Malbec with Castello Blue

So my boyfriend has the most incredible memory ... wait, let me qualify that ... my boyfriend has the most incredible visual memory. He will remember anything you email or IM him. But he has a terrible audio memory. Here is a fine example ... We were out at the local bar and for some reason he felt like having red wine. He ordered the Cabernet from the bartender, but she poured him a Malbec since she thought it was better. My boyfriend loved it. So he ordered another one, but couldn't remember the name of the wine. He kept asking me "Whats the name of that wine again?" ... "Malbec" ... "Hey, whats the name of that wine again?" ... "Malbec" ... "Whats the name of that ..." "MALBEC!" ... the whole night, a good 6 or 7 glasses, if not more ... and yes, he CAN drink that much ... So, when I got home I emailed him the name of the wine. And of course the next time he was out to dinner with his friends when the waiter asked him his drink order ... "Malbec" automatically falls out of his mouth! Its become a habit for me to text him whenever we come across something we really like at a restaurant, particular wines or cheeses.

One of the best things about Malbecs is it is a great value. Malbecs are mostly produced in Argentinia and America still has a good exchange rate with them. So you know when you're spending $15 on a bottle of Malbec, its one good wine! It'd be like spending $50 on a Napa wine. Our favorite Malbec is Carlo Basso Reservado. And we've tasted at least 20 different Malbecs.

When we do these nights in with some wine, we always have cheese. Castello Blue cheese with our Malbecs. I know this sounds like a strange pairing. Blue cheese is never to be eaten with red wine since it causes the wine to have a metallic taste in the mouth. But for some reason Castello Blue goes great with Malbec. We discovered this when we were eating natto and then drank some Malbec. It was terrible, made the Malbec taste rotten (uh, duh!) ... but then we cleared out that taste by eating Castello Blue and couldn't believe how much it improved the wine. And yes, I know, most people don't like blue cheese. Many people despise blue cheese. But you'd be surprised with this cheese, its not that blue, and its super creamy, it is a triple cream blue cheese. This is the one blue cheese my man can eat, and he's more a white american cheese guy. Though I did discover he may not like all cheeses, but he does usually love triple cream cheeses. Anyways, back to the pairing ... Somehow Castello Blue and Malbecs just go amazing together. Its my favorite pairing. I've never had anything improve the taste of Malbec like Castello Blue. Everyone says steaks, but seriously, Castello Blue with Malbec is just amazing. And it doesn't work with other reds, we did try it with a Carmenere and a Cabernet and it just didn't help. We also tried the Castello Black, a higher end version of Castello Blue, with the Malbec, and that didn't work either. Try it sometime. Or if you're ever over for dinner at my place, I'll make you try it ... ha ha!