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 :(