Dinner - Roanoke Street Apartments (Wine Party)

This dinner took place on March 24, 2013. It started out as a meal between friends and turned into a cooking extravaganza and turned into a wine and cooking marathon party. The first thing we decided upon was the menu. The meal consisted of; steak and rice, linguine with shrimp sauce, roasted vegetables, bacon wrapped asparagus, and homemade garlic bread.

 

The wine was selected second in order to match the food, the following wines were consumed:

-La Vieille Ferme Ventoux Rouge: This wine is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, and Cinsault grapes. This wine comes from the Rhone Valley. This wine has a very peppery, dark fruity nose. It it quite full bodied and is very tannic with a long, dry finish. This wine was purchased to match with the steak, rice, roasted vegetables, and garlic bread. While tasting this and eating the aforementioned food it brought out the flavor the best in the steak and rice it was quite a nice compliment to the spice used in cooking and blended well with the slight bitterness of the wine.

- Rex Goliath, Pinot Grigio: As we have just learned from the Drink This Now book, it is quite difficult to make Pinot Grigio and to find a good bottle can be quite pricey. With that being said, we are in college and are on a budget so we had to settle for a lesser quality Pinot Grigio. This wine is quite abundant with citrus flavors and is also quite dry on the finish. This was chosen to pair with the shrimp pasta as well as the roasted vegetables. It did pair well with the shrimp pasta however as the quality of the wine was not so great it diminished the pairing.

- Woodbridge, Merlot: The third and final wine purchased was one by Robert Mondavi. This wine has a cherry, blackberry, spicy nose and it well complemented by a tastes of plum, slight oak, and a dark chocolate flavor. This wine was the best in my opinion because it paired well with almost all of the foods. It was an especially good compliment to the roasted vegetables and the steak with rice.

 

 


Overall, this was a great experience in terms of cooking as well as learning to pair wines with certain foods. I would highly recommend anyone attempt this venture as it was a lot of fun and was highly educational.

Wine Region - Loire Valley

Loire Valley – France

             The Loire Valley is located along the middle stretch of the Loire River in Central France. The area consists of 310 square miles and is known as the Garden of France because of the abundance of vegetation along the banks of the river. The valley is known for historic towns, architecture, wine, and culture; it has been inhabited since the Middle Palaeolithic Era. The Loire Valley is divided into several sub-regions; Anjou-Saumur, Muscadet, Sancerre, Pouilly Fume, and Touraine. The climate in the region is moderate most of the year, slight frosts may occur during the spring and during wine harvesting months heavy rain can be prevalent. The valley is known as the Northern limit of Viticulture. The Loire Valley has been known for viticulture since the Roman era however since then many of the styles of wine and grapes grown in the region have changed.

               The Sancerre and Pouilly Fume sub regions are known primarily for Sauvignon blanc and Pinot noir grapes. However, wines labeled with Pouilly are made with Chasselas grapes, known for dry fruity white wines. The Sancerre is different than most regions in France because the picking of grapes is highly mechanized. Sancerre is known to produce red, white and rose wines; whereas, Pouilly Fume is known only to produce white wine. The white sauvignon blanc based wines from this region are known gooseberry, grapefruit, and very full bodied flavors. The red pinot noir wines from these two sub regions are known to be both light in body and color.

              The Anjou-Saumer sub region is located in the middle of the Loire Valley along the town of Angers. The Anjou sub region is primarily known for using Cabernet franc grapes in order to make rose based wines. White wine from this region is made using Chenin blanc and is known as Anjou blanc while Anjou rouge is made from Gamay grapes.  Higher quality wines coming from this area are labeled with the AOC designation Anjou-Villages. The Saumer area is the third largest producer of sparkling wine in France. Saumer sparkling wine is different than any other sparkling wine because it is made using the Chenin blanc grape. Some of the areas surrounding Saumer produce red wines based on the Cabernet franc grape.

            The Touraine sub region is known to have some of the most diverse plantings in the Loire Valley. For white wines the primary grape used is Chenin blanc, but Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay are also planted. Cabernet franc is the main grape planted for red wines, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay, and Malbec sometimes used. Rose wines are made using a combination of Gamay, Pineau d’aunis, Pinot gris, and Pinot noir. The soil around Touraine is a mixture of limestone with excellent drainage.

           The last and westernmost most edge of the Loire Valley is the Muscadet sub region. This sub region is unique because it uses Melon de Bourgogne grape to produced brandy distilled wine. Four types of white wine produces in the sub region are; Sevre et Maine, Cotes de Grand Lieu, Coteaux de la Loire, and Loire-Atlantique. These wines are often bottled sur lie, or straight from the tank that they were fermented in without and extra racking or filtering.

Tasting - Flipflop

Name: Flipflop Left Coast
Variety: Reisling
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2011
Price: $7.19
Shop Review: The 2010 FlipFlop Riesling has aromas of honey dew melon, apple, and apricot. When tasting these same flavors come through as well as some cantaloupe, pear, and a touch of pineapple. This is a very sweet wine which would make it a great match for spicy food or you could almost drink it as a dessert wine. The FlipFlop Riesling is medium-bodied with a full mouthfeel. It could use a little higher acidity to cut through the sweetness, but if you like sweet wines you'll likely enjoy this one quite a bit. Otherwise, pair it with spicy food and it'll be great. A surprisingly good Riesling for the price.

My Review: The nose was quite sweet with hints of many different light fruits. Maybe I do not like Reisling or maybe this particular type of Reisling was a bad representation but, this was the worst wine I have ever ingested and would not recommend to anyone.

Tasting- Querceto

Name: Querceto
Variety: Chianti
Region: Sangiovese
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: $8.59
Shop Review: "This wine is youhtful and fruity in character and can be enjoyed with simple meals on simple occasions."

My Review: The tannins were quite prevalent in the taste making it a very spicy/bitter wine. A hint of cherry on the nose and some oak monster.

Tasting - Black Swan

Name: Black Swan
Variety: Shiraz
Region: Alelaide
Country: Australia
Year: 2011
Price: $7.59
Shop Review: "Flavors of black cherries, peppery spice and mocha enveloped in decadent dark fruit. A bold and unexpected match for grilled meats, pasta dishes and ripe cheeses."

My Review: This was the best of the five wines tasted in my opinion. I have never tried a Shiraz and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The nose was quite peppery and was bursting with scents. It had a distinct taste of dark fruit mixed with mocha.

Tasting - Avant

Name: Kendall-Jackson Avant
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2009
Price: $10.99
Shop Review: "Vivid, crisp and bright - the brand new Avant Chardonnay continues the nearly three decades of pioneering distinguished varietal wines from California's cool coastal appellations. Avant is very different from KJ's traditional rich, creamy styles of Chardonnay. Avant bursts with intriguing layers of fresh pineapple, bright green apple, crisp Meyer lemon, juicy pear and wildflowers. The wine's refreshing acidity and sleek mineral notes are balanced by a rounded mid-palate and slight oakiness with a long, pure fruit finish."

My Review: A very crisp refreshing taste of citrus fruit and green apple. The nose was quite grassy. Would recommend this wine be consumed in a warm time of the year.

Tasting - Tilia

Name: Tilia
Variety: Malbec Syrah
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2011
Price: $9.69
Shop Review: "Popped and poured with Rabbit aerator. Soft nose of black fruit, vanilla, and wild flowers. Light fruit-forward flavor, not big concentration, with sinewy dark chocolate tannins on a medium body and finish. Excellent QPR under $13. Screw top: substance over form. “Sustainably Farmed,” it says on the label, but who knows? It’s good wine, although I wasn't as impressed with the second bottle as it struck me as a little jammy. This was remedied by chilling."

My Review: While I did not use a decanter I thought this wine opened up quite nicely. It had an aromatic nose of raspberry and cherry. The tannins were quite prevalent in the taste and it had a nice fruity finish.