Drink This Now Lesson 1

Drink This Now Lesson 1

Cavaliere D'Oro Gabbiano Chianti Classico

Variety: Sangiovese

Region/Country: Tuscany, Italy

Year: 2019

Price: $10.99 at Kroger

Step One was to try the wine immediately after opening.

The wine was medium ruby with a slight brown tint. The wine smelled like cherries and a bit spicy. It tasted very tannic and dry, with dark fruit. It had a medium to full body. The wine was too tannic for my taste, so I hoped waiting the two hours would be helpful.

Step Two was to wait for two hours to let the wine open up and then taste it again. 

The cherry aromas were much stronger and fruitier. Like I had hoped, it was far less tannic than before. It had the same dark fruit and dry flavors, but I also noticed that it was creamy. The body seemed lighter than when we had first opened it and it was much easier to drink.

Step Three was to try the wine with cheese.

I got a block of parmesan cheese from Kroger. When trying it with the wine, it made the wine aromas a lot duller. The taste was less tannic, but more acidic and the body was lighter. I don't really like hard cheeses by themselves anyway and maybe I just didn't pair it well, but it made both the cheese and wine taste worse.

        

Step Four was to try the wine with food.

I had spicy chicken meatballs from Costco cooked in a pan with oil. Like the cheese, the wine aromas were duller than before. The taste was very acidic and tannic, as well as spicier. It seemed to have a lighter body than before.

Unfortunately, we forgot about step five and finished the bottle after we were done with the other steps. 

This lesson was interesting because while the food didn't drastically change the flavors, it did really change the experience of drinking the wine and how it felt in my mouth. It will be fun to try this with more wines and pairings of cheese and other foods.