Wine and Dinner Pairing 1

Over the weekend, I went home and was able to drink a lot of wine. I had spoken highly about this class and mentioned that I would get double points for an assignment if I was able to drink wine with my parents. They were excited to help me on the assignment and we went to the store to pick out a three course meal as well as three different wines. We decided to have an appetizer which consisted of Pesto on Bread, a main course of Spring Noodles, and finally a dessert of Chocolate Cake. Because my parents were so invested in this idea, they were even willing to pay for the wine, so the wine was much better than the wines I have had at the Vintage Cellar. We tried to have a good variety of flavors of the wine so we attempted to get a red, white, and a sweeter red. So, we picked out our three different types of wines accordingly which were Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve California Chardonnay (2013), Alamos Malbec (2013), and Mederfil Lambrusco Reggiano Rosso Dolce (2013). We then partook in the pairing assignment. We would sip on all three of the wines for each course and would discuss what we liked and did not like about each of the wines. Although I have only been in the class for a few weeks now, I was able to impress my family and friends with some interesting facts about the wine we were drinking. (I was also able to teach the UVA kids a few lessons, haha). Some of the wines were better by itself, some wine flavors were electrified by the food, and some wines just didn’t work with anything. The following information will describe our reactions to the wine itself and how the wine paired with the different foods.

Toasted Wheat French Bread with Pesto Spread

Spring Noodles: Noodles in a white, light,
cream sauce with fresh carrots, ham, peas,
green beans, and cheese

Chocolate Cake with
Chocolate Syrup drizzle

Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve California Chardonnay, 2013


Variety: Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2013
Price: $16
Our Wine Review: This wine had a strong wood flavor and smell. It was very strong cedar smell but had a sour and acidic flavor. It was a dry wine however which was a nice change of pace from the other wines which were sweeter and earthier. It was not a bad wine but one that didn’t stand out for the better or for the worse.
Paired with Pesto on Bread: This wine paired with the pesto and bread was a great pairing. The wine was able to pull the flavors out of the pesto and amplified the food. The sour flavor of the chardonnay worked well with the bread because the French bread soaked it up and complemented the dish. It was kind of a yin and yang affect from the cool pesto flavor and sour wine flavor.
Paired with Spring Noodles: The Chardonnay paired with the Spring Noodles was not good and did not work well. This was interesting because I had always thought that white wine would be a good pair to light dishes such as vegetables in noodles with a white sauce. However, this was not the case. The wine had a strong and dry aftertaste which overpowered the Spring Noodles. The wine seemed to go directly to the back of the mouth and almost sting my throat which took away any joy I had from the food in my mouth. Not a good pairing.
Paired with Chocolate Cake: This Chardonnay and chocolate Cake simply did not work. The dry cake pulled out the sour and oak flavors of the wine, which was a terrible combination. The flavors would just fight each other and it was not pleasurable. Not a good combination.
Overall conclusion: Overall, I think this wine was decent. It was a drier wine and pulled out strong wood and sour flavors by itself as well as with the different food. However, it was a good pairing with the pesto on bread because of the sweet and sour sensation that was present.

Alamos Malbec, 2013

Variety: 100% Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2013
Price: $12.99
Our Wine Review: This was a pretty good wine but it had a little bit of everything present in this red wine. It was earthy, slightly peppery, and yet fruity as well as smells of balsamic vinegar. It was dry and tannic initially, but then went away to have no aftertaste. This is an all-around wine that has flavors of everything but not overpowering in any one category.
Paired with Pesto on Bread: This wine paired with the bread and pesto was a combination of flavors. The wine worked well with the wheat bread because of the earthiness of both were complemented. However, the oily pesto topping did not work too well because of the differences in viscosity. I cannot really point out one thing that was so wrong about the pesto and wine pairing, but after tasting it, I just could not convince myself something that I liked about it. It is just something that I would not recommend because it just did not work.
Paired with Spring Noodles: This wine did not too well with the Spring Noodles because the earthiness and peppery flavors overpowered the fresh vegtables and the light and creamy sauce. It might have pulled out the little bit of pepper within the cream sauce that amplified the pepper flavor of the wine which made me not the biggest fan.
Paired with Chocolate Cake: This was an interesting flavor. I could see how some people would like it because it almost tasted like german chocolate cake, but I am not a fan of german chocolate cake. It pulled the dryness of the cake and spices of the wine and created sort of a german chocolate cake. However, when I eat dessert, I like to have sweet chocolate so it was kind of doomed from the beginning.
Overall conclusion: This was an all-around wine that had flavors of a lot of typical red wines. I thought because of all of these flavors present in the wine, the wine would be able to combine with a lot of different kind of foods. However, this was not the case, it worked well with bread and cake like substances, but when it came to light and creamy foods, the wine did not work at all. This is a wine I would like to continue drinking and trying with different foods and maybe even some dry cheese to see how they combine.

Mederfil Lambrusco Reggiano Rosso Dolce, 2013

Variety: Lambrusco
Region: Emilia Romagna
Country: Italy
Year: 2013
Price: $8.99
Our Wine Review: This wine was a pretty good Lambrusco. After having a Lambrusco at Trader Joes, I have started looking out for different Lambruscos because how much I liked the first one. It is the fruity red wine flavors but without the earthy and peppery sensations prevalent in so many other types of red wines. This Lambrusco was subtly bubbly but not overpowering. It had a mild body and was semisweet but not overly sweet. It had hints of orange flavors which were interesting. It is a great wine to drink by itself.
Paired with Pesto on Bread: This combination between the wine and the earthy bread and oily pesto were terrible combinations. They were clashing the entire time because the wine was very sweet and did not have similar attributes that could combine for a good flavor. It was not a good combination.
Paired with Spring Noodles: This Lambrusco and Spring Noodles worked great together. The sweet and light flavors of the wine combined with the light flavors of the cream sauce. The sweet flavors of the wine were definitely amplified when eating some of the sweet carrots. Great combination.
Paired with Chocolate Cake: This Lambrusco and cake actually worked well together because it was able to pull out some of the sweet flavors from the cake. The cake also gave the wine a sweeter flavor as well. It was a great taste and I look forward to tasting this wine again in the future with other types of cakes and desserts. I am intrigued to see how far the reach is with the wine pulling out the sweet flavors from the desserts.
Overall conclusion: I am a big fan of Lambrusco wine and will continue drinking it. I was pleased with the combination of the light cream sauce and fresh vegetables as well as the desserts. I was not shocked by the great combination of the Lambrusco with the desserts because of the wine being considered a sweet wine. I am looking forward to trying this again in the future with other types of desserts to see what other foods work better. Maybe a blackberry cobbler next time???

This experience was really fun! I was able to try a lot of different types of wine with different types of dishes all while sharing what I have learned with my parents, brothers, and friends. We had a good mix of people who had a different wine experiences, from beginners to seasoned drinkers, and it was fun to explain some new pieces of information to everyone. I think we had a good mix of wines with a variety of flavors that worked well with some of the foods and some did not. It was really fun starting a new course of the meal and everyone is trying to find the best match of wine and everyone is sharing their tastes. We were able to figure out that the Malbec even smelled like balsamic vinegar because we pulled out a bottle of vinegar and matched the flavors. It was just an overall great experience and I look forward to partaking in the next one.

Cheers!
Enjoying this meal with my Mother, Father, Two Brothers, and our Family Friend.