My family is on vacation in Costa Rica this week with my mother and my brother and his family. I have traveled to some of the great cities of Europe, Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean and I can safely say that Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been. And the Costa Rican people that we have met have been, to a person, genuinely warm and friendly, especially to the children. We are truly having a magical vacation.
We are spending a week on the peninsula of Papagayo, a beautiful spot as you can see.
This afternoon, the kids’ program at our resort offered an outing to the miniature golf course at the same time as a wine tasting in the lobby. So, naturally, we were the parents who sent our kids away so that we could drink wine. One of the resort sommeliers talked us through our wine tasting and cheese pairings and the information he shared was so interesting that I thought I would share it with you.
Our sommelier, Roberto, advised us to begin the tasting of each wine by examining the wine’s color. We had white placemats in front of us and Roberto suggested holding the wine against the white paper to see the color clearly. Next, you smell the wine, then taste it on its own and then finally try the wine with the appropriate cheese.
For our first wine, we tried a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc which was paired with some fresh goat cheese. We all noticed the wine’s pale color and tropical, fruity aroma. On its own, the wine was flinty and sharp, but the edge was tamed by pairing it with fresh, mild goat cheese. While I love Sauvignon Blanc and mineral, citrusy wines, I don’t know that I would order this wine again. It was a little too crisp without enough complexity.
The second wine was an Argentinian Pinot Noir paired with a creamy Brie. The color was a berry red and the taste fruity and refreshing. Not a heavy, full-bodied red at all, which considering that we were in the tropics seemed fitting. We all agreed that the pairing with the unctuous, creamy Brie balanced both flavors.
The third wine, by far my least favorite, was a Tuscan red that was a mixture of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet grapes. It was much darker than the Pinot, even inky. It also had more body and complexity than the Pinot without being overly tannic. Roberto paired this wine with a Manchego, the most strongly flavored cheese so far.
We finished with a sparkling rosé from Chile that my sister-in-law had been drinking all week. Paired with a bleu cheese, the rosé was refreshing and very quaffable. The bubbles served as a palate cleanser after the sharpness of the bleu.
For our final task, Roberto charged us to try each wine with the strawberry jam and nuts in the center of our plates. But he advised us try the jam first followed by the wine, not the other way around. If we were to try the wine first, the acid in it would make the sweet jam taste unpleasant. Surprisingly, of all the wines, the one that tasted best after the jam was the crisp Sauvignon Blanc.
Tasting wines in the open lobby by the pool was certainly a pleasant way to spend the hour before dinner and our children didn’t even mind being shipped off to play mini-golf. I found Roberto’s tips on how to analyze wines and pair different wines with cheese very illuminating. And guess what we are doing on Thursday? Mixology class!
