Why American Cheese Singles Pair Perfectly with Premium Italian Wine

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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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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, welcome, it's Domain Dave, again from
CheapWineFindercom.
And today we've got a.
Well, I made a trip to Costcoand I've got an 899 Kirkland
Signature Chianti ClassicoReserva 2022.
And it's sold for.
Did I say $899?

(00:22):
Yeah, it's very cheap for oneof those wines it's sold for.
Did I say $8.99?
Yeah, it's very cheap for oneof those wines.
It's very inexpensive.
We've done it in the past andthe back label say Caffaggio,
which is one of the producers inthe Chianti Classico region,
made the wine and this yearthat's off there and I don't
know who made it now.
So if you have liked it in thepast or didn't like in the past,

(00:44):
you might want to give it a tryagain because this might be
something new and different.
Uh, chianti classico is a docgwine.
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 rulessay is that if you follow the

(01:10):
rules in the vineyard and youfollow the rules in the winery,
you will make a quality wine.
I mean, it's the blueprint.
It doesn't mean that you and Iare going to like the wine.
It just means that they'regoing to make a quality wine
that you and I are going to likethe wine.
It just means that they'regoing to make a quality wine.
And the Chianti Classico is theoldest DOCG region in this is

(01:31):
Tuscany, in the Chianti region,and the grape is Sangiovese.
It has to be at least 90%.
They do add other grapes inthere sometimes, but we don't
know on this one, and thePascafaggio would have said
something on their website.
Here we we're taking it forgrant.
We don't know, we're just goingto drink it and enjoy it.
So, um, what else about uhchianti classical reserve?

(01:57):
It's got to be aged for atleast two years, uh three, three
months in bottle.
And this is aged, uh, for twoyears, three months in bottle.
And this is aged for two years,three months in bottle.
Often they use these big, largebarrels a lot of times neutral
barrels, so you don't get toomuch oak in it, but this one has
its tannins.
It does definitely have tannins.

(02:17):
I'm going to take a sip.
The thing you've got to rememberabout Chianti, especially class
uh classical reserva, is thatit's a food wine.
You know, they wouldn't, theydon't really drink wine, they
don't go out at night they don'tsit on their back porch and sip

(02:38):
.
They don't turn on netflix anddrink wine.
We do.
So they make their wines topair well with food, with dinner
, and you know, when you havethese pasta meals with white
sauce or red sauce andcreaminess, you're going to need
a little bit of something inthe wine to cut through all that
, to cleanse the palate.
So the next time you take ataste it's a brand new

(03:01):
experience all over again.
That's the whole reason why youhave the structure, why you
have the tannins, why you havethe acidity where American wine
especially value price.
They figure you're eatingCheetos and watching a movie or
something.
So they don't figure that.
You know, on a 8991, they don'tfigure you just made a

(03:22):
five-course meal.
So this is a wine you're prettymuch going to want to get
something to eat.
Just a cheese tray and maybe ifyou have a little bit of a
fancy sausage of some sort,trader Joe's has a Chardonnay
sausage or whatever and I wentlooking for what I had in the

(03:44):
refrigerator and I'm having thiswith American cheese singles.
It works.
I mean, anytime you have a winethat's got a bit of tannins to
it, which it's supposed to have.
It's not a flaw, it's supposedto be there.
You need to put a little foodin your mouth, a little bit of
something for it to do the workwith, so it can balance out and

(04:08):
it works.
So have snacks when you drinkwine, and American cheese and
Chianti seems to go together.
Yep, it bounces out really good, really nicely.

(04:29):
That little tightness you getfrom little pull you get from
the tannins kind of smooths out.
Yeah, I mean you don't have tobe fancy.
You can have a tray of agedmeats and really expensive
exotic cheeses and what have you, but you don't need to do all
that.
You can just get what you likeand what you have on hand.

(04:51):
You know, a couple of somecrackers would work well too.
Yeah, so this KirklandSignature Chianti Classical
Reserva 2022, $8.99.
That's a very inexpensive pricefor a wine of this caliber.
And it's a Chianti, I mean it'smade from San Giovese, it's

(05:13):
going to be red, it's going tobe red berries, it's going to
have some spice, it's going tohave some nice flavors to it.
It's going to have a little bitof structure to it.
If you're used to justCalifornia, get the American
cheese singles out, so you'regoing to need it.
But as soon as you have itlittle sup and and if you, you

(05:33):
know, and at $8.99 you can pickup a taco ball or our burgers
from the local.
You know you don't need to havesome fancy in-and-out burgers
or you can just get localburgers bring them back in, have
this with the wine.
You're gonna have a greatlittle meal and that's what it's
all about.

(05:53):
So this isDomainDaveCheapWineFindercom.
We write up three differentvalue price wines a week and
then we plug in the microphoneand we talk about it.
So here we are, like us.
We like your podcast, if youwill, it does matter, and I
think I've got another Costcowine coming up before too long.
I've got a another, I think, aCabernet Sauvignon.

(06:17):
I've been doing a bunch ofthose lately, but they've been
out and about and pretty goodthis year.
So that's it.
Keep it cheap.
Adios, I'll be talking to youin a couple of days.
This was the Kirkland SignatureChianti Classical Reserve of
2022.
It might this was the KirklandSignature Chianti Classical
Reserva 2022.
It might be a differentproducer in the past.
So if you liked it before, youmight want to give it a try
again, and if you didn't like itbefore, you might want to give

(06:37):
it a try again.
So, adios, keep it cheap,bye-bye.