National Grilled Cheese Day!

Grilled cheese? Yes, please!

What better way to celebrate National Grilled Cheese Day than with a grilled cheese and wine. This is my ultimate comfort food no matter what time of year.

The sky's the limit with how to make a beautiful, delicious grilled cheese. You have choices of hard and soft cheeses like American, Cheddar, Brie, and Swiss. You can add tomato, bacon, jam, or peppers!

We went with a classic version: Gruyere & Aged Cheddar Grilled cheese on French Bread with a side of Tomato Soup topped with Thyme.

The wine paired with this dish with is a 2019 La Crema Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast in California. It's red-fruit forward with smooth tannins. The Sonoma Coast is a cool weather region which makes it a great location for Pinot Noir grapes to grow being cooled naturally by the Pacific Ocean wind. Since these grapes make light to medium bodied wine, they don't need the hot climate that a Cabernet Sauvignon grape would prefer and need in order to fully ripen.

This dry red wine has a medium-body, balanced acidity (not too bold or soft), and smooth tannins. That is why I chose a Pinot Noir to pair with this dish as I wanted a red wine to complement the cheese but soft tannins to not contrast with the salty components (butter combined with cheese).

When I hear red fruit like raspberries and cherries with tea and chocolate....there's a pretty good chance I'm going to love the wine. How can you go wrong with those flavors! I love all of them. That's exactly what this wine will deliver.

La Crema primarily uses French oak barrels for aging which gives it additional complex flavors.

Just like a few other wineries I've written about, La Crema uses sustainable wine-making techniques being mindful of water and energy use.

If you're looking for other top notch U.S. Pinot Noirs, look at Washington and Oregon regions such as Willamette Valley and Columbia Gorge.

Cheers!