Wine Dinner #2

As we came back from Spring Break, it came to my attention that my friends and I had very little time to plan and document our next wine dinner before the due date. So we scrambled at the last minute and came up with a fairly well put together 3-course feast complete with three different bottles of wine.

Course #1

Just like last time, my friend Jessica made the appetizer. She prepared an Italian bruschetta complete with garlic butter toast points. We paired these with the Zinopolis Zinfanfel vintage 2020 from Sonoma, California. The wine was light purple in color and clocked out at 14.3% ABV. The aroma of this wine was fruit forward, with a strong emphasis on raspberries, strawberries, and plums.

On tasting without food, we noticed the strong tannic component which really dried my tongue. However, it was very smooth going down. The wine had a medium to full body and was not as fruity tasting as it smelled. Tasting notes of this wine include vegetal such as grass, dill, plum, spice (perhaps white pepper), and clove.

With the food, the dryness of the wine made an excellent pairing with the juiciness of the tomato bruschetta. The acid component of the tomatoes cut the tannic component of the wine very well, which brought out the fruit a little bit more. The basil and herbs from the bruschetta made the wine taste a bit more complex, bringing out a certain raspberry jammy-ness to the wine that wasn't initially there.

Course #2

I prepared cheeseburgers for my party in a cast iron pan over the stove with all the fixins. Unfortunately, I am still learning the ropes with cast iron and so the burgers came out pretty well done and greasy. I paired this with a Breca Garnacha vintage 2016 from Mundobriga, Spain. I acquired this bottle for $14 from Vintage Cellar, and it boasted a hefty 15.5% ABV. The wine was medium purple, just a bit darker than our Zinfandel. It had a fruity aroma of blackberry jam, raspberries, boysenberry, and orange marmalade. I would use the words perfumey and fragrant to describe it.

Without the food, the wine was acidic. It was still jammy with a full body, but dry. There were a fair amount of tannins in it, although it did not leave my mouth as dry as the Zinfandel. I got tasting notes of blackberry, cherry, raspberry, and possibly orange.

With the food, the wine really elevated the beef from the cheeseburger. I thought it gave the burger a bit of a candied flavor. It also made the wine seem a bit more tannic and astringent. and I tasted more citrusy orange with it. I enjoyed this combination; however, I learned that my companions did not experience the same things from this pairing and found it to be quite dull. As it turned out, spicy brown mustard made all the difference. Neither of them liked mustard so they neglected to include it on their burgers like I did. Once they did, they conceded that the pairing was quite decadent. I made them mustard-truthers that night.

Course #3

The last course was brought to us by my friend Sophie. She brought some classic sfogliatelle from an Italian bakery back home in Virginia Beach. The flaky pastry had a delightful custardy center with a fragrant taste of orange. We paired this with a Goldie white dessert wine from 2013. It is unclear what varietal this wine was, if any. However, we do know it comes from Virginia and it registers as 14.8% ABV.

This pairing was the best of the night. We chilled this wine before serving. The aroma of this wine consisted strongly of granny smith apples along with pear, honeydew, and honeysuckle. It was not strongly acidic in smell, and did not smell "cidery."

Without food, it was rich and syrupy like honey. It tasted a lot like honey too, but not too sweet. It was a little bit acidic with an apple and honeysuckle flavor. Once paired with the pastry, the orange of the pastry brought out the acidity in the wine. Still, it was a pleasant combination. It was less honeyed and more fruit forward, making the apple pop.