Wine School, February 19, 2013-Wine Pairing

Note:

We decided to mix things up a bit for this wine school. Two of our three husbands were out of town on business this week, so we decided to make a meal of it! Each wino was in charge of picking a dish and a wine to pair with it. Lisa also provided cheeses and chocolate to try with all. The wine and food was definitely varied, but we had great fun with this concept and the food was delicious!

Wines

Crios Torrontes 2012 - Mary Jo's Pairing

Color:  Light straw
Nose:  Perfumy, aromatic wine with hints of peach
Mouth:  Wonderful peach up front with a crisp acidic finish
Price:  $14.99
Conclusion:  Wonderful wine perfect to enjoy on a warm summer evening with friends or with a light salad with friends for lunch. We all loved it!

Pairings

Camembert with Gourmet Wafers - Deepened the flavors of the wine and added to its complexity-a winner!!
English Cheddar Cheese - This cheese was a bit too sharp for the delicacy of the wine. We all thought Manchego would work well with this wine.
Rembrandt Extra Aged Gouda - Nice pairing with this cheese, but we all liked the Camembert even better with the Torrontes.
Thai Chicken Spinach Salad - Definitely this salad and wine complimented each other-a perfect balance.
Lindt-Touch of Sea Salt Dark Chocolate - We weren't expecting to like this match, but it was surprisingly good.
Lindt-70% Cocoa Smooth Dark -This one was not so great :(

Trimbach Reserve Pinot Gris 2007 Lisa's Pairing

Color:  Golden
Nose:  Fresh and refined
Mouth:  Nice minerality with a wonderful minerality that will pair well with food. Nice finish with a hint of cool, mint down the back of the throat.
Price:  $25.99 Randall's Wine and Spirits
Conclusion:  A wonderful, well balanced, medium bodied wine. We all adored this wine.

Pairings

Camembert with Gourmet Wafers - Love the wine, but not with this cheese.
English Cheddar Cheese - The sharpness of this cheddar was able to keep up with the fuller bodied Pinot Gris from France.
Rembrandt Extra Aged Gouda - This was a nice pairing, but we preferred it with the Torrontes.
Salmon - A great pairing! The wine has a much "richer" feel on the mouth.
Lindt-Touch of Sea Salt Dark Chocolate - No, the wine and chocolate fought against each other.
Lindt-70% Cocoa Smooth Dark

Silvano Bolmida Dolcetto d'Alba Manescott 2008 - Beth's Pairing

Color:  Deep, dark red
Nose:  Earthy, peppery, with decaying leaves
Mouth:  More tannins than we expected for a Dolcetto, with red fruit and typical acidity of an Italian wine
Price:  $17.99 Plaza Wine and Liquour/O'Fallon
Conclusion:  Not our favorite wine from Italy.





Rigatoni with Tomato, Pancetta, and Chevre

Pairings

Camembert with Gourmet Wafers - As expected, this cheese was too rich and creamy for this wine.
English Cheddar Cheese - Not a match.
Rembrandt Extra Aged Gouda - It was an ok match, we thought the wine would go better with a variety of Italian meats for appetizers.
Rigatoni with Tomato, Pancetta, and Chévre - This was a good match with the wine. As usual an Italian dish and Italian wine bring out the best in each other.
Lindt-Touch of Sea Salt Dark Chocolate - This match was ok, but we were expecting something better.
Lindt-70% Cocoa Smooth Dark - Yum!  Great match with this wine.

Final Thoughts

Beth - What a lovely evening we had with great friends, food, and wine. The Thai salad and salmon was delicious. They paired wonderfully with the wines selected by Mary Jo and Lisa. I enjoyed the Rigatoni too. It was a nice match with the Dolcetto, but I think a Chianit Classico would have been even better. The Torrontes was also great with the pasta. I don't think I can pick a favorite wine this time, I loved the Torrrontes and the Pinot Gris. They both had me looking forward to summer!

Lisa -  This class was fun because we made it different!  With each of us bringing a wide range of pairings, we were able to really compare and see the vast differences in what worked and what didn't. For the most part, the cheeses were not the best and the chocolates were sometimes a hit and sometimes a miss.  As for the main dish pairings, they were ALL perfect pairings.  As for my favorite wine of the night, I think I leaned toward the Crios Torrontes, but the Pinot Gris was a close second. I agree with Beth, with this gloomy winter that just won't go away, I'm SO in the mood for crisp white wines.  Come on spring!

Mary Jo - This class was a departure from what we normally do and it was a really great time!  It gave us all a chance to focus on one part of the meal and pair a wine with it, and also see if our wine paired well with the other two dishes.  The Crios Torrontes was my favorite of the three wines.  It went very well with the Thai chicken salad and the Camembert.  I felt the English cheddar was too harsh for this wine.  Finally, the sea salt was my favorite chocolate with the Crios.  The Trimbach Pinot Gris and the Crios were both great with the pasta.  The Trimbach was also nice with the salad, but I was not a fan of this wine with the cheeses.  The Trimbach definitely increased the richness of the salmon from Sam's and enhanced the fruit of the salmon that was seasoned.  Finally, the Dolcetto was only okay with the gouda, but I was not a fan of this wine with the other two cheeses.  This wine was an excellent pairing with the pasta!  This was a really fun class and, since we all loved the Crios so much, we headed to Wine Merchant and split a case!