Dinner - Pairing Party with Friends

For the wine dinner blog post myself and two other friends in Geography of Wine got together to and each brought a dish and a paired wine.

Using my "7 half-turns" knowledge to open the sparkling wine

 

BALLATORE - Spumante Rosso

To start I brought the appetizer which was a cheese plate and to drink with the cheese course I brought a Sparkling Wine. This sparkling Spumante Rosso smelled very fruity and of course was effervescent.
The wine was tingly on the side pallet and had just a faint light flavor of raspberry and cherry. 

PepperJack, Gouda, Cheddar, Aged
Gouda & Goat Cheese (starting on left) 

It was interesting eating the variety of cheeses with the fruity-bubbly wine because each had a different effect on the appetizer experience. 

• The wine cuts the solid strong flavor of cheddar
• Brings out MORE of the flavor of the goat cheese
• The Gouda made the wine taste less good. Also since it was smoked cheese it brought a toasty flavor the drink that didn't necessarily mix well.
• The Aged Gouda improved the taste of the wine

Sniffy-sniff before eating the food - Note the decanter (vase)

Rosemont Estate - Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon.
Note the great label design, already a plus there

The second course was a delicious pasta dish made by my friend Shannon. The entree was a vegetable medley over angel-hair pasta and with feta cheese sprinkled in. To pair she chose a Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon from Rosemont Estate. This wine tasted and smelled of berry and chocolate. I really enjoyed the complexity of the flavors. It was medium bodied and a bit spicy. It had an interesting blend of charred chocolate and fruit (cassis).

Rosemont Shiraz-Cabernet with Pasta Dish

I thought that this wine tasted AMAZING with the food! Drinking the wine with food completely set it off. It LOVED it. It added a whole new layer to the experience. The wine was fruity and warm and tasted velvety. I would absolutely buy this for myself to have on hand for future dinner parties.

Peter Mertes - Riesling

The last wine was a Riesling to pair with our dessert. The Riesling is from German, Peter Mertes. The Riesling had an apple, pear and butter scent. It also had some acid on the nose. At first taste it was light and tangy and had a great finish and good swallow.

Riesling with Pineapple Upside Down Cake

The wine was paired with our dessert which was a Pineapple Upside-down cake. It seemed strange to pair a sugary Riesling with a very sugary and carmelized dessert but the combination was a great level of sweet and the acid of the wine helped to cut the sickly sweetness of the cake. 

Overall I was impressed both with my friends cooking and how drinking the wine with food really improved the experience and taste of both items. Since we have been drinking wine mostly at tastings I have not been fully appreciating the importance of the meal and wine combinations and opportunities. Also I was impressed with how much wine we could go through when drawing out a meal and really savoring everything. It was a great time and I feel like I got to further appreciate wine in a new way.