Today I visited the New River Vineyard and Winery to enjoy a wine and cheese pairing. I ordered the off-dry flight and their signature cheese board, composed of many cheeses, a couple dips, crackers and grapes. I very much enjoyed this experience.
I started my pairing with a glass of Viognier, 2021 vintage. Grown and harvested locally at the NRV winery in Fairlawn, VA. The Viognier was light yellow in appearance. The alcohol content was 12%. It had complex aromas of potting soil, dust, lager, leather, marmalade, and hints of orange blossom and honeysuckle. It's off-dry, with low-mid acidity, some taste of alcohol (warming sensation), medium bodies, with a short-medium finish of around four seconds. It
was well balanced. It's flavor was smooth, oaky, and kind of creamy. It also tasted lightly apricot, nectarine, and slightly nutty with a hint of almond. It's a fairly mild wine. We paired it with Monterey Jack cheese, which is also mild, and they paired well in that neither overpowered the other, and both their flavors remained true and did not get hidden by the other. Monterey Jack cheese is also smooth and buttery, which matched the feel of the Viognier nicely. The Viognier helped to enhance the Monterey Jack's creamy texture, and also stayed balanced. We also tried it with the espresso rub cheese, which we found overpowered the wine too much. However, it did bring out the oakiness of the wine which we liked. We had a similar experience with the havarti- which altered the flavor of the wine too much. The Monterey Jack was the clear winner out of the cheeses on our board, as expected.
The next wine we had was a glass of Vidal Blanc,
2020 vintage, also made locally in Fairlawn VA. The alcohol content is 12.86%. The Vidal Blanc was more golden in appearance. The aroma was of grapefruit, guava, pineapple, hibiscus and orange blossom. Very tropical, fruity, and deliciously sweet smelling. However, we thought that the aroma was slightly deceiving as it was more sour and bitter on the tongue. There was notes of the grapefruit and pineapple however. There was also a warming feeling from the alcohol. It is off dry in sweetness, medium- high acidity, medium alcohol feel, medium body, and a short finish. It was a nice wine, but not as sweet and fruity tasting as it was on the nose. We paired it with the cheddar cheese. The Vidal Blanc, with its sweetness and fruitiness, complemented the sharp and tangy flavor of the cheddar. The crispness of the Vidal, and it's acidity, contrasted the richness of the cheddar and made it taste fresh. They balanced each other out well. We also tried pairing it with Monterey Jack cheese and found that it calmed the sourness of the wine, an aspect
of the wine that we didn't particularly adore, so we found this to be a nice pairing too. There was a smoky cheese on our board that we weren't very fond of, but were intrigued to try with the Vidal. As we unfortunately assumed, the wine was too tropical tasting and light for the heaviness and smoked flavors of the cheese. It buried the fruity characteristics of the wine and did not make a good pairing. Our favorite was the cheddar with the Vidal.
The third wine we tried for the wine and cheese pairing was a glass of Traminette, 2023 vintage. The wine has a 12.6% alcohol content. It was golden in color. The aromas were of honey blossom, with a perfumed aroma, of florals. It also had hints of dried fruit, orange blossom, and vanilla on the nose. It was a pleasant smell but we found it hard to pinpoint what exactly it composed of. The flavor was rich, strong and sweet taste of honey blossom at the tip of the tongue, with a more sour after taste. It was sweet and smooth however. It has medium acidity, medium alcohol feel, medium body, and a short finish. It's a well balanced wine. It's semi-sweet with 2% residual sugar. Because it was the sweetest, we paired it with the spiciest cheese on our board- pepper jack. We found it to be a great match with the spiciness of the cheese. It counteracted the heat from the cheese, making it more enjoyable on the palate for us. The floral and citrus notes of the wine contrasted the creaminess and spice of the cheese. It also made the cheese taste sweeter, reminding us of sweet onions. The Traminette was our favorite wine, and pepper jack is one of our all time favorite cheeses, so we may be slightly biased in our review of this pairing. We also tried it with the peppercorn havarti, which we found the Traminette to bring out the flavors of the cheese, but the cheese surpassed the flavors of the wine. It was an uneven pairing in our opinions. Our favorite was definitely pairing it with the pepper jack.
Overall, we really enjoyed this wine and cheese pairing. It was a beautiful day outside to do it. We enjoyed the crackers and grapes in between pairings to cleanse our palates. We were also served a buffalo/jalapeño dip, and a spinach artichoke dip that we experimented pairing the wines with on crackers.
Grape varietal characteristics: According to Wine Folly, "A popular and unmistakable white wine that’s loved for its “green” herbal flavors and racy acidity. Sauvignon Blanc grows nearly everywhere and, thus, offers a variety of styles ranging from lean to bountiful. Primary flavors of Gooseberry, Honeydew, Grapefruit, White peach and passionfruit. Dry, medium to light body and high acidity. Originated in Loire Valley, France."
