well with the wine. I enjoyed this cheese, but it wasn't fantastic. However, I like how there seem to be goat counterparts to some of the more familiar cheeses - I would definitely like to check out more of these in the future.

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.