Noah McMurrer - Wine Dinner Blog Entry #3

 This past Thursday, I had the third and final wine dinner with the same group of friends from Aerospace Engineering.  We bought three wines:  a Pinot Grigio from the Cavit Collection, a Petite Sirah from Bogle Vineyards and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Magistrate Paso Robles.  

Review of Dish #1 with Wine #1 (Pinot Grigio):

We started the meal with some regular and spiced salami, along with an assortment of cheeses plus crackers.  There was spicy and regular colby jack, cheddar, and monterey jack, courtesy of my friend Brandon.  

Here is a closeup of the Pinot Grigio wine bottle:

When smelling the wine, I was greeted with a little bit of a nutty smell, with a predominant smell of pears.  There was a little bit of apple smell to it, but not anywhere similar to a green/sour apple smell that I am usually greeted with for white wines.  There was additionally some citrus smell to it as well.  Compared to another Pinot Grigio I've had, this one was less nutty which I liked a lot better.  When I tasted the wine, it was somewhat dry, but was actually very refreshing while it was in my mouth.  It was very well balanced, with slight notes of apples and pears with just a little bit of nuttiness to it. 

When paired with the cheese, meat and crackers, the wine was enhanced in my opinion.  The wine was extremely refreshing when drinking it along with the food.  Although the spicy meat/cheese took away from the taste of the wine, the regular meats/cheeses paired extremely well with the flavor profile of the Pinot Grigio.  I would definitely pair this wine with a meat/cheese board again.  

Review of Dish #2 with Wine #2 (Petite Sirah)

Next, we had Steak with Oven-Roasted Potatoes along with some Asparagus.  My friend, David K made the steaks as well as the potatoes and asparagus.  

Here is a closeup of the Petite Sirah wine bottle:

Upon pouring the wine, I got a couple of interesting smell profiles from the Sirah.  I got some chocolate, a little bit of woody and oakiness, with small hints of strawberries and cherries.  I got a strong smoky smell from the Sirah as the dominant smell.  When tasting it, the wine was extremely dry on the finish.  There was a little bit of tingling on the tongue, with a very faint taste of cherries and strawberries.  While it was in my mouth, it was quite sweet and left a lingering sweetness after swallowing which I liked.  

Now, I would definitely say that this is a food wine even though it was pretty good on its own.  It was just absolutely delicious with the steak.  Especially with the fatty portions of the steak, it was just phenomenal.  It really made me think that every time I have a steak from now on I will need a red wine to pair with because it was just that good.  The steak virtually took away all the dryness from before, and I even got a taste of vanilla with a lot more chocolate flavor when drinking the Sirah with the steak.  The wine got a little more sweet as well and it was just a perfect pairing.  I would definitely get these two together again.

Review #3 with Wine #3 (Cabernet Sauvignon):

For our third course, I made us some homemade chocolate chip cookies.  

Here is a closeup of the Cabernet Sauvignon bottle:

This Cabernet Sauvignon had more fruity smells to it than the Petite Sirah.  I would say the prominent smells were dark berries, similar to cherry or even blackberries.  It was a little bit more smokey than the Sirah as well.  When tasting, I tasted blackberries and cherries, similar to what I was smelling initially.  It was not as fruity as the Sirah (maybe that has to do with the fact that I wasn't eating it with a steak) but it was still good.  I think nothing could top the Sirah with the steak though.  I was getting a smoky taste with some cherry, and strawberries as well. 

With the cookies, I honestly could not get much flavor out of the wine.  I would not say it was a bad pairing, but there was just not much complementing going on between the Cabernet and the cookies.  When I ate the cookie and tasted it with the wine, I could maybe get a little bit of a berry finish but the cookies dominated the flavor profile for the most part.  I wonder if maybe dark chocolate chips rather than semi-sweet chocolate would have been better?  I will have to try another time.  I think in terms of pairing, these two could go independent of one another.  But on their own they are both pretty good!

Here is a picture of us with our dinner:

Noah McMurrer - Wine Dinner Blog Entry 2

On Friday, I had another Wine Dinner with the same friends in Aerospace Engineering.  We bought three wines: a White Zinfandel Rose from Bay Bridge Vineyards, a Burgans Albarino from Rias Baixas and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Ste Chateau Michelle.  

Review of Dish #1 with Wine 1 (White Zinfandel Rose):

We began with pork dumplings with a homemade dumpling sauce, pairing it with the Rose, courtesy of my friend Brandon.

Here is a closeup of the White Zinfandel Rose after being opened (with me holding it):

When smelling the wine initially, I was getting small hints of strawberries but almost an artificial type of taste with it.  Similar to how a jolly ranch tastes where it is slightly fruity and then sour near the end, it had a tart taste that gave me hints of apple as well.  It was very sweet, and somewhat bitter at the end.

When paired with the dumplings, I found that the dumplings' saltiness took away from the sweetness, and vice versa.  It made the dumplings more palatable, as they were not extremely salty as they are when eaten without the wine.  I think that it could be a food wine, but it was not bad by itself.  The only thing that was interesting to me when doing this pairing was the fact that when I tasted them together, the wine ended up losing the flavor it had and was pretty flavorless.

Review of Dish #2 with Wine #2 (Burgans Albarino)

Next, we had Lemongrass Chicken with White Rice.  My friend, David K made the sauce with the chicken as well as the rice. 

Here is a closeup of the Albarino wine bottle with myself:

Overall, I think that the wine smelled very tropical upon opening the cork.  I was getting hints of oranges, pineapples along with smaller ones of apples and grapefruit.  When I tasted it, it was EXTREMELY bitter at the end.  I almost got notes of sulfur with the Albarino wine.  For me, it seemed like it had a lot of alcohol in it from the taste and smell even though that just isn't the case.  In addition, I got a tingliness on my tongue from what is likely the larger amounts of citric acid in the wine.  When paired with the chicken, I did not really get any sort of complimentary flavors associated with both of them.  I could have gone without the Albarino and the Lemongrass Chicken. 

Review of Dish #3 with Wine #3 (Cabernet Sauvignon Ste Chateau Michelle)

For our third course, I made us cheeseburger sliders.  For the toppings, I included grilled onions, tomatoes, lettuce and homemade special sauce.  

Here is a closeup of myself with the Cabernet Sauvignon:

Upon opening the Cabernet Sauvignon, I was greeted with smells of cherries, darker berries, blackberries and a little bit of chocolate.  When tasting the Cabernet Sauvignon, all I can really say is that it tasted just like any other Cabernet Sauvignon I've had.  There was not much of a difference with what I've had before.  It was quite dry, and gave me flavors of dark berries, especially cherries and a little bit of smokiness.  When pairing with the burger, I think honestly that the sauce took away from the power the Cabernet has on the burger.  If the sauce wasn't on it, I honestly think the burger and wine pairing would have been really good.  But as it is, there was not really much of a compliment between the two unfortunately.  I still liked the Cabernet Sauvignon but I am hoping to eventually get one in the future with more interesting flavors than I have had so far with Cabernet's.  

Overall, I think that this wine dinner was a success and it was a little bit more streamlined than the last.  I think having actual glasses will benefit us in the future, as this time my sniff and swirl was not as impactful I feel compared to the first wine dinner when I did have a wine glass.  

Here is a picture of all of us with our meal:

Noah McMurrer - Wine Dinner Blog Entry

I recently had a Wine Dinner with three of my friends in Aerospace Engineering.  We bought three wines: "Julia's Dazzle" (a Rose), a "Castellani" Sangiovese (Red Wine), and a "Quinto do Crasto" (Port Dessert Wine). 

                                            Review of Dish #1 with Wine #1 (Julia's Dazzle):

To start, we paired a Rose wine (Julia's Dazzle) with sourdough bread, oil/balsamic vinegar dip and homemade Bruschetta, courtesy of my friend David K.  

  

Here is a closeup of the "Julia's Dazzle" wine bottle after being opened (with me holding it):

This was actually my first time performing a wine tasting as well as pairing it with any type of food.  To start off, I did my sniff and swirl with the Rose to try and get any sort of flavor before tasting it.  Based on pure smell, I was able to pick up prominent notes of green apple, but to be honest most of the time I went to smell the wine it gave me a strong and pungent smell.  It smelled like alcohol and gave me a little bit of a chemical scent as well.  The taste in my opinion was quite dry.  The only descriptors I could get from the taste were the green apple flavor but also just a lot of alcohol.  

Now, when I paired this with the Bruschetta it was a wonderful pairing.  I think the acidity in the tomatoes along with the herbs within the Bruschetta were able to enhance the wine to make it more sweet and palatable.  The alcohol taste was virtually gone and with the bread both flavors (wine and bread) complemented each other very nicely.  I think Julia's Dazzle is definitely a food wine.  

Review of Dish #2 with Wine #2 (Castellani Sangiovese):

Next was the main course of the meal, Spaghetti and Meatballs.  My friend, Brandon made homemade meatballs that consisted of equal parts sausage and beef and also homemade tomato sauce for the pasta.  

Here is a closeup of me attempting to uncork the Castellani Sangiovese bottle and the bottle itself:

Overall, I think this wine was the best out of the three that we all tasted for the meal.  Upon smelling the wine, I was greeted with several flavors.  I smelled hints of cranberry, strawberry and a little bit of smokiness as well.  When tasting the wine itself, I tasted cherry and pomegranate as well as that woody taste that I mentioned before.  I think by itself it was not bad at all and did not have that alcohol taste/smell like the wine prior.  I think this one was quite dry, so having the food helped a lot.  

Upon eating the Spaghetti and Meatballs with this wine, the flavors really complemented each other well.  For me, the tomato sauce was brought out a lot more with the wine and the meatballs really balanced out well with the tannins of the Sangiovese.  I think I would definitely pair this wine in the future with any red sauce pasta dishes that I may make.  

        Review of Dish #3 with Wine #3 (Quinto do Crasto):

For dessert, David K also made us some chocolate brownies.  With the brownies, we paired a Port Wine (Quinto do Crasto) from Portugal.

Here is a closeup of the wine label:

To be honest, out of all three wines we had I disliked this one the most.  That could be because it is a Port, and these are generally packed with more alcohol than a normal wine.  The sniff and swirl was very interesting however, in that I could detect quite a bit of everything going on.  I could smell berries prominently, followed by a sweet smell (probably because it is a dessert wine).  Upon tasting it, the main component that I was getting was honey.  It was too powerful in my opinion, as that is all I could really taste.  There were really small hints of chocolate, but again that honey flavor was overbearing.  

With the dessert, it wasn't bad but I think the sugars in the wine and the brownies clashed and just doubled the sweetness in my mouth, making the sweetness a little unbearable.  I don't think I would get this wine again at the moment, but maybe further into the future.  

Overall, I had a great experience pairing wines with a full course meal with my friends.  It was really fun conversing with them and trying to figure out what smells and tastes we were picking up while enjoying a great meal together.  

Here's a picture of all of us seated with our meal:

Personal Experience with Wine Thus Far in My Life - Noah McMurrer

 Hello!  My name is Noah, and I am a senior at Virginia Tech.  So far since I have turned 21 I have not had the opportunity to try many types of wine.  However, that is why I am taking this course so that I can improve my wine palette and learn more about what wines I enjoy the most.  

So far, I have just had a few red wines.  The one I enjoy the most right now is probably a Red Moscato.  It is just a cheap Barefoot brand that I grabbed at Kroger.  There is a darker one from the Barefoot brand as well that I had but cannot remember the name of it.  I enjoyed the sweeter one much more than the darker red wine, but then again I have only had it from that one brand so my palette is pretty bare.  

I have had white wine, which was boxed Franzia.  I would say that wine is probably the worst I have had, mainly because Franzia is pretty bad in itself.  It was very bitter and was pretty unpleasant to drink.  As a result, I am somewhat hesitant to try white wine but will try to test out a variety during this class.