A Shortlist for Wine and Cheese: The Perfect Couple

There’s never been a couple as perfect for each other as wine and cheese. It seems like it’s always a good time to eat wine and cheese, whether it’s at a party, a fancy restaurant, or after a long day at work.

According to folklore, merchants began pairing wine and cheese together as a selling tactic. Wine had long been paired with cheese because of the stark differences in taste and texture. However, when a wine merchant wanted to sell a particular wine, they often gave the consumer an apple and said, “Buy on an apple and sell on cheese.” With this phrase, merchants contended that if a wine tasted good with an apple, it would taste amazing with a piece of cheese.

To celebrate this amazing and age-old relationship, Vino Cellars has decided to give you a shortlist of delicious wine and cheese pairings for you to experience. We hope our selections brighten your day and help you choose the best cheese for your favorite wines!

1. Pinot Noir and Gouda
   
   
   As one of the most highly prized wines in the world, Pinot Noir is an old favorite and a must-have when you bring out the cheeses. Pinot Noir has notes of cranberry, cherry and raspberry but also has a dry bite. With that in mind, try pairing this wine with a nice Gouda cheese. Gouda has a slightly sweet taste that matches up nicely with Pinot’s berry undertones.


2. Garnacha and Manchego
   
   
   With Garnacha and Manchego, we have a story of complete opposites that make fireworks once together. Garnacha has a candied taste with sweet strawberries, cherries and raspberries. This is perfect with a 3-month Manchego cheese, which is semi-soft and features earthy and tangy notes. This stark contrast makes for an explosion of flavor.


3. Cabernet Sauvignon and Sharp Cheddar
   
   
   Next on our list is Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet Sauvignon features dark and fruity flavors like black cherry, blackberry, black pepper and tobacco. Many Cabernets are light but have strong hints of acidity that will stay on your palette. With this wine, try a nice sharp cheddar. These different varieties of sharpness in both the wine and cheese will complement each other and make for a nice pair.


4. Prosecco and Asiago
   
   
   Our next wine and cheese coupling both hail from Italy, the home to many of the world’s most beloved wines and cheeses in the world. Prosecco is a sparkling wine full of sweet, fruity flavors and delightful bubbles. We suggest pairing Prosecco with aged Asiago. Aged Asiago has a nice crumbly texture that will be a good contrast to the bubbly Prosecco.


5. Dry White Wine and Chevre Cheese
   
   
   And finally, for our last recommendation on the shortlist, we bring you dry white wine and Chevre cheese. We focused more on the cheese for this one and gave you freedom to choose a white wine, because we’d like you to experiment. Chevre cheese is a dry and crumbly French goat cheese with a nice tart flavor. The flavors can be mild or sour, which makes it perfect to contrast with a bright white wine.

And that’s it for our quick wine and cheese pairing guide! The above are great pairings for appetizers at brunch, house gatherings and much more. If you haven’t found a pairing that speaks to your heart, by all means, experiment! Make sure to let us know what pairings you’ve liked and new ones you’ve tried in the comments below!

Follow the Wine: Best Wine Travel Destinations

There are few experiences in the world that compare to drinking wine where it’s made. This allows you to savor the freshness and feel a connection to the earth.

Many wine lovers thank the earth for allowing them to taste one of the finest products it produces and then thank the wine makers for their diligence and hard work. It makes sense that one of Mother Nature’s finest products is produced in beautiful places. Imagine the Spanish Rioja with its sprawling mountains and multicolored scenery or the French Rhone Valley and its lovely waterways.

All in all, drinking wine where it’s made is a relaxing and often breathtaking experience.

With vacation season coming around, we wanted to highlight some of the best wine travel destinations in the world to stir the wine lover in you. There’s nothing like tasting some of the best wines in the world, and we hope this inspires you to take a trip to learn more about your favorite wines and the region that makes it.

1. Porto
   One of our first picks is the birthplace of port wine: Porto, Portugal. Porto is a beautiful city with ancient mazes for streets, but it also has a modern side, being Portugal’s second largest city. In addition to Port wine, the city has also been gaining fame for its superb red and white table wines. Another cool thing about Porto is that wine merchants line up at the river to sell their wines. You can also buy your lunch at the river from one of the various food stands. If you want to try the wine at a wine lodge, the little town of Villa Nova de Gaia is only a boat ride away.



2. Chilean Patagonia
   If you’re a wine lover and want to know more about how the earth produces wine all while tasting amazing wine, look no further than the Chilean Patagonia. This trip is special because it features both wine and adventure. The Chilean Patagonia region is a must-see for winemakers because of its dark soils and dry climate, which allow the vineyards of the region to produce some of the best Syrahs and Chardonnays in the world. All who visit Patagonia say you have to walk and wine (drink it, that is). It’ll be hard to stay indoors when your surroundings are as breathtaking as they are here.



3. Galicia
   Nestled in Northern Spain with the ocean as its backyard, Galicia is famous for the strong character of its people and its culture, which are different from the rest of Spain. Almost all of Galicia is covered in green countryside, making it the perfect place to produce fine wines. Galicia produces Albarino, one of the most sought-after white wines in the world. Visit Rias Baixas for tourist-friendly wineries. Galicia will not only guarantee fine wine, but also good seafood and fun activities.



4. Sonoma County
   Often overshadowed by its popular neighbor, Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley in California is a quiet little gem in the wine world. Sonoma boasts more than 100 wineries, including castles and garden chateaus, and is famous for creating one-of-a-kind wines with unique and often unheard of grapes. Sonoma resides between two mountain ranges and is perfect for nature lovers. It’s also less crowded than Napa, making it easier to get the authentic local experience.



5. Piedmont
   When you visit Piedmont in Italy, you’ll not only remember the wine, which is amazing, but you’ll also remember your adventures traipsing through the city’s Michelin-starred restaurants. Piedmont includes some of the finest wineries in Italy and is pure luxury. However, the area also has some fabulous and inexpensive B&Bs. One key area to visit, according to The Guardian, is Langhe and Roero. It is here that winemakers produce Barolo and Barbaresco, some of the most exquisite red wines in the world.

Although wine is important when you go on wine trips, you have to make sure you go somewhere that offers more than just wine, whether it’s great parks, boat rides, nature trails, etc. Why? Because it’ll help you make great memories. Many people often associate a memory with a wine, which makes it easier to remember.

At the end of your trip, you’ll have wine, memories and a full belly. Nothing better than that.

Have a favorite wine destination we didn’t name here? Let us know of the best or your most favorite wineries in the comments below!

Product Highlight: Deluxe Wine Room 900

American-made, hand crafted excellence shows through in every aspect of this beautiful Deluxe Wine Room 900. Although one of the most compact walk-in wine rooms, measuring just 80.5" X 80.5" X 46.5", there's enough room to hold 736 standard 3.25" diameter wine bottles in the redwood racks plus bulk storage space on top shelves to hold as many as another 108 bottles. Built-in racks are located on the left and right walls, with a 36-inch walkway down the center.

Beautiful, Functional and Affordable
This Vino Cellars walk-in wine room provides the most economical cost-per-bottle storage area of any of the walk-ins and looks great doing it! The oak wood exterior comes either unfinished or in your choice of satin stain colors. The interior is paneled in unfinished mahogany placed over 1" rigid insulation with an upgrade option of 2" insulation, which is recommended if your unit will be located in an area that gets above 90°, such as in the garage.

This cooler is designed to protect your wine inventory from damage by safely cradling the bottles and keeping them at the ideal levels of temperature and humidity, providing a perfect environment for long-term aging of both red wines and white. While normally outfitted with a Breezaire 2200 BTU chilling cooler, the current offering of the Deluxe Wine Room 900 comes with the upgraded Breezaire 3000 BTU Cooling System at no additional cost.

Tons of Options
It’s also available with a long list of options, allowing you to tailor your personal unit to your exact personal tastes. Doors, for example, can be veneer-frame basic, veneer-frame with a window or hardwood-frame doors with a selection of several glass window choices. A complete list of options includes:

• Door Window – Pacifica, Provence, Arch, French, Etched. Double-pane, insulated, tinted or clear glass
• Door Molding – none, or molding added to hardwood-frame doors
• Exterior Finish – unstained or satin stain finish
• Exterior Stain Color – natural, light, medium, dark, light cherry, dark cherry
• Security Lock – none or single lock
• Interior Light – battery-operated wireless LED light, low-heat electric light or no light
• Split Panel – half-sized, split panels to allow for easier transport when carrying the unit up stairways or around tight corners
• Optional temperature bottle probe, which allows for measuring liquid temperature rather than air temperature

Discounted Delivery
Delivery within the lower 48 U.S. states is currently being discounted and includes uncrating, placement of all components into your garage or other first floor room and removal of all packing debris. All components for complete installation are provided. Installation is the responsibility of the customer, although installation in locations within the local San Francisco Bay area or Tri-Valley can be provided for an additional charge.

5 Tips for Designing Your Custom Wine Cellar

As Benjamin Franklin once said, wine is “constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!” If you’re as big of a wine lover as Benjamin Franklin, a home wine cellar would make the perfect addition to your house. A properly constructed wine cellar allows you to store and age your wine to perfection, without ever leaving your property. Whether you’ve already decided to install one and are searching for custom wine cellar ideas or you’re still deciding whether a wine cellar is right for you, we’ve come up with some essential tips you should follow when designing a custom wine cellar.

1. Start With the Why – Are you installing a wine cellar that guests can also enjoy? Or are you installing a wine cellar simply to store your vast amounts of wine? Asking yourself why you’re installing the cellar will make design and detail decisions down the road much easier. If you aren’t planning on showing off your cellar to guests, you can skip decorative display racking and instead get increased bottle capacity. If you want your cellar to make your neighbors green however, consider adding upgrades like islands, archways or even waterfalls.


2. Determine the Location – The location of your wine cellar is extremely important. The ideal conditions for storing wine are between 55 and 60˚F and 50-70 percent relative humidity. Wine cellars require adequate insulation, a moisture barrier and an airtight seal to function properly. The key to creating an efficient and affordable wine cellar is choosing a quality spot and using materials that can efficiently control temperature and humidity.


3. Select a Wine Cooling Unit – Unlike normal cooling units, wine cooling units control humidity as well as the temperature. There are several different ways you can cool your cellar. The easiest and most cost-effective way is with a through-wall unit that’s installed in the framing of the wall. A split cooling system is more expensive and requires professional installation, but it takes up less space and creates less noise in the cellar. Additionally, there is a ducted cooling system option. This system also requires professional installation and typically costs the most, but it produces no noise and takes up no space in your cellar.


4. Decide How to Display Your Wine – Once you’ve hammered out the details of where and how to build your wine cellar, you’ll need to decide how you want to display your wine within the cellar. Popular choices include individual bottle storage racks, diamond bin storage (bulk storage with some flair), case storage (designed to hold bottles in their original cases) or tabletops with some form of storage below. If you’re having trouble deciding, consider how much wine you’d like to store and how much time you want to spend in your actual cellar.


5. Choose Your Lighting – When designing a wine cellar that’s meant to be seen and appreciated, selecting your lighting is paramount. Incandescents and halogen bulbs emit too much heat to be left on for long in a cellar. LED lighting on the other hand emits virtually no heat and comes in many shapes, sizes and colors.

Whether you want to design and install a DIY wine cellar from scratch or you want some help designing and installing a custom wine cellar, Wine Cabinets has got you covered. From the drawing board through installation, we can help make sure your home or commercial wine cellar fits your personality and your space perfectly.