What better way to reconnect with family and friends than a little cheese and wine?? When we went back home to the East coast we hosted a cheese and wine pairing party for our aunts and family friends. As we've mentioned we LOVE cheese, and we love to try and find new ones that are the perfect match for certain wines. There are tons of websites and books that give recommend suggestions, which is a good place to start if you're interested in doing a pairing. The best way to find a great match after that is to trust your palate. When pairing cheese and wine you want the cheese to enhance the wine and showcase tasting notes that may have gone unnoticed without it. In other cases you may have opposite, and have the wine enhance notes of the cheese. What you don't want to have happen is for one to over power the other.

For our tasting flight we went with three whites and four reds. We had a Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling. As for reds we had a Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. We paired the Chardonnay with a Brie, the Sauvignon Blanc with and herbed goat cheese and the Riesling with a blue cheese. As for the reds we paired the Syrah with a smoked gouda, the Pinot Noir with Gruyere, the Cabernet with an aged cheddar, and the Zinfandel with a peppercorn cheese.

The consensus of the best pairing went to the Chardonnay and Brie (can never go wrong there!). As for the wines the Caymus Cabernet and the Seghesio Zinfandel were definitely our favorites!