Showing posts with label Virginia Wine and Cigar Trail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virginia Wine and Cigar Trail. Show all posts

Monday, July 30, 2012

Pairing Virginia Wine and Cigars at Floydfest

One of the many enjoyable aspects of Floydfest is the wine and beer garden at the Pink Floyd Garden Stage, a secluded enclosure to down a few drinks while still exposed to their outstanding musical line-up. On Saturday night, I happened to run into Ron Barker of the Virginia Wine and Cigar Trail, who was featuring Panacea Cigars from CigarVolante, LLC in a display near the stage. Ron's mission is to introduce Virginia wine lovers to cigar pairings where every wine has a suitable matching cigar. Even white wines. Ron selected the Black Maduro Grande to suit my medium strength preference and suggested I pair it with a medium bodied wine - preferably a Cabernet Franc or Pinot Noir. I shuffled over to the Chateau Morrisette tent and found a medium bodied Chambourcin (close enough). On its own, this is a smooth wine, low tannins, and very suitable for a summer festival. However, when paired with the Black Madur, the wine seemed to gain more body, nuttiness, and spice - while still retaining an easy drink-ability. Concurrently, the wine mellowed the cigar so that what little cigar burn was eliminated. Who knew?  I can't wait to start pairing more wine and cigars - perhaps their Green Pennsylvania Broadleaf with Viognier or Sauvignon Blanc. Cheers.