Wine Dinner 3

Wine Dinner #3

For our final wine dinner of the semester we had a Mediterranean three course meal. 

First Course: Mediterranean Appetizers

Food: Grilled haloumi cheese with homemade hummus, homemade flatbread, and Mediterranean balsamic feta salad. 

Wine: Pinot Grigio

Pairing: I thought this white wine paired very well with the light Greek appetizers especially the creamy hummus, this dry wine brought out the flavor of the chickpeas.

Second Course: Greek Pastitsio (Greek Lasagna)

Food: The meat sauce had cinnamon, all-spice, nutmeg topped with a bechamel sauce

Wine: California Cabernet Sauvignon

 

Pairing: I think the spicy notes in the wine really added to the lasagna because there were spices in the meat sauce. It tasted so good together!

Third Course: Dessert

Food: Pistachio cake with coconut whipped creme frosting  

Wine: 2022 Beaujolais

Pairing: 

I thought that it was not a good idea to pair a dry red with a very sweet dessert. I did not like it at all. I had to stop drinking the wine until I finished the dessert. 

Overall a very successful last wine dinner with all my friends! I had so much fun!
 

Tasting- Calidio Rosso del Molise

 

Name: Calidio Rosso del Molise

Variety: Sangiovese

Region: Molise

Country: Italy

Year: 2018

Price: $19.99

Winery Review: Deeper red with the smell of cherry and grass. 

https://www.abcfws.com/calidio-rosso-del-molise/119055

Wine Folly: pg. 162. Sangiovese has notes of: cherry, roasted tomato, sweet balsamic, oregano, and expresso.

My Review: I did not like it that much. I though it was a bit watery. I definitely smelled cherry when I swirled and sniffed. It had fruity notes but was watery. I do not know if I would buy this bottle again.

 

Wine Tasting- Wine Lab

My family and I at Wine Lab in Blacksburg!

 

I did the wine and Chocolate flight 

1. Sparkling Cuvee

For  a sparkling wine, it was not that bubbly. It was crisp and dry. With the chocolate it was not overpowering. I tasted apple and the chocolate makes it taste less bitter

2. Felino Cabernet Sauvignon

The Cab was mid bodied and tasted like cherry and cinnamon. It was not overpowering. The wine tasted smoother with the chocolate.

3. Rinaldi Redream Sweet Red

The sweet red tasted like Welches Grape juice. I thought it was too sweet. The spicy chocolate was mellowed out by the sweetness of the wine. Hard to believe that wine was even wine it was so sweet!

Wine and cheese pairing

 

Wine and Cheese Pairing!

We made a charcuterie board! I made homemade Focaccia bread! On the board we had oranges, prosciutto, gold fish, chicken cold cuts, chili chocolate, crackers, parmesan, camembert, and goat cheese.    

We had three types of cheese:

1. Parmesan with a Malbec 

2. Camembert with a Pinot Noir

3. Cranberry goat cheese paired with a California Chardonnay

Pairing 1:  Malbec and Parmesan

The Malbec tasted fruity and bold and the parm was salty. So the combination seemed to clash in a bad way.

Pairing 2: Camembert with a Pinot Noir

This pairing was interesting. The Camembert cheese was creamy and the pinot noir was a dry spicy wine. It paired very nicely together. The creamy cheese dulled the dryness of the wine. 

Pairing 3: Cranberry goat cheese paired with a California Chardonnay

This was my  favorite pairing ! The buttery Chardonnay paired so well with the creamy goat cheese! I brought out the smoothness in the cheese and added hints of butter!

Selfie with the wine!

Not a good Chardonnay on it's own, but it tasted so good with the cheese!

Had so much fun doing this pairing with my friends!

Tasting- Warre's Warrior Porto finest reserve

Name: Warre's Warrior Porto

Variety: blend

Region:  Pinhao and Rio Torto Valleys

Country: Portugal

Year: 2019

Price: $19.99

Winery Review: great dessert wine that is full bodied with tastes of dark plums and cherries.

https://www.warre.com/wine/warrior/17

Wine Folly: pg. 267. dessert wine with notes of raspberry, blackberry jam, and cinnamon.

My Review: I really like this wine. I liked how it was spicy and sweet at the same time. The aroma was intoxicating and warmed my stomach as it went down. It was full bodied and tasted thick. I definitely tasted the notes of cherries. This was a great wine to have on Easter Sunday because it was on the more expensive side.

Tasting- California Heritage Pink Moscato

Name: California Heritage Pink Moscato 

Variety: muscat blanc 

Region: California

Country: USA

Year: 2022

Price: $4.95

Winery Review: Juicy red berries with hints of peach and citrus.

https://www.aldi.us/products/alcohol/rose-wine/detail/ps/p/california-heritage-pink-moscato/

Wine Folly: pg. 138. The grape hails from Greece and has notes of orange blossom, mandarin oranges, pear, and honeysuckle. 

My Review: This wine was good but not chilled. It would have tasted better slightly chilled. Had this with bread, I should have had desert with this  wine because it was sweet. The wine was sweet and had hints of orange. Not bad for a cheap wine.

 

Tasting- The butterfly effect red wine

Name:  The Butterfly Effect- Red Wine

Variety: Petit Verdot Blend

Region: Plunkett Fowles.

Country: Australia

Year: 2020

Price: $12.00

Winery Review: This wine pairs well with or without food. It is a smooth red.

https://us.nakedwines.com/products/sam-plunkett-the-butterfly-effect-red-2020

Wine Folly: pg 146 Petit Verdot has notes of black cherry, plum, violet, lilac, and sage.

My Review: 

This wine was ok. I normally like my reds a bit more dry and this wine was more sweet. The sage notes were a bit overpowering. Not bad but not great.