It is with a wistful sigh that I must admit that this will be my very last blog post. I enjoy critiquing the wines for this course, but I only write this prose for the grade. However, I had to go out with a bang: our last wine dinner! I have to say, I really put my foot in this one.
Course #1
We started our three course meal with an appetizer of my own design: sourdough crostinis topped with a feta yogurt blend, a strawberry balsamic reduction, and garnished with fresh basil. The wine paired with this was a Simonet Rose Sec sparkling wine from France. This wine cost $12 at Vintage Cellar, had a alcohol content of 12%, and was chilled prior to serving. The wine was a pale copper color, and had an aroma of strawberries and apples. Like many sparkling wines, the nose reminds me of a bubbly apple cider, like a Bold Rock.
Without food, the wine had subtle notes of strawberry. It was not overly dry, but it was crisp and refreshing. It was tart with a noticeable tannic component, meaning it felt a little rounder and tongue-bitey.
Initially, the strawberry reduction on the crostinis was very sweet and a bit overwhelming. The tart wine acted well as a palate cleanser between bites. The sweetness and acidity from the balsamic strawberry reduction overpowers the subtleness of the feta blend. However, after messing with the ratio of cheese to strawberry on the crostini, I found the perfect bite to pair with the wine. Increasing the cheese blend brought the creaminess to the forefront, and the sparkling Rose really elevated that salty creaminess from the feta, lending it a smoother mouthfeel and sweetness.
Course #2
While my friend Sophie wanted to take on the main course for this meal, she did not actually leave herself enough time to cook. As a result, we were forced to eat Digiornio three meat pizza with a rising crust. However, she made up for it with the wine: Cantine Castelvecchio Piemonte Rosso, a red blend from Italy. The wine was $8 from Kroger, and had 13% ABV.
The color of the wine was a medium ruby. It had a pretty potent fruity aroma of black cherry, blackberry, and blueberry. There was also plenty of heat on the nose from the alcohol. It also smelled somewhat of baking spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg.
The taste on its own was very pleasant. It had a light body and was very smooth. It was a dry wine and had a slight tannic component, but was very easy to drink. The main flavors noted were fruit: blackberry and cherries. However, there was also a strong aftertaste of baking spices. In my opinion, the wine was lacking a bit of a backbone, and could have benefited from more acidic or tannic components.
With the pizza, it tasted a bit more acidic which I liked. The wine was so smooth and light that it felt a little bit like drinking Kool-Aid with pizza. Not that that's a bad thing, but I was appreciative that I could still detect the spicy, fruity character underneath it.
Course #3
Lastly, our pastry chef and Zeppoli plug Jessica brought freshly made cannolis. We paired this with a Geyser Peak Chardonnay, vintage 2020. The wine comes to us from California, it retails for around $30, and has an alcohol content of 13.5%.
The color was of a lovely golden hue and the bottle had been chilled prior. The aroma was rich and tropical, with notes of pineapple, mango, and guava. And the taste... the taste was heavenly. This may be my new favorite Chardonnay. It had a cool, thick, honeyed texture and a silky mouthfeel. It had a heavy full body with very subtle tropical fruit flavor. It was surprisingly only slightly acidic.
They were an unexpected hit with the cannolis. Once the mascarpone cream of the cannoli reaches the wine, whatever acidic component was there instantly evaporates. The only thing you can taste is smooth honey and dark chocolate. This may be my favorite pairing of the year, and one I was not prepared for. This meal was the perfect way to end this assignment and my time in this course.
