22 November, 2011

Napa Cellars Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon - Cheese Friendly Wine to Share

 Recently I received some samples from Napa Cellars. It was fun to experiment with  a Merlot and  Cabernet Sauvignon now that the climate has definitively shifted from white to red wine weather.  Napa Cellars boasts an inviting space to taste the full lineup along with the Folie a Deux and Menage a Trois lines; more on that here:
But on to the wines...
'07 Napa Cellars Merlot, Napa Valley, USA($26): An opaque ruby color, with lovely aromas of raspberry and dusting of black spice, this wine had a smooth mouthfeel.  With alcohol level clocking in at 14.5%, I felt a touch of heat at the finish, but not in an unpleasant way.  Flavors of black fruit with a touch of mocha, and soft smooth tannins made this a nice drinking wine.
Next up was the
'07 Napa Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, USA($28): This wine also had a dark ruby color with aromas of black fruit, berry and woodsy hints.  It showed tasty flavors of black fruit, berries and spice.  The finish was short, but with nice black fruit and a smidge of cedar.  Again, smooth tannins.  Which made me immediately think "Cheese!"

Sure enough, with a mild cheddar, an aged Parmigiano Reggiano and  Pt. Reyes Blue, both wines were complementary.   Since we are entering the season of scrounging around so as not to arrive empty handed, these pretty labels, nice bottles and easy breezy cheese pairing, will come in handy.  I am getting some bottles to stash away for those occasions when I need to come up with something to bring with.  Everyone always loves wine and cheese but it's not always the easiest thing to pair well on the fly.  You can find these wines at Cost Plus World Market.  
I received these wines as samples

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I had no idea this kind of blog existed. I'm happy I found it, because I have been looking for a way to learn more about wines I might like, that won't cost upwards of $200 per bottle.

Thanks

feiane (fe-yan) said...

nice blog! all about wine and i love it!....

Ashleigh and Tiffani said...

Hey there, just found you. Facebook following you now! My friend and I are military wives and we wrote a Spanish cookbook, we chronicled it on my blog about my family's life in Spain, called Spain Is My Happy Place. Our cookbook is called The Drinking Girls' Guide to Spanish Food and now that we are starting our 2nd, we decided to start our blog, TheDrinkingGirls.com.We will be adding you to our blog roll! Cheers, Ashleigh & Tiffani, The Drinking Girls

Xandria said...

Thanks everyone! Keep drinking and let the wine flow. I look forward to checking out TheDrinkingGirls.com! Cheers from Xandria