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!
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