cheese – Peacock Orchard

Review: Chateau Recougne Bordeaux Superieur wine

Wine:

Chateau Recougne Bordeaux Superieur

Description:

[From majestik.co.uk] Fleshy and robust, full of ripe black fruit accented with hints of mocha, smoke and toast. Plenty of fine-grained tannins providing prodigious grip and savoury texture.

Cheese:

Apple Smoked Gouda

Description: [From Cheese Maker’s Website]

Our cheeses are 100% all natural and promote a healthy way of life. Our smoked cheeses are slowly & meticulously, naturally cold-smoked for six hours using a special aged Apple pulp and hardwood to achieve our unique flavor profile.

Wine Review-

This is a full bodied, delicious wine. I admit we did not taste any of the flavors the wine maker described but I’m not sure I’d want to taste “smoke and toast” in a wine so no loss. Still, it was a lovely wine to pair with some beef sausage and cheese. The smell was pleasant. The wine wasn’t too bitter. A good Bordeaux!

Cheese Review-

I believe we’ve already given this cheese a thumbs up. It has a strong flavor that pairs excellently with sausage and crackers. We enjoy snacking on it during the winter. Mmm!

Review: Sugar Shack Enchanted Red and Drunken Goat Cheese

Wine:

Sugar Shack Enchanted Red

Description: A red dessert wine

Cheese:

Drunken Goat Cheese

Description: Goat cheese soaked in red wine.

Wine Review- A great introduction to wine. It’s almost like straight grape juice flavor. I liked it just fine. Certainly something I’d have no problem drinking. I probably wouldn’t buy it again though. Grape juice tasting wine just isn’t my thing. I think we’ve become too snooty for it. Too accustomed to dryer wines to appreciate this one.

Cheese Review- A pleasant cheese. Melts in your mouth pleasantly. There are a lot of Google pages dedicated to this cheese and we didn’t quite understand that. It’s not one of those cheeses that make you keep eating and eating. It is a cheese that won’t disappoint. It’s solid. Nothing special, nothing to complain about.

Wine Review: Purple Paws Moscato and Apple Smoked Gouda Cheese

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Wine

Purple Paws Moscato $11.99

Description:

[From the wine makers website] Our winemaker always enjoys crushing Muscat because he says time stands still as you take in the floral wisps and watch the bees circle around you in slow motion. This moscato enjoys all those floral characteristics ubiquitos in this varietal. This wine pairs well with patio guests on a hot summer day or light desserts.

Cheese

Apple Smoked Gouda

Description: [From the cheese makers website] Our smoked cheeses are slowly & meticulously, naturally cold-smoked for six hours using a special aged Apple pulp and hardwood to achieve our unique flavor profile.

Wine Review:

This wine was pretty gross. Not what I’ve come to expect from moscato. I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone. It wasn’t bubbly at all. The flavor was lacking that normal moscato sweetness. Perhaps if I hadn’t opened this wine expecting a moscato I wouldn’t have been quite as disappointed. Unfortunately I was quite disappointed

Cheese Review:

We loved it. Even I loved it. In fact we ate all of it in one sitting and have bought these cheese twice more since Christmas. It’s lovely on it’s own, goes great with sausage and crackers, pairs well with about any wine I think. It’s just a great over all cheese. Definitely something to keep waiting in your refrigerator.

Review: The Stump Jump Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 wine and Irish Cheddar Cheese

Wine:

The Stump Jump 2009 Sauvignon Blanc $7.29 (On sale)

Description:

[From back of bottle] The Stump Jump Sauvignon Blanc was gently crushed and basket pressed followed by temperature controlled fermentation prior to bottling. It is a fresh, crisp style with great appeal to savor on it’s own or as an accompaniment to food.

Cheese:

Irish Cheddar $10.29/lb

Description:

[From the cheese makers website] A rindless, pasteurized cows’ milk cheese that offers unusually sweet and fruited flavor. Moderately sharp, this is no tongue-searer, but is best enjoyed through the thick creamy head of a mug of stout.

Wine Review:

This wine has a nice fruity scent. The initial sip is nice and fruity as well with a bit of a bite. I felt my molars for a second there. All in all not a bad wine. I would have no problem drinking it. I think this would be a good one to eat or cook with chicken. That’s my problem, no wine is too good or too bad to be cooked with.

Cheese Review:

I liked the look of this cheese. It was very patriotic with the green wax. Irish for sure. Other than that it’s cheddar. Should be eaten like cheddar is, cooked. We tried it then we put it away and brought out the apple smoked gouda. Mmmmm that gouda!

We enjoyed this wine while watching The Permaculture Orchard. I’d highly recommend it but I’m biased since I’m hoping to replicate his orchard, kind of.

Review: Valcolomba Merlot 2012 and Bellavitano Merlot Cheese

Wine:

Valcolomba Merlot 2012 $6.99

Description:

[from back of bottle] made from merlot grapes grown on dry farmed vineyards in the Maremma region. The Mediterranean climate gives this wine the intense bouquet, depth and softness typical of the coastal Maremma region.

Cheese:

Bellavitano Merlot Cheese

Description:

[From cheese makers website]By wedding this rich, creamy cheese to the berry and plum notes of Merlot, we’ve created a marriage of flavors destined to make your taste buds say, “I do.” On that note, if you invite a few friends from our pairing guide — say, toasted walnuts, thin slices of prosciutto and semisweet chocolates for dessert — the honeymoon never has to end.

Wine Review:

We rather enjoy surfing the bargain bin at the local liquor store. A nice adventure to be sure. This wine was one of those bargain finds at $6.99.

Smoother than expected. I felt like it was a really fruity flavor. Almost citrusy. Very nice fruity aftertaste. I think this might be my favorite merlot thus far. The Bonterra is amazing with food, a really enjoyable wine I’d highly recommend. This wine, however, is just an enjoyable solo drink. I didn’t want to eat any cheese, as I was stuffed from dinner, so this wine was a really nice surprise as I could enjoy it thoroughly alone. I wouldn’t say this wine is a dessert wine, per se, but I enjoyed it as such. I’m sure this is enjoyable with food but I can only vouch for it’s solo qualities thus far.

We will say that there is no sediment in this wine and we like that quite a lot. I can’t say I’m a fan of gritty wine.

Cheese Review:

My husband absolutely loved it with the cheese.

My husband loves this merlot cheese. We’ve reviewed it before here. He constantly buys it. He always buys merlot to go with it. He says the Bonterra wine is the best thus far with the cheese but this wine certainly was pleasant with it.

Review: 2012 Oveja Negra Carbenet Franc Carmenere and Gruyere Cheese

Wine:

2012 Oveja Negra Carbenet Franc Carmenere $8.99

[From Winemakers Web Page] Wine Makers Notes: Deep fruit characters dominate, with red cherries and soft touches of raspberries against a black fruit background complemented with some tabacco and cassis notes. Firm yet smooth on the palate, this wine displays a juicy, refreshing mouthfeel that reveal elegant hints of cedar and bitter chocolate that lead to more fruity characters that appear on the finish. Cellaring potential: drink now through 2+ years

Cheese:

Gruyere Quarter Wheel $12.47

[From Wikipedia] Gruyère is sweet but slightly salty, with a flavor that varies widely with age. It is often described as creamy and nutty when young, becoming with age more assertive, earthy and complex. When fully aged (five months to a year) it tends to have small cracks which impart a slightly grainy texture.

Wine Review-

Well this was not a good wine. In fact I had less than half a glass. I couldn’t stomach it at all. The flavor was not at all to my liking. I thought it was too bitter (and this from a girl who likes dry wine) and it caused my gag reflex to act up. Of course that is with the addition of the cheese which was grainy and nasty. More on that in the cheese review.

So that’s me. My husband, however, liked it. He thought it paired splendidly with the cheese and he found the flavor pleasing and not bitter at all. He couldn’t understand my issue with the wine. Husband gives it thumbs up. I give it thumbs down. I suppose it is up to you to decide.

We will both agree that this wine didn’t have any of the tasting notes the wine maker says it does. We didn’t get that at all.

Cheese Review-

What is there to say, it’s Gruyere. I find I’m not overly found of gruyere anything. I don’t usually eat much of the cheese but I do try them. So I tried it and it’s just as disgusting as I remember from our last red wine and gruyere experience.

Husband, of course, disagrees. He ate the cheese up. He does tend to like cheese. He said the flavor improved as he got closer to the center of the cheese hunk. I declined to test his theory