5 Vegas Gold Nugget and Mendocino Vineyards Chardonnay 2009: Pairing

The Wine

Mendocino Vineyards Chardonnay 2009

Mendocino County Made with Organic Grapes

Geyserville, California, USA

13.5% abv

Appearance: bright crystal sunny yellow

Aroma: light fresh summer fruits with a hint of citrus meat

Flavors: the lively citrus profile reminds me of lemon meat and red grapefruit.  It also reminds me of mineral water with a heavy dose of fresh lemon.  There is a good undertone of sweet tropical fruits with splash of fresh tart apple. 

Mouthfeel: acidity on the finish, nice fresh fruits linger on the palate for a short spell. 

My Strength Rating: 4 – a very tasty mild-medium white wine. 

Pair this with white fish or shell fish, summer salad.  I personally would never pair this with salmon, for one I do not like salmon with any type of lemon sauce.  Don’t take a tasty fish like salmon and put lemon on it.  Why do you put lemon on white fish or that breaded white fish?  Because it tastes like nothing so, you have to add lemon.  Just the same reason Americans put a lime in beer – because the beer tastes like nothing otherwise.   

Here is a good pairing

The Cigar

Vegas 5 Gold Nugget

Wrapper: Connecticut Shade

Filler: Honduran, Dominican

Size: 4.5 x 44

My Strength Rating: 2

These 5 Vegas Golds are very smooth and tasty mild cigars.  I usually get a nice mellow oaky flavor and a mild almond like nutty note.  This stick is pleasingly smooth on the palate.  It is not a complex cigar.  The Vegas 5 Golds are pretty straight forward. 

The burn on the cigar is perfect and it holds a firm light gray ash that is nice and tight.

I like this cigar for pairing with mild dishes, white fish or shell fish.  They also pair well with pilsners, lagers, other lighter beers and white wine.

The Pairing

At first I thought liked this pairing.  I was not thinking much about it.  I was just sitting back and enjoying.  Then I said, ‘it’s review time wake-up,’ and then I started to think about the experience. 

While overall it is not a bad pairing but, this cigar did have a little negative effect on the Chardonnay here.  That zippy lemon profile was muted a little so, that is not all bad.  But, the part that I liked was the undertone of a mixed sweet tropical fruit bowl.  Well, that seems to be muted as well.  I can only guess that the oaky profile of this cigar cuts back on the flavors in the wine during this pairing. 

But, when I am busy doing something else here and I am not paying attention to the details it is not all that big of a deal. 

I’ll have to pair this cigar with an oaked Chardonnay next time.