Farewell to Winter

With Spring now upon us, I decided to have a farewell to Winter today. One of my favorite winter-time lunches is grilled cheese with tomato soup. I pulled out a Michigan white to go with it, and came up with what I consider to be a "perfect pairing".

Wine: Leelanau Cellars Winter White
Meal: Grilled 3-Cheese Sandwich with Tomato Bisque

Tasting notes on the wine:
Color: 5/5
Pale yellow, like rays of sunshine that pour down through clouds. Excellent clarity, and there's no clear meniscus on this - the color bleeds all the way to the glass.

Nose: 10/15
Honeysuckle is the main scent I pull out of this, along with daisies. It's a very pretty, floral nose, but somewhat simple.

Taste: 7/10
For a "semi-sweet" wine, it tastes extremely sweet, almost cloying, but it's nice. It has a velvety smooth mouthfeel. The main flavor components are honey, nectar, and apricot.

Finish: 5/10
Almost non-existent. It's there, then it's not, making it very difficult to pick up on notes here. It's pleasant though.

Aging: 2/5
While this will probably hold up well in the fridge once opened, and will probably hold up in the cellar for a while, I would not recommend trying to age this one. It is a non-vintage wine, which means each year they make it, it's going to taste similar. If you want it, go out and buy it a day or two before you plan to have it. No point in keeping it around.

Overall: 3/5
It's a little too sweet for me, but is tasty. It definitely needs food to go with it to balance out the sweetness. The acidity in the soup really cut through the sweet and made it pretty awesome to have with the meal, and the fattiness of the cheese also helped. Dipping the sandwich into the soup and taking a bite, then having a sip of the wine is just perfect. Fatty semi-soft cheese, tomatoes, white chocolate - all would be wonderful pairings with this. Caprese salad - I'm lookin' at you.

Total: 82pts

Want to make this meal?

Grilled 3-Cheese Sandwich
Melt some butter on a skillet or griddle and place a flat wrap or tortilla on it. On one side of the wrap, place a slice each of your three favorite cheeses - I used colby jack, mozzarella, and parmesan. When the cheese just starts to melt, fold over the wrap. After a minute, flip the entire sandwich. Once the cheese has melted and the wrap has become toasted, cut in half and plate. Sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top of it.

Tomato Bisque
2 14oz cans diced tomatoes, one drained
1 12oz can evaporated milk
2 Tbsp sugar or sweetener equivalent
1 Tbsp dried chives
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp salt

Drain one can of tomatoes, then pour both cans into a pot over medium-high heat. Add chives, basil, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil and allow the liquid to reduce by about a third.

Add in the milk and stir to combine. Return just to a boil, and remove from heat. Blend together using either a stick or a stand blender, until smooth.

Serve in a bowl, garnished with a sprinkling of dried chives. Refrigerate leftovers.

Enjoy!