Drink This Now: Lesson 1 (Chianti Classico Wine Review)

On 2/18/2023 I did the Drink This Now: Lesson 1. The goal of this lesson was to understand why Europeans drink wine with their meals more frequently than Americans do. Europeans think of wine as a food on its own that pairs well with other food. In this lesson, I have eaten, drank, and established a connection between how the flavors of a certain wine and cuisine complimented each other throughout my experience.

What I grabbed:

I grabbed a Chianti Classico from Italy and paired it with a wedge of hard parmesan cheese from Wisconsin and spicy Italian meatballs.

What I did:

Step 1.

Name of wine: Cavaliere D’oro Chianti Classico

Year: 2019

Region: Tuscany

Color: Medium Ruby

Price: $10.99 at Kroger

Just opened:

Smell - vanilla, plum, cinnamon

Taste - creamy, spicy, black pepper, spicy

Body - medium to heavy bodied

My review: 5/10

Slightly dry but less dry than most other red wines I’ve had so I like it in a sense of its 

bearable, it is more tannic than not but not overpowering with the component

Step 2.

Two hours later:

Smell - more potent, less appealing, more cinnamon, less vanilla

Taste - cream, cinnamon

Body - Medium bodied

My review:

Less tannic, has less taste overall, much creamier but still dry

Step 3.

With cheese:

Smell - cinnamon, makes the wine dull

Taste - enhanced acidic flavors, harsh

Body - brought the wine back to medium to heavy bodied

My review:

The more cheese I eat the more acidic the wine becomes in my mouth but it makes the

cheese taste better because I don't like block parmesan cheese on its own

Step 4.

With meat:

Smell - starting to smell like rubbing alcohol, less specific smell than before

Taste - more dry, tannic, really acidic taste directly after eating a meatball, dry

Body - back to original medium bodied

My review:

The meatball brings out the dryness of the wine and makes it taste worse

Step 5.

Unable to complete step 5 of tasting it after 24 hours because we drank all of it while 

doing the tastings.

Overall thoughts:

I would like to try this lesson again with different wines and foods to see if I can find a pairing that works for me. I was surprised that I enjoyed the wine with the parmesan cheese since I hate plain cheese on its own in general. It was nice to experience something that a lot of people do daily that I would have never thought to try on my own.