DTN! - Lesson 1 Activity

My Friends and I Doing the Lesson

I recently did the Drink The Now: Lesson 1 with some friends at the Blacksburg Wine Lab. The objective is to taste red wine by itself and then see how cheese and meat affect the flavor of the wine when paired together. 

The Instructions Given for the Lesson

There was a set of instructions given to us there to follow. Step 1 is the main wine tasting. Step 2 is to try the wine with the cheese. Step 3 is finally to try the wine with the meat. 

The Wine Flight along with the Cheeses and Meat

Wine 1: Bocchino Barbera D'Asti

Variety: Barbera 

Region of Origin: Piemont

Country of Origin: Italy

Vintage Year: 2021

Price: $40/bottle

1) On the first smell, the wine had a fruity smell, which I would relate to cherries. Apart from that, there were no other distinguishing smells. When tasting, it was quite hot and dry though not all the way dry as it seems like there was some residual sugar left. It was a little herbaceous on the backend with the fruity, cherry flavor still there. It was a light-to-medium-bodied wine. 

2) When I tried it with the El Trigal Manchego Cheese, it definitely helped soften the tannins down a little and additionally helped reduce the dryness of the wine. It definitely helps make the fruitiness much more pronounced and it definitely helps confirm its cherry that was the fruit being tasted earlier. It also did help make the nutty flavors within the cheese more pronounced also which was interesting. 

When tried along with the Eru Spreadable Gouda Cheese, it was a similar experience but this time it made things much more silky and light which was really nice. 

3) When I tried it with the Speck, it definitely had a weird sensation that I couldn't describe. The pairing brought out a nice pepperiness along with a leathery taste. The speck helped contrast out the slight bit of sweetness within the wine making things much more pronounced and stronger, which was nice and I like it.

Wine 2: Diaz Bayo Ribera del Duero

Variety: Tempranillo

Region of Origin: Castilla y Leon

Country of Origin: Spain

Vintage Year: 2019

Price: $44/bottle

1) On the first smell, the wine had a fruity smell but this time it was much more tropical to me with some earthy undertones. When tasting, it was dryer than the previous wine but not drastically drier. It definitely has a cherry taste but there is still something with tropical fruits I can't seem to pinpoint. Additionally, there is still the earthy undertone. This overall helped give the wine a nice balance with a medium body.

2) When I tried it with the El Trigal Manchego Cheese, it helped mellow things out greatly along with making the wine less dry. This brought out other fruity flavors that I can't seem to pinpoint but the best I can say is that it was some darker fruits. There are still tropical undertones but more pronounced now. It overall worked really well.

When tried along with the Eru Spreadable Gouda Cheese, it was a similar experience but this time it made things softer and silky again.

3) When I tried it with the Speck, it made things much drier but that wasn't a bad thing as it brought out the pepperiness again. There was also a much more pronounced earthiness, which was interesting.

Wine 3: Terres d'Avignon

Variety: Tempranillo

Region of Origin: Côtes-du-Rhône

Country of Origin: France

Vintage Year: 2020

Price: $40/bottle

1) On the first smell, the wine was quite different compared to the others as it had more of a black fruit smell and the earthiness was much more pronounced this time. When tasting it was seen to be quite dry but it wasn't unpleasant. Additionally, the wine had some acid which was surprising. The black fruit again was quite prominent with the taste. 

2) When I tried it with the El Trigal Manchego Cheese, it made things much creamier and helped bring out the fruitiness within the wine. This again made things dryer but it wasn't unpleasant. Overall was an amazing pairing and I like this the most.

When tried along with the Eru Spreadable Gouda Cheese, it was a similar experience but this time the fruitiness was seen as much jammier and licorice was added into the mix of things.

3) When I tried it with the Speck, it was ever so slightly softer and it had a smokier taste to the wine. Additionally, it had the expected pepperiness that was seen with the others. 

The Wine Flight along with the Cheeses and Meat at Another Angle

Overall this lesson was quite interesting and it allows me to see how cheese and meat paired with some red wines. It was seen the cheese worked really well with the pairings, this is probably due to how the cheese has a higher fat content compared to the meat. This probably helped the wine in pairing with cheese overall. I would love to try this experiment with white wines now to see how brighter wines change how these different meats and cheeses taste. Cheers!

My Friend and I After the Flight