Food pairing- Zeppoli's (France)

This week was the final Zeppolis wine tasting, which was definitely bitter sweet, as everything seems to be in these last few weeks before I graduate.  The region explored this week was France.

The food was delicious, as always, and evena  little fancier.  Matt said we paid more so deserved better food.  Italian pinwheels, garden salad, garlic bread, twice baked potatoes (my favorite!), crackers, assorted cheeses, pasta salad and manicotti.

We started off with Chateau Gaillard Touraine Sauvignon Blanc.  It had 12.5% alcohol and costs $10.99.  I got too excited to try it and drank it all away before remembering I should have taken a picture of my glass.  Anyways, this wine smelled amazing.  It smelled super citrus-y, especially characteristics of lemon and grapefruit, giving it a tangy smell.  Unfortunately, it smelled better than it tasted and ended up a harsh and hot on the finish, surprising considering the delicate aromas.

The next wine was Chateau Suau 2010 Bordeaux Blanc Sec running at $10.99 with 12.5% alcohol.  This wine is unique for a few reasons.  First is that it is quite rare to create a white Bordeaux such as this.  Secondly, the winery caters only to Americans and gave up on French consumers.  I was surprised by how clear it was.  It was acidic, the description was “a nice acidity” but I’m not sure if I would classify it as nice.  I did not like it alone, but tried it with some salad and it was much improved.

Third is Prochaine 2009 Chardonnay Vin de Pays d’Oc France which is $10.99 with a 13% alcohol content.  This wine is also unique because they are a country wine and rarely come to the US.  They are experimental.  Based on that and the fact that it was oaked, I was a little weary of trying this one.  But I really liked it.  It is the most lightly oaked oaky wine I have ever had the pleasure of drinking.  It tasted and smlled tropical and fruity with a semi-sweet character.  There wasn’t a huge difference in taste with food, which was fine with me, I thought it was wonderful either way and didn’t want it to change from my initial taste.

Apparently there aren’t many whites to choose from because we moved onto the red wines already.  The first red wine was Manoir Du Carra 2010 Beaujolais noveau.  It is $10.99 and has a 12.9% alcohol content.  This is available only 6 months after release and is used to tell how the growing year for the Burgundy region was.  Probably my favorite part of the entire dinner was the description accompanying this wine “This bistro style wine should be consumed in copious quantities in the first full year of its life.”  Seems to cater to the average Hokie’s mentality.  Anyways, I thought this wine did not smell very good, but it was delicious with garlic bread and manicotti.  My favorite part was how fruity it was on the finish, rather than the heat and spice I had expected.

Next was Jean-marc burgaud 2010 Beaujolais Villages, at $14.99 and 12.5% alcohol.  Matt said we should like this one more than the last Beaujolais because it was aged properly and less of an experiment.  But I disagreed.  I thought the first was better.  This had a nice chocolaty, cherry smell, but it was too dry and tart for my liking.

We continued with Georges Duboeuf 2010 Morgan Descombes Burgundy, at $15.99 and 13% alcohol.  Matt didn’t give a great intro to the wine saying (and I quote) “I’m probably going to bet you won’t find it your greatest wine ever.”  I felt like I should pull out the dump bucket right then and there to get ready.  But I gave it a chance.  The first thing I noticed was it is dark, like really dark.  It mademy mouth super dry because it was so tannic.  The description reads about a ‘punch’ of plum and cherry and I don’t know if the violent language was intentional or not, but it was definitely appropriate as the wine had an almost violent characteristic.  I can’t tell you about the lingering finish described considering I just felt like I should drink water.

Charles Thomas 2009 Cotes du Rhone Rouge was next running at $11.99 and with a 13% alcohol content.  It is composed of 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre.  Matt said Grenache is the largest, heaviest and most acidic grape.  To me this wine was absolutely disgusting.  It was super spicy all throughout and got even hotter with its lingering finish.  I tried it with cheese hoping there would be improvement, but no such luck.

Next was Chateau Suau 2009 “Cadillac” Merlot/Cab composed of 45% Merlot and 55% Cabernet Sauvignon at $15.99 and 13.5% alcohol.  It is aged in oak barrels for 12 months but it does not lead to an overly oaky flavor, it was pleseant enough to me.  The flavors were heav but extremely fruity.  My roommates said it was hot, but I definitely disagreed, although maybe I was just scarred from the last wine.

The last wine we had was Chateau Grimard 2010 Bordreaux with a 13.5% alcohol content and running at $11.99.  It was super purple colored.  I liked the beginning and midpalate, which was very fruity but not sweet.  On the other hand it became very tight on the finish.  The lucky part of that is there was not a lingering finish. But I would still never buy a bottle of this Bordreaux simply because of that bite at the end.

A final successful dinner at Zeppolis :(

Wine Festival: Fork and Cork April 28, 2012

I started out my Fork and Cork experience at 8 AM when I arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed as a volunteer to set up for the event.  As a volunteer you get a free ticket and as a college student I was into that idea.  There are no pictures of this part, considering it is mostly manual labor and it rained the majority of the time and I didn’t want the camera to get wet.

Luckily the day turned beautiful by the time the festival actually started.  The rain cleared up and my frozen hands had a chance to thaw out as the weather warmed up.  I was pretty excited to realize once I got there that the vineyards were all Virginia wines.  They tend to get a bad rap so I had never bought a bottle for myself.  But I would not be able to give them a chance!

 

The lines were pretty long so I only had a chance to go to a few winery booths.  The first was Mountain Rose Vineyards, which ended up being my favorite winery of all the ones I tasted.  My favorite of their selection was, surprisingly, the Pardee red.  I tend to not like red wine but this had no heat.  It was pretty sweet but not overly so and still had complexity rather than solely focusing around the sweetness.  I definitely would be interested in buying a bottle.  The last wine, Pocahontas Red, we tried was unlike any I’ve ever had before.  It is a dessert wine, but I think it would only be good alone.  It smelled like chocolate and cherries and actually tasted the exact same.  Plus the viscocity was so thick it felt like I was drinking chocolate syrup (ok, mybe an exaggeration, but you get the point.) It was nice to try, but I think after a few sips I would not want to drink much more because it is so overly sweet.

At this point I ran into some friends and swiped some of the Sangria they had bought, which was so delicious.  I had previously had boxed Sangria in Ghana which tasted like… alcohol and juice.  I was not a fan, but this was so different than that.  I will definitely have to try to make it at home for myself.

The second winery I will document is Starburn Winery.  They offered two white, one rose and two reds.  I am always intrigued by roses because they are so rare and for some reason I always expect them to be floral.  This one was called Bull’s Blush and it was pretty delicious, but not floral.  It was light and fruity, with tones of tropical fruit.  Also, it was oaked, which I was a little weary about but it surprisingly created a very nice complement to the taste.  This is saying a lot because usually I hate oak!  One big thing I learned from this festival, but trying so many different, unique wines in such a short period of time is that I really like wines that include talk of tropical fruits and citrus in their description.  The smell, of course, is delicious and sets me up to like them even more.

The last winery was Veritas Vineyards and Winery.  Remember how I told you the last wine had tolerable oak?  I regret that I can’t say the same about these.  We started with a Chardonnay which was heavily oaked and it tasted too harsh and buttery for my preferences.  But considering it is modeled after the Old World style, I wonder how different I would have felt about it if I had had some cheese or food to pair with it.  I liked their Viognier 2011.  It was crisp and clean, while still have depth, although included barrel fermentation.  Perhaps my favorite part of this wine was the pleseant lingering finish. Once again, I usually don’t like too much of a lingering finish because they tend to get hot, but I didn’t mind this one and it surprised me.

I finished the afternoon up with delicious chicken from Sake House and sat in on Boyer’s interesting lecture about the democratization of wine and how it was no longer just for fancy people.  Even college students are drinking it!  In fact I mentioned to my mother that I had visited the festival today and she was extremely intrigued that people my age were interested in wine at all, which I found interesting.

 In the end though, this is one college student who loves wine!

Tasting- Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling Columbia Valley 2010

Name: Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling Columbia Valley 2010Region: Columbia Valley, Washington
Country: US
Price: $11.99
Description:  Our Columbia Valley Riesling is a blend of Riesling from throughout Washington’s Columbia Valley. We craft it to be a refreshing, off-dry Riesling vintage after vintage. The wine delivers flavors of ripe peach and juicy pear with subtle mineral notes. This is our ‘every day Riesling’ that is easy to match with a variety of foods.
My review: I liked the wine, it was fairly sweet without being overwhelmingly sweet.  There were fruity notes and I liked the flowery smell and sweet finish.

Food pairing- Zeppolis House Wines

I went to Zeppoli’s last Sunday for the wine tasting of as I like to classify ‘House wines vs slightly-more-expensive-but-much-higher-quality wines’.  Unfortunately my camera was broken, so I was unable to take pictures and apparently it is an honor code violation to share pictures, as everyone refused me.  However, you can check out http://vtwinewheels.blogspot.com/ for his take on this experience complete with pictures, as that is who I went with.

The food was delicious and plentiful, of course.  There was a salad, pizza bread, ravioli, assorted cheeses, a delicious pasta alfredo salad, an eggplant dish (I did not realize this was eggplant the first time I put my fork into it and was quite concerned by the texture), and my favorite with garlic infused  bread with the most delicious pesto topping. Mmmmmm!

We started with the white wines.  The first house wine was Muscati NV Brut Sparkling Wine Penedes Spain running at $7.50 with an 11.5% alcohol content.  This wine was interesting to me, because  as Matt explained, the wine is made exactly the same as Champagne in the Charmat process, but is produced in Spain.  Therefore it must be called Spanish sparkling wine.  He explained it is not really a negative quality though, as it decreases the  price enough to allow it to be included in the tasting, which would have been difficult with traditional champagne.  I liked this wine.  It had strong hints of lemon and green apple, basically an overall tangy taste.  It was extremely crisp, as most tangy fruits are.  Quite pleasant to the palate.  There was no difference in taste when paired with food to me.

The second wine was Wine and Venus Chardonnay 2006 Central Valley Chile, which is $8.99 and has 13.5% alcohol.  This white intrigued me immediately as they usually are not aged so long.  However, I knew I was not going to be a fan at the first sniffy sniff.  It smelled like olives.  There was truly no other way to describe it. I told this to my friends who were struggling to describe the scent and they immediately agreed.  Olives.  Gross.  I gave it a chance though, and it was…tolerable.  I would never buy it simply due to the taste.  The description on the handout read it is good with pasta dishes in light cream sauce, so I tried it with the pasta alfredo salad and it was much improved.  But the dump bucket was still used.  I will never get over the smell. Never.

The next white Rubus 2009 Chardonnay Russian River Valley California  has a 13.9% alcohol and is the comparable, but slightly higher priced wine (at $11.99) compared to the olive flavored house wine previously tasted.  They are different in how they were fermented.  In addition to the barrel fermentation, this used malolactic fermentation, while the previous did not.  Malolactic fermentation creates a more full and less buttery taste to the wine.  Which was fine with me.  As long as olives weren’t involved.  Also, Rubus uses grapes from other vineyards to reduce the price because there is no status quo that has to be maintained when it comes to pricing.  They do not disclose which vineyards they take their grapes from.  Unfortunately, this one did have a slight olive smell, but not nearly as strong as the first (or perhaps I was just better emotionally prepared for such a travesty to occur this time).  Either way, it tasted oaky, to be expected, but also a little hot throughout, although there was not a lingering hot finish.  And I actually enjoyed it when paired with mozzarella cheese.

The last white is the Borealis 2010 “The Northern Whites” Willamette Valley.  It is $12.99 with an 11.5% alcohol content.  Matt explained that this terroir usually grows Pinot Noir and rarely produces whites.  But, as he said, this wine brings out the terroir, which is complex and earthly.  After the previous hotness, I was looking forward to a lowered alcohol content and this truly delivered.  It was ‘exotic’ if I may use a word from the description. It tasted apply and sweet and crisp, with a nice acidic feel.  I definitely enjoyed this wine.

As for the reds. we started with San Elias 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon which is $7.99 and has a 13.5% alcohol content.  It had a strange smell that my friends described as soapy, which I felt was accurate.  However, I genuinely enjoyed the wine.  It was fruity, specifically with cherry tones.  It got a tiny bit hot on the finish, but I think that is just how I view all reds, whether they deserve to be complained about or not.

Next was Kenwood 2009 Yulupa Cabernet Sauvignon California running at #11/99 with a 13.5% alcohol content.  This wine actually deserved my very verbal complaints about how hot and spicy it was.  I could describe it as cinnamon, which I got from the description, but the kind of downplays the unpleasantness I felt when tasting it alone.  However, I enjoyed it when paired with the ravioli.

Rubus 2009 Old Vine Zinfandel Lodi, California is $12.99 with 14.4% alcohol, slightly higher than most we try, but not out of range for a red.  It was extremely fruity at the beginning, with sweet cherry and raspberry flavors.  On the other hand, I tried it with a cracker and it unexpectedly had full blown, in your face pepper flavors.  So I just stuck to drinking it alone.

Next was Mars and Venus Merlot 2007 Central Valley Chile at $8.99 and 13.5% alcohol.  Although there is no way I could describe this as a ‘good’ wine or complex, I still absolutely loved this wine, especially considering it is red.  It had so many berry flavors, but was not overly sweet.  There wasn’t even a hot finish!  I drank it alone and with pizza bread.

At this point I ran out of food on my plateand the only dish they had left was a house salad (I really wanted more of that garlic infused bread with pesto).  Anyways, the last wine Trentadue 2009 Block 500 Merlot Sonoma County California could not be paired properly with any traditional red wine foods.  Matt said this is the vineyard that grows big name, mass produced, low quality wines such as Barefoot and Franzia.  But they choose the highest quality grapes on the estate and manufacture them under Trentadue, proving the winemaker is just as important as the terroir. It had a dark color and was fairly dry.  I liked it but wasn’t super crazy about it.

All in all, with the exception of my camera breaking, it was an excellent experience and I feel I learned so much more about wine with this pairing than either of the previous ones.

Food Pairing- Palisades (New Zealand)

I went to Palisades last week with a few friends.  I had heard many stories of how hard it was to get here so I was expecting a big adventure and a scary road.  However, going there wasn’t so bad to me, not surprising, considering I had learned to drive in a similarly highly rural area.

 My only other experience with an official wine and food pairing had been with Zeppoli’s last week.  I knew this time would be completely different with their restaurant.  It was much fancier and a different environment from the college experience for the tasting with Zeppoli’s.  Also, looking at the previous months schedule (April’s was not yet posted) it seemed they focused on less well known or more specific regions because their tastings are weekly.  I was thrilled to find out this week’s region was New Zealand.

 The food was quite unique and delicious.  There was Lamb with Apricot Sauce (bottom right), Tune with Sweet potato cake and mustard butter (upper left) and Kiwi and Strawberry Gelee.  As an appetizer we had artichoke and pepper dip.  It all tasted wonderful on its own. 

The first wine was Lawson’s Dry Hills Sauvignon Blanc 2011, a wine in which 7.5% is fermented in French oak barrels.  The first aspect I noticed was how little color it had.  It seemed almost clear.  However, it redeemed itself with the bouquet, which smelled amazing and extremely strong.  Without food it tasted extremely sweet (right up my alley!), with passionfruit and lime hints.  I was slightly surprised that there wasn’t a huge difference in taste with any of the food provided.  In fact, I liked it without food more.  This should not be surprising, considering it is a New World Wine.

The second wine was Spy Valley Riesling 2009, which scored 91 points on Wine Enthusiast.  I enjoyed this wine less than the first.  It was more dry, which was not a huge problem, but it seemed less integrated and a little more alcoholic on the finish than the first one.  It had stronger floral tones than the first, although the description says is it ‘fruit driven in style.’  Food made a large difference in the flavor of the wine, probably part of the reason it was given such a high score.  It brought out the floral and fruity characters.  Surprisingly, I found it quite delicious with the Kiwi and Strawberry Gelee, because it made the whole palate.  But all the food helped bring out the complex, less alcoholic flavors of the wine.

The final wine was Ponga Pinot Noir 2010.  Without food it had a lingering finish, but it was not too spicy or hot, which is good for a red wine.  Usually when I taste red wines they seem to alcoholic to me.  This one was sweet and had definite berry tones.  Surprisingly, with food, the wine seemed more spicy to me.  For some reason a few of the Italian wines I had at Zeppoli’s seemed to do the same thing.

All in all, it was a successful trip and I really enjoyed all the food and wines and experimenting with the different combinations.

Success!

Food Pairing- Zeppoli's (Italy)

Last Sunday I went to Zeppoli’s for the twice monthly wine food pairings with a few friends.  I was excited to learn the region being tasted this tasting was Italy, as I have little experience with Old World Italian Wines (and if truth be known, just about every other region too), especially with food.  And I know from class that Old World wine are especially expressive when paired with food.

We loaded up our plates and were ready to go.  The food was a nice mix of light Italian (light pasta salad, house salad and crackers) and heavy Italian foods (pizza bread, ravioli, cheeses).  They, as expected, recommended focusing more on the light foods with the white wines and the heavier foods with the reds.

The first wine to be tasted was their Fossi Bianco White Table Wine.  This wine runs at $6.99 and has only 11.5% alcohol content.  It was good to start out with.  The description from the winery is that it is ‘light, refreshing and easy to enjoy.’  Nothing could be closer to the truth.  It was not too fruity or sweet and was refreshing, but the main thought that came ot my mind is that it was very easy and not complex at all.  I tried it with some house salad and Miditeranean pasta salad and it definitely paired better with the latter.

The second wine was Nals Margried 2010 Pinot Grigio Alto Adige prices at $13.99, with a 14% alcohol content.  30% of it is oaked, but I can never pull out an oaky flavor in any wine that I taste, I think I do not know what I am supposed to be looking for.  This was a thicker and drier wine than the first and food actually made a big difference in taste.  My favorite pairing, unexpectedly, was with the ravioli.  Unfortunately I got too excited to taste the wine and forgot to take a picture of the wine itself.

The third wine is the La Fiera 2010 Pinot Gregio Veneto which is extremely friendly to the wallat at $7.99 with a 12% alcohol content.  Pear tastes came through strong, making it sweeter.  There was not much of a difference in taste when paired with food though.  It is interesting to note, although I’m not sure whether it is a fair generalization, but so far the cheaper wines have not been as complex and are no more expressive when paired with food.

The last white wine of the group was Lodali 2011 Moscato D’Asti.  It is $12.99 and has only a 5.5% alcohol content.  D’Asti means sparkling, so I became extremely excited for the wine and it lived up to my expectations.  I love sweet wines and this almost tasted like soda.  It had very ‘grapy’ flavors.  Definitely a delicious dessert wine, but it is not as good to pair with food for me.  The sweetness took over my entire palate, even when eating heavy, flavorful foods.

Now onto the reds.  The first red tasted was Luca Primitivo del Salento Puglia at $8.99 with a 13% alcohol content.  The main thing I noticed from this wine is that food makes such a difference.  The wine becomes much more complex and enjoyable.

SUD 2010 Primitivo Pugia is the sixth wine, running at $11.99 with a 13.5% alcohol content.  The initial taste is sweet and fruity followed by a spicy, herby mid palate and finally finishing with a hotter and even spicier finish.  I enjoyed the wine more when tasted with food as it brought out the sweetness and toned down the hotness.  I do not like to be able to sense the alcohol in the wine.

Seventh was Morli Neri 2009 Chianti DOCG at $12.99 and 12.5% alcohol.  The winemakers describe it as traditional and having a great compatibility with food, especially red sauce based foods.  I took their advice and tasted it with ravioli and pizza bread, which it paired well with, as they had suggested.  This, like the first wine, was sweet at the beginning and became more spicy on the midpalate.  The food tamed the unpleasant spiciness down.  It was not as hot as the previous wine.

It was interesting to me that both the previous two wines were chianti wines but tasted so different.  I preferred the second as it was less hot and ‘alcoholy’ and longer lasting.

The eighth wine tasted was Bibi Graetz 2010 Casamata Toscana.  It costs $12.99 with 12% alcohol.  This wine, like the last two, were hot on the finish.  But this one was too hot.  I did not want to drink more of it at all until I paired it with some food and then it became bearable.  However, I would never purchase this wine because it was too hot to me.

The grand finale was the Lodali 2009 Nebbiolo D’Alba Sant Ambrogrio running at $17.99 (the most expensive of the day) with a 13.5% alcohol content.  The expense was worth it.  It spends 12 months in an oak barrel, but like I said previously, it is hard for me to identify that taste.  It was a dry wine, which I usually don’t appreciate but it worked for this particular bottle.  The main part I liked was the not too hot finish.  Very refreshing after the last three tastings.  I took the advice of the winemakers who recommend pairing with pasta and cheese and it truly did bring out character of the wine when I tried it with ravioli and cheese.

All in all I would consider my food wine pairing a success.  I learned a lot about different flavors of wine and how important it is to pair food with wine when tasting to bring out the best character of the wine.  I was not a fan of most of the Italian reds, so perhaps I should look into different regions.