Drink This Now: Lesson 1

During this lesson, I was experimenting with my tastes of some new red wines as I described the aroma, foods that go with the wine, along taste change over time the red wine. When I went to the store, they did not have any wine on the list but ended up suggesting Generation 1905 Grenache. In addition, I used a variety of cheese from aged cheddar to Dutch gouda.

Step 1: Open the wine bottle and try it immediately.

As I tried the wine, the aroma of oak with hints of cherry hit my nose before I took my first sip. The taste of the wine represents aspects of red cherries along with dashes of cranberry mixed together. The wine has a smooth overall taste with a slightly tannic aftertaste to cover your palate. 

Step 2: leave the bottle of wine to decant for 2 hours, then try again.

After letting the wine sit for two hours, as it decants. Before my next sip, I received a more tannic and higher presence of tannins in the aroma of the wine. As I tasted it, I could decipher a stronger tannic flavor throughout the entirety of the tasting, with an explosion of cranberry that overwhelms the previous taste of cherry. However, after tasting, my mouth felt a little drier compared to the taste test hours before. 

Step 3: Try with food

• The Cheeses

○ Aged cheddar
Made the wine a lighter taste. No acidic aftertaste. Smoother than without food
○ Jarlsberg
Is Not a great taste in general. Neither the wine nor cheese mix well together. You lose the taste of the wine because of the cheese
○ Creamy Havarti
Pairs well. The subtle hints of the flavor of the cheese are good. Silky and smooth. The wine becomes slightly elevated due to the creaminess of the cheese.
○ Dutch Gouda
No real change in taste or flavor from the wine or cheese. The cheese lighted up the tannins slightly. The wine is the dominant taste by far compared to the cheese. It just doesn't flow with the wine compared to creamy Havarti

Step 4: Try many hours later

The aroma smell is pretty much the same as it was after 2 hours. The wine taste itself is dry with much of the fruitiness flavor being cranberry. The aftertaste of the wine is a tad bit more bitter than it was earlier in the day with tannins still being prevalent in the mouth.