CheapWineFinder Podcast
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CheapWineFinder Podcast
Why American Cheese Singles Pair Perfectly with Premium Italian Wine
Domain Dave explores Costco's Kirkland Signature Chianti Classico Reserva 2022, an exceptional value at just $8.99 that delivers authentic Tuscan character despite its budget price. The wine appears to have a new producer this year (no longer Caffaggio), making it worth trying regardless of previous experiences with this label.
• DOCG classification guarantees quality through strict regulations for vineyard management and wine production
• Made primarily from Sangiovese (minimum 90%) and aged for two years with three months in bottle
• Italian wines like Chianti are specifically designed to pair with food, not for standalone sipping
• Even simple pairings like American cheese singles can transform the wine by softening its tannins
• The wine delivers typical Chianti characteristics - red berry flavors, spice notes, and good structure
• At $8.99, this represents an exceptional value for a wine of this caliber
• Pairs wonderfully with everything from takeout burgers to pasta dishes
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Hey, welcome, it's Domain Dave, again from CheapWineFindercom. And today we've got a. Well, I made a trip to Costco and I've got an 899 Kirkland Signature Chianti Classico Reserva 2022. And it's sold for. Did I say $899? Yeah, it's very cheap for one of those wines it's sold for. Did I say $8.99? Yeah, it's very cheap for one of those wines. It's very inexpensive.
Speaker 1:We've done it in the past and the back label say Caffaggio, which is one of the producers in the Chianti Classico region, made the wine and this year that's off there and I don't know who made it now. So if you have liked it in the past or didn't like in the past, you might want to give it a try again because this might be something new and different. Uh, chianti classico is a docg wine. G stands for guaranteed. They have rules and regulations, uh, for the vineyard, for the production of the wine. You know how much, how many, what kind of yields you can have and basically what those rules say is that if you follow the rules in the vineyard and you follow the rules in the winery, you will make a quality wine. I mean, it's the blueprint. It doesn't mean that you and I are going to like the wine. It just means that they're going to make a quality wine that you and I are going to like the wine. It just means that they're going to make a quality wine.
Speaker 1:And the Chianti Classico is the oldest DOCG region in this is Tuscany, in the Chianti region, and the grape is Sangiovese. It has to be at least 90%. They do add other grapes in there sometimes, but we don't know on this one, and the Pascafaggio would have said something on their website. Here we we're taking it for grant. We don't know, we're just going to drink it and enjoy it. So, um, what else about uh chianti classical reserve? It's got to be aged for at least two years, uh three, three months in bottle. And this is aged, uh, for two years, three months in bottle. And this is aged for two years, three months in bottle. Often they use these big, large barrels a lot of times neutral barrels, so you don't get too much oak in it, but this one has its tannins. It does definitely have tannins. I'm going to take a sip.
Speaker 1:The thing you've got to remember about Chianti, especially class uh classical reserva, is that it's a food wine. You know, they wouldn't, they don't really drink wine, they don't go out at night they don't sit on their back porch and sip. They don't turn on netflix and drink wine. We do. So they make their wines to pair well with food, with dinner, and you know, when you have these pasta meals with white sauce or red sauce and creaminess, you're going to need a little bit of something in the wine to cut through all that, to cleanse the palate. So the next time you take a taste it's a brand new experience all over again. That's the whole reason why you have the structure, why you have the tannins, why you have the acidity where American wine especially value price.
Speaker 1:They figure you're eating Cheetos and watching a movie or something. So they don't figure that. You know, on a 8991, they don't figure you just made a five-course meal. So this is a wine you're pretty much going to want to get something to eat. Just a cheese tray and maybe if you have a little bit of a fancy sausage of some sort, trader Joe's has a Chardonnay sausage or whatever and I went looking for what I had in the refrigerator and I'm having this with American cheese singles.
Speaker 1:It works. I mean, anytime you have a wine that's got a bit of tannins to it, which it's supposed to have. It's not a flaw, it's supposed to be there. You need to put a little food in your mouth, a little bit of something for it to do the work with, so it can balance out and it works. So have snacks when you drink wine, and American cheese and Chianti seems to go together. Yep, it bounces out really good, really nicely. That little tightness you get from little pull you get from the tannins kind of smooths out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean you don't have to be fancy. You can have a tray of aged meats and really expensive exotic cheeses and what have you, but you don't need to do all that. You can just get what you like and what you have on hand. You know, a couple of some crackers would work well too. Yeah, so this Kirkland Signature Chianti Classical Reserva 2022, $8.99.
Speaker 1:That's a very inexpensive price for a wine of this caliber. And it's a Chianti, I mean it's made from San Giovese, it's going to be red, it's going to be red berries, it's going to have some spice, it's going to have some nice flavors to it. It's going to have a little bit of structure to it. If you're used to just California, get the American cheese singles out, so you're going to need it. But as soon as you have it little sup and and if you, you know, and at $8.99 you can pick up a taco ball or our burgers from the local. You know you don't need to have some fancy in-and-out burgers or you can just get local burgers bring them back in, have this with the wine. You're gonna have a great little meal and that's what it's all about.
Speaker 1:So this is DomainDaveCheapWineFindercom. We write up three different value price wines a week and then we plug in the microphone and we talk about it. So here we are, like us. We like your podcast, if you will, it does matter, and I think I've got another Costco wine coming up before too long. I've got a another, I think, a Cabernet Sauvignon. I've been doing a bunch of those lately, but they've been out and about and pretty good this year. So that's it. Keep it cheap. Adios, I'll be talking to you in a couple of days. This was the Kirkland Signature Chianti Classical Reserve of 2022. It might this was the Kirkland Signature Chianti Classical Reserva 2022. It might be a different producer in the past. So if you liked it before, you might want to give it a try again, and if you didn't like it before, you might want to give it a try again. So, adios, keep it cheap, bye-bye.