A nice chance for me to do some more experimenting with cheeses and a wine in a really neat style:
2000 Viña Valoria Viura Rioja Crianza [100 percent Viura] (Rioja DOC, northern central Spain) cork closure, 12% - appears dark gold, smell oxidation and sherry notes upfront, fair amount of interest underneath, but hiding, as it opens more cooked fruit comes forth, quite nice, mouthfeel is fairly thin, though firmly bound with some heft, tastes on entry much like nose, eventually takes on a light savory spiciness somewhat reminiscent of a barbecue sauce, light and feathery while still a bit rusty, the wine was very solid and opened up nicely and held together over the two days I drank it, though, not immediately obvious, the acidity seemed rather decent as the wine proved very versatile pairing with food. Tasty, tasty match for some mixed nuts and I found it surprisingly refreshing with dried apricots—not so much with some dried figs whose sweetness made the wine taste far too tart. An interesting wine to drink and very food friendly, very happy to have experienced this wine, well worth the $20 I paid. The cheeses:
The Cone du Port Aubry, a goat's milk cheese from the Loire Valley in western France had a very creamy dense texture matched by a rich, obvious, and slightly sweet set of flavors—but really rich, made every salivary gland kick in. Rich, tangy, firm and delicious. Great cheese, but the sweetness recreated the effect with the figs—the sweet makes the wine taste too tart.
The Garrotxa, a goat cheese from Catalonia in northern central Spain had a firm slightly flaky texture, very dry and only slightly salty. Very grainy in my mouth, it took on dry stony notes. Quite complex and very interesting. Superb stuff. The cheese and the wine had a ying-and-yang thing going on, pushing the wine to its extremes of rust and nuts and the cheese to its extremes of stones and dryness. It also made the cheese taste like a pasta dish in and of itself. Interesting match.
The Fiore Sardo, a sheep's milk cheese from Sardinia in Italy was even drier than the Garrotxa in texture and crumbling quite a bit. It tasted very smoky, parching, very dry, absorbing all moisture in my mouth. Reminded me of volcanic rocks (oooo . . . imagine having this cheese with one of those wines grown on volcanic soils, that could be fun!). Delicacy and spice. The spiciness really was enhanced by the wine and the wine became edgier as well. Delicious match.