Wine/Cheese Pairing

I tried pairing three wines with four different cheeses to see how the tastes of both the wines and cheeses would change when combined.

The three wines that I chose were:

•  El Coritjillo 2015
• Villa Vitas Ribolla Gialla
• Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon

I paired the wines with Swiss, Parmesan, Colby Jack, and Pepper Jack.

El Cortijillo:

Alone: This wine was ruby in color, very fruity and tannic, with a woodsy, earthy taste to it. It was very dry.

With Swiss: This combination made the wine less panic, and brought out the cherry flavor in the wine.

With Parmesan: I liked this combo the best; it made the wine softer and the flavors of both the wine and the cheese complimented each other, so that the best flavors of each stood out more.

With Colby Jack: These two did not combine well at all, it made the wine taste more bland and generally the flavor of both the wine and the cheese were dulled.

With Pepper Jack: This combination heightened the spiciness in the cheese, but generally lessened the flavor, particularly the fruitiness, of the wine.

Black Box Cabernet Sauvignon:

Alone: This is a dark, almost purple colored wine. The smell brings to mind cherries and blackberries, but the leather and plum tastes are what really stand out. There is also a leafy, earthy hint to it.

With Swiss: This combo made the cheese taste sharper and the wine taste fruitier; the plum taste was particularly brought out - not necessarily a great thing in most cases, but it worked with the Swiss.

With Parmesan: This brought out the tannins in the wine, and was a bad combo because it made both the wine and cheese taste awful; the flavors definitely clashed.

With Colby Jack: More earthy, leafy flavors were present when combined with this cheese, and the cheese taste itself was much stronger.

With Pepper Jack: A darker, smokier taste was present when paired with this cheese - tobacco perhaps? Earthy, leather flavors.

Villa Vitas Ribolla Gialla:

Alone: It smelled almost like grass, honeysuckle, and flowers; it definitely tasted floral and fresh.

With Swiss: It seems strange to describe a taste as "musty" but that is what I got from this combination. The floral taste was stronger as well.

With Parmesan: The parmesan was stronger, as was the grass flavor in this combo. 

With Colby Jack: This was a good mix, a lemon-like flavor seemingly out of nowhere cropped up when paired with Colby Jack.

With Pepper Jack: Nothing really of note changed - they did not clash, nor did they compliment each other.

Notes:

The reds definitely interacted with the cheese better than the white did. I also have a preference for parmesan, so my judgement of the wine interactions with the cheeses may have been influenced by that. My roommates also joined me in trying the different wines and cheeses, but as they are not in the class they did not pay as much attention to how the flavors interacted, but two of them had strong preferences for the pairing of the Black Box and the Swiss, interestingly enough (as my personal preference was for the Tempranillo and parmesan).