Wine Dinner: Homemade Italian

This week a bunch of friends in my Geography of Wine class got together for a wine dinner! Shout out to Tracy Laux for hosting this delicious Italian-themed dinner!

For dinner, Tracy made an appetizer of bruschetta, a main course of Italian sausage and pasta, and some delicious brownies for dessert!

Let's get this party started!

For my first wine, I started with:

Name: Chianti Classico Riserva Vigneti La Selvanella

Variety: 100% Sangiovese

Region: Tuscany 

Country: Italy

Year: 2008

Price: $22

Shop Review: The nose is complex, pervasive and elegant, its fruit notes mingling with very intense, unusual mineral and smoky sensations. The gutsy palate displays well-balanced acidity, sweet, tight-knit tannins that are never woody, and extraordinary length.

Before I paired this wine with the appetizer of bruschetta, I had a few sips of it by itself. On the nose, I smelled bold, strong fruits coming through with a hint of smokiness. The nose was huge! On the palate, the fruits were evident and the wine was somewhat lighter than I predicted with subtly tannins.  The acidity was almost a little too much, but ended up with a long finish.

Ready for Bruschetta!

By itself, the bruschetta was nice and crunchy with such a fresh and savory. The bruschetta had tomatoes, basil, garlic, and balsamic vinaigrette. When I tried the Chianti with the bruschetta, I thought it was a nice pairing. I thought that the bruschetta brought out a lot of the flavors in the wine since we had an earth, fresh fruit and a somewhat smoky wine. They were both a nice, light treat that complemented each other well. This pairing had me coming back for seconds! I would definitely pair these two together again.

Simply devine!

Next, we moved on to our main meal with this wine:

Name: Gen 5 Cabernet Sauvignon

Variety: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Lodi, California

Country: USA

Year: 2011

Price: $12

Shop Review: The Gen 5 Cabernet is solid and firm on the palate; well balanced; displays attractive black fruit flavors that show excellent ripeness.

We decanted this wine at the beginning of our adventure!

Decanting the Cabernet Sauvignon

Before I had this wine with the main course of Italian sausage and pasta, I gave it a few sips by itself. On the nose, I could not distinguish a particular fruit flavor.  On the palate, this wine was pretty dry with more acidity toward the end.  It had flavors of cherry and dark fruits with maybe a little raspberry. Definitely a solid wine.

Italian Sausage and Pasta with Parmesan on top!

Our main dish had Italian sausage, ground beef, tomatoes, and garlic served with pasta and parmesan cheese. Overall, I thought the tomatoes and the spiciness of the sausage worked well with this wine! I think both of these foods helped make the wine a little less dry and complemented the body of this wine.  So delicious!

Name: Lodali Moscato d'Asti

Variety: 100% Moscato

Region: Piedmont

Country: Italy

Year: 2014

Price: $11

Shop Review: A delightfully aromatic wine, with loads of fresh fruit flavors bursting from the glass. It is sweet, but beautiful balanced by the wine's effervescence and acidity. Being frizz ante, it has only about half the effervescence of a sparkling wine, and is hard to resist. This wine males a wonderful accompaniment to many desserts, especially those with fruit such as peach, pear, apple, and berries.

Before the delicious dessert of chocolate brownies, I resisted drinking the entire glass of Moscato and focused on this wine's characteristics. Upon pouring the wine, I noticed it was very fizzy which was appealing when it was swirled. On the nose, the wine was very floral and had traces of melon and honeydew.  These flavors were evident on the palate as well and rounded out with a delightful crispness.

Heaven in a pan.

Before trying the Moscato and brownies together, I thought it might be a little too sweet.  Luckily, the brownies were sweet but not overly and in-your-face sweet which I think worked perfectly with this wine.  The brownies also made the Moscato just a little less sweet and made for a delightful pairing of the two!

Even though we only needed one dessert with the Moscato, I also wanted to pair some strawberries with it!

Strawberries from the parents

I have to say, these strawberries paired so well with this Moscato! The strawberries were the right amount of sweet and tasted so good with the Moscato and its sweetness. I will definitely have to try this Moscato again with the other fruits the review recommended!

A successful wine dinner!

Overall, I absolutely loved this Italian-themed dinner! I thought every single wine paired perfectly with its dish.  Italian has always been my favorite type of cuisine and it was such a great experience to start pairing wines with these foods I love and some great friends!!

A "family" portrait with some great people.

Wine & Cheese Pairing: Classmate Edition

Welcome to my second Wine & Cheese pairing, featuring some of my favorite people from our Geography of Wine class!  Today we have another three great wines to pair with three delicious cheese: Creamy Havarti, Muenster, and Cheddar!

Name: Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc
Variety: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Columbia Valley, Washington
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $11

Winery Review: The mostly stainless steel fermentation makes this a crisp Sauvignon Blanc. The wine offers bright fruit character of melons and herbs. This wine is a favorite with oysters.

Name: Anciano Tempranillo Reserva 'Aged 5 Years'
Variety: 100% Tempranillo
Region: Valdepenas, Castilla La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: 2008
Price: $12

Shop Review: Fuller-bodied, dry. Ruby red in color topped with tawny edges, followed by a fruit nose and a palate of spices, licorice, minerals, and plenty of rich black fruit. The finish is long and dry with nice tannins. Pair with grilled red meats, mature cheeses, and beef stew.

Name: Narcisi Gewürztraminer
Variety: 100% Gewürztraminer
Region: Gibsonia, Pennsylvania
Country: USA
Year: 2013
Price: $18

Winery Review: Ideal to grow in Pennsylvania, this German grape delivers a wine with distinct spicy, earthy notes. Literally "spicy Trainer: this wine brings a truly unique aroma with decadent richness and exotic fruit qualities. A dry wine, despite smelling like a sweet one, with a "biting" finish.

Time to get the party started!

Dante wanted to decant the Tempranillo

I started off with the Chateau Ste Michelle Sauvignon Blanc and tasted it without any cheese first. On the nose, I smelled mostly lemon with some floral components. On the palate, I tasted lots of lemon and citrus. The midpalate and finish had a bit too much acidity for my taste, but after a while the finish was nice.  I tried the Creamy Havarti cheese with this wine and noticed it cut the acidity right away.  I thought the cheese also helped to bring out more of the apple and pear components that this wine had to offer.  With the Muenster cheese, I noticed overall this cheese was very similar to the Haverti cheese, which I was not expecting. I got a lot of the same components from the wine using the Muenster cheese that I found with the Havarti cheese, but the Muenster cheese did seem to make this wine a little softer overall. Finally, I tried the Cheddar cheese and noticed right away that I did not think it was a good pairing.  The cheese was a bit too sharp to go with the wine and the wine and cheese flavors just did not seem to mix well.  I definitely think the softer Havarti and Muenster cheeses complimented this wine better.

The yummy Gewürztraminer!

Next up was the Narcisi Gewürztraminer! On the nose, I noticed pear, melon, and floral components.  On the palate, I mostly tasted lemon and honeydew.  This wine has a somewhat watery consistency for the first part but then the acidity hit at the end.  This wine was also interesting because it started off pretty sweet but then became more dry toward the finish. When I tried the Gewürztraminer with the Havarti cheese, I did not taste too much of a difference in the wine.  The cheese did seem to work well with it though since both were absolutely delicious, there was just nothing mind-blowing about the pairing.  Next up was the Muenster cheese,  which I mentioned before was similar to the profile of the Havarti cheese. Because of this, I got the same results when pairing it with the wine.  Both were delicious separate and together, but again, nothing was out of this world about the pairing.  Finally, I tried the Gewürztraminer with the Cheddar cheese. I noticed that this cheese did seem to do something with the wine.  For the most part, it seemed to make the wine a little less floral, which was sad.  I thought the sharpness of the cheese and the sweetness would go well together, but not so much with this wine.  It seems there was not a clear winner of the night for which cheese went well with the wine, but there has to be something out there! This wine was simply delicious.

We had to restock the cheese...

We finally got around to the Anciano Tempranillo Reserva, which had decanted for just about an hour before we drank it. On the nose, I noticed this was a very intense nose mostly filled with red fruits and cinnamon. On the palate, this wine was very bold and in your face.  On the palate, I tasted black cherries, spices, red fruits, and some oakiness.  The tannins were noticeable and the wine had a long, dry finish.  The first cheese I tried with the Tempranillo was the Havarti. I thought this cheese seemed to help mellow out the intense flavors I was experiencing at the beginning as well as the dryness.  Next up with the Muenster, which gave very similar results to the Havarti and was definitely a good pairing for this wine.  Finally, I tried the Cheddar cheese.  Instead of the cheese influencing this wine, I thought the wine actually helped to cut the sharpness of the cheddar cheese.

Looks like a successful wine night to me!

Overall, I was kind of disappointed that the Havarti and Muenster cheese had similar profiles.  The night would have been a little more successful if we picked a different cheese to replace one of these to have a range of sharpness, spiciness, and soft cheeses.  However, we loved all of the wines and cheeses that we tried and know more about pairings from this experience.  Here's to a night of friends, laughter, and wine!

Tasting - Peter Mertes Riesling Platinum 2013

Name: Peter Mertes Riesling Platinum
Variety: 100% Riesling
Region: Rheinhessen
Country: Germany
Year: 2013
Price: $8.95

Shop Review: This quality Riesling is crisp, clean, and easy drinking. Floral and fruit aromas suggest sweet melon and honey with enough acidity to ensure a beautiful balanced and versatile wine.

My Review: On the nose, I smelled rose petals and hints of lemon.  On the palate, there was melon and also rose petal.  This wine was very smooth to drink as there were no tannins or acidity.  It was quite refreshing and was not overly sweet but also had the right amount of dryness. I picked up a bottle for myself!

I did not have food with this wine.

Tasting - Charles Thomas Cotes du Rhone 2013

Name: Charles Thomas Cotes du Rhone
Variety: 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre
Region: Rhone
Country: France
Year: 2013
Price: $8.95

Shop Review: Cleary ruby wine with overtones of red berry fruits. Round and supple with smooth aftertaste. A good all around red wine for meat courses, poultry, and light cheeses. Best drunk now while fresh with good keeping up to 4 years.

My Review: On the nose, I didn't detect any distinct flavoring except red fruits.  On the palate, I was surprised that this red wine had a watery consistency at the beginning but then was reminded at the end that I was drinking wine.  This wine was fairly tart and had a good amount of acidity at the end. Despite all of the hype that these vines were around 30 years old and it is organic, this was not that special of a blend.

I did not have any food with this wine.

Tasting - Terre di Poggio Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Laude 2012

Name: Terre di Poggio Montepulciano d'Abruzzo Laude
Variety: 100% Montepulciano
Region: Abruzzo
Country: Italy
Year: 2012
Price: $8.95

Shop Review: This opens with dark aromas of leather, tobacco, cured meat, plums, and prune. It shows soft tannins and loads of dark fruit on the finish.

My Review: This was a hard nose to distinguish and I mostly picked out red fruits.  On the palate, I noticed right away that this wine was very tart and seemed to be over-oaked.  I was surprised that it did not have very strong tannins but it did have a very long finish.

I did not have food with this wine.

Tasting - Sean Minor Pinot Noir Rose Vin Gris 2013

Name: Sean Minor Pinot Noir Rose Vin Gris

Variety: 100% Pinot Noir

Region: Carneros

Country: California

Year: 2013

Price: $20

Winery Review: The Vin Gris is a bright and vibrant salmon color with cherry, strawberry, cranberry, and ripe watermelon aromas on the nose.  On entry, the wine displays bright strawberry flavors. Throughout the mid-palate and finish, raspberry and cherry fruit characters are balanced with spicy and crisp acidity that linger creating a refreshing and length finish.

My Review: On the nose, I smelled a combination of fruits, mostly strawberry and watermelon, and almost a "barnyard" smell.  This wine has an interesting consistency as it could have been almost mistaken for "sweet water."  Overall, it left me interested with its long finish and I'll definitely need to try this one again.

I did not have food with this wine.

Tasting - Grande Reserve de Bastides Gaillac 2013

Name: Grande de Bastides Gaillac

Variety: 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 50% Loin de l'Oeil, 30% Mauzac

Region: Gaillac

Country: France

Year: 2013

Price: $9.95

Shop Review: A crisp and fruity blend featuring 20% of the herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc, 50% creamy Loin de l'ceil and notes of fresh apple and crisp pear, plus a touch of herb from the 30% Mauzac. It has a bright feel, with a hint go mineral on the finish.

My Review: On the nose, I got mostly lemon with a bit of the herby-earth scent.  On the palate, there was almost a tangy feel to this wine with the mineral at the end.  However, there was a bit too much acidity on this palate for my taste.

I did not have food with this wine.