I won!
 

a really nice wine and cheese basket at work on Friday, at a party I was not eve attending :thumbsup: and now I need the help of TFP.

What are these cheeses like? Has anyone had them before?
Delice de Bourgonne
Drunken Goat
Comte

and is this good wine? Petite Sirah

Right now I am eating the cheddar because that I know and some Kashi grain crackers along with the shiraz-grenache I already had opened. I really want to try the others, but I will wait until I know if someone else ever had them.

I prefer a good pinot noir with cheese because it's a bit more mild.
But that depends on the types of cheese.
You need to find Amonkie.
She's my cheese guru.
Have fun!

Comte is one of my favourites. It's somewhere between Swiss, Emmenthal and Gruyere. It's a bit earthy but still pretty mild. Enjoy!

I haven't tried the others but you can find info online. If you're nervous about them, just take a really small bite along with a cracker to start.

Aren't you lucky!

Yes! Comte is great :). Whenever Abaya and I are flying through Paris, we make sure to buy some at the airport and eat (sometimes right there :))

I've tried the Drunken goat before, I think, but wasn't impressed. It wasn't bad, but not that good either. I can't remember what it tasted like though...

I really like drunken goat. It's a creamy goat cheese that has a slight vino taste. I'd say it's some of the better goat cheese out there.

Congratulations! I am so jealous. It's hard to find good cheese here that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Take Fresnelly's advice... small bites and see if you like it.

that comte sounds interesting, is it like Oka?

As for the wine, I believe that the sirah is shiraz, but French. Hang on , let me check.

......

I was wrong, petite sirah is a different grape from the shiraz, and has a strong taste, it should go well with the mild cheeses. here's the info I found:

http://www.wineintro.com/types/petitsirah.html

The petite sirah grape creates a rich red wine. The petite sirah grape is separate from the sirah / shiraz grape even though the names are similar. The petite sirah grape is descended from the Duriff Rhone grape of France. For most of its history, petite sirah was only used to blend into other wines. The grape gained a lot of attention in the 1970s because of the general red wine push, and because of its full, tannic taste.

Petite Sirah is predominantly planted in California, where it does well. Petites are anything but petite - they tend to be big, strong, muscular, and, well, purple.

Typical flavors include plum, raspberry, blackberries, and black pepper. The wine tends to go well with stronger meats - game, beef, lamb, and spicy sauces. Petite Sirah can be drunk fresh from the bottle or aged for a more mellow flavor - its high tannin content makes long aging worthwhile. It should be served at around 59F.

mmm mmm mmm this drunken goat cheese is really good! Next up, I try the comte.

and it sounds like I will like the sirah. I will be opening that up some time tonight. :D

Lucky You!!

I tend to do this: take a small bite of cheese, and then it usually calls to mind the "this would go GREAT with ____ wine".

other suggestion would be to cleanse your mouth before switching to a new cheese, usually with just a plain cracker or slice of bread. I've mixed 2 totally different/distinct cheese sometimes, and it wasn't the best experience :) .