Some wines are hard for me to enjoy.  On their own they can be too lackluster-Merlot or Pinots-or too overwhelming-like many Syrahs, to my taste.  What is mediocre alone, however, becomes deliciously complex when combined.  Some of my favorite wines are blends.  Lucky for me, blends are the scruffy mutts of the wine world, often suffering the degradation of the cheap aisle. While I usually prefer simple combinations of two or maybe three wines, Joe Blow Red is a hodge podge of Syrah, Petite Syrah, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon.  Which works for it.  The bold, spicy wines are tempered by the softer, fruitier grapes.  This wine was fruity and smooth, with just enough acid to keep it interesting.  It is easy to drink, not syrupy sweet, and at $7 a bottle worth another buy.

If you are new around here you may not be familiar with the Beyond Merlot series.  The last post I wrote for it was in October last year.  It didn’t seem very popular and then the recession started to make itself felt around here.  I just didn’t think much about writing about wine.  Not that we aren’t enjoying a glass of wine these days, only our choices have been limited to the under $10 a bottle area of the store.

So how do you feel about Beyond Merlot?  Are you interested in wine recommendations from the cheap aisle?  Are you interested in wine at all?

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Rancho Zabaco Zinfandels are always a wine list pick for me, so when I recently saw their Stefani Vineyard Zinfandel at our mini-wine shop I grabbed a bottle. This wine goes great with food. One of the first aromas you get is smoke. It smells like sharing a bottle with friends around a campfire. While drinking, you’ll notice the berries and pepper typical of most red Zinfandels (heavy on the pepper, lighter on the berries) but you’ll also notice a dustiness as you finish each swallow. I know, I know. You’re imagining a “hint of barnyard” coming next and you assume I’ve abandoned you into ridiculous wine jargon, but for real. Try it, it really feels dusty-dry and parched like a desert. It feels as though your tongue has been dried off with a towel. The wine has stripped the mingling flavors from your tongue. What is the point? The point is that it will go well with food because it refreshes your palate with each sip. When you don’t know what wine to pair a food with, look for ones with this dusty nature because they go nicely with a wide range of foods.

Ranging from $15-$20, it was a bit of a splurge and I was disappointed that I couldn’t enjoy it more often. But here’s the surprise: The Dancing Bull Zinfandel, which I know you have seen at the local grocery store, is produced by the same winery. At $8-$10 it is a much more economical choice. So how does it compare? On first opening the bottle, I was disappointed. It almost reminded me of cranberry juice-not my favorite juice. However, sometimes when you don’t care for a wine upon first sip, if you let it sit for about 30 minutes and air out, or open up (look at me today folks-just wine talk all over the place) the flavors will dramatically change. This is what decanters are for-besides looking pretty. In this case, the wine becomes deliciously jammy-much more so than I would expect from a zinfandel. The dustiness on the finish was there too, another wine I would expect to pair well with most meals. Say it with me: dusty on the finish, smoke and jammy, allowing the wine’s bouquet to bloom…

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I really like red Zinfandels. You’ll probably notice this as we go along together. I like that each wine has a different balance of fruitiness and spiciness. I like the different fruits each wine reminds me of: raspberries, cherries, or cassis. I like the richness and softness of the wines-like velvet. I like the subtle heat of black pepper and hints of acid.

Sebastiani Vineyards’ Sonoma County Zinfandel is a classic-fruity and creamy with just enough heat. This wine should run you about $10-$15. It tastes like juicy, warm berries. I order this wine often at restaurants because it pairs so well, with everything from steaks and tapas to barbecue and pizza. Plus I love saying “Sebastiani.” Try this one the next time you want an easy drinking, easy pairing wine.

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I am typically not a fan of Syrah (or Shiraz-same wine different name, FYI). It almost always falls into the “too bitey” category for me, with a peppery kick in the throat that I find unpleasant. The wine guy and I have talked about this and apparently that’s white pepper, whereas I prefer the black peppery flavors such as those in Red Zinfandels. However, lately I have had several french wines composed of a blend of Syrah and Grenache (another wine I don’t typically drink, this one because it is too weak). To my surprise, I have enjoyed the results. Turns out the soft, sweet fruitiness of the Grenache balances the concentrated, spiciness of the Syrah and results in a balanced, fruity, easy drinking wine.

At $6-$9 a bottle, the Ted the Mule Syrah Grenache is very good and very affordable. Originally I bought it for cooking and while it made a mean Sirloin, I was impressed by how smooth the taste was. At $6 a bottle I would be forgiving of many sins, however it turns out to be a very nice wine-fruity and smoky with just a hint of dry spice.

Sorry it’s been so long, wine is expensive! I’ve been trying to focus on under $10 bottles lately. Do you have any recommendations? Email me at Katie at chaosinthekitchen dot com.

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Before I get into my opinion of their Camembert, I first want to mention a few things about their website. My first stop on the site was the pairings section, because my favorite way to experience new cheeses is balanced with the perfect wine. The Chaos household tends towards hard, aged cheeses so I have found the pairings information extremely helpful considering I don’t have a clue as to what to pair with soft, rich, creamy cheeses like the ones Ile de France specializes in.

Next stop, Recipes. I love browsing new recipes and learning about creative ways to use ingredients I am unfamiliar with, like soft cheese. I thought the video recipes were interesting, since watching someone make a recipe goes along way towards boosting my confidence in trying out a new recipe myself. My final stop on the Ile de France website tour: their Wellness page. I learned that soft cheese while seemingly richer and therefore fattier than hard cheese actually has fewer calories and fat per ounce due to the higher moisture content. Of course, I like cave-aged hard cheeses that are so dry they’ve built up lactic acid crystals and are probably 1,000 calories of pure fat per ounce. So rest assured, I’ll be switching over to triple-cream brie, you know, for health reasons. But seriously, the trick to cheese consumption is to find powerful, flavorful cheeses that satisfy you after a single ounce.

Which bring us to the question: how does Ile de France’s Camembert satisfy?

In the interest of fair play I asked the wine guy to suggest an alternate pairing and also picked up an alternate brand of cheese from the deli. The second wine pairing was a Rutz Cellars Russian River Valley Cuvee Chardonnay ($14) and our other camembert was by Delice de France. Thusly, we embarked on our own mini wine and cheese tasting.

The wines: The Beaujolais was a good wine choice to compliment the creamy cheese. It is somewhat dry but fruity and is quite crisp tasting for a red wine. I definitely tastes best chilled. The rich creaminess of the Camembert requires a wine with some acid which both the Beaujolais and chardonnay had. The chardonnay was our favorite for the night. It was rich (and dare I say buttery? Not really sure I know what I am talking about…) with only slight acid and went wonderfully with the tang from the cheese.

The cheeses: The Delice de France cheese was texturally quite different from the Ile de France cheese. It was creamier with less structure and the flavor was quite a bit more intense from the offset. The Ile de France cheese was milder, with a stronger finish. Both cheeses, although creamy and rich, had a lighter-yet tangier and nuttier-flavor than Brie. The Delice de France was our favorite for flavor and texture. We were easily satiated by the one ounce mark. Unfortunately, the cost-at over a $1 per ounce-would make it difficult to enjoy this cheese very often. The Ile de France was the better budget choice at about 75¢ per ounce. It is also more widely available: I was able to locate it at all 4 of the major grocery stores in our area. One advantage the Ile de France cheese had over the Delice de France cheese: it’s firmer structure made removing the rind much easier. I know, I know-real connoisseurs eat the rind. Well, the dog then is quite the cheese connoisseur because he gets all the rinds at my house. Sorry, I just can’t stand the texture or taste; I like my creamy cheeses creamy.

The verdict: Ile de France’s Camembert cheese is the winner in convenience, price, and availability. The flavor is less intense-which means I could easily put away several ounces, ack!-than the more expensive brand which I would occasionally splurge on instead. Both wines went very well with both cheeses, the chardonnay being our favorite. This was a really fun experiment and I encourage anyone who is interested to try it yourselves and let me know what you think!

This is not a paid advertisement. In fact, I spent $32 on wine and cheese that I will happily accept reimbursement for. Anyone? Anyone? If I do any more cheese reviews I might have to ask someone to buy me one of these in exchange. I have been familiar with the Ile de France brand for some time because the grocery stores in my area carry it in their deli section. If you aren’t able to find it in your area they are available online as well, and it comes in a cute package.

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