Dinner - Crab Cakes and White Wine

This Friday, my friends and I got together for a nice wine dinner.  Once again, for me this fell on a Friday during Lent, so no meat.

For this occasion, Emily made crab cakes as our main dish.

I provided the stir-fry vegetables.  This was quite the experiment for me.  Yes, from my last dinner you can see I am pretty much a professional chef, but stir-fry was a first for me.  I sautéed the veggies in vegetable oil and olive oil.

                                         

I think they turned out very well.  We were all hard at work in the kitchen.

As the hostess, I provided some nice gluten-free appetizers for my guests.  And we all brought a bottle of wine to share.

As dinner was almost ready it was time to open our first bottle of wine.  An Angel Chardonnay from Chateau Morrisette.  I was able to pull the wrapping off just like we learned in class!    It is described as a Semi-Dry Table wine; perfect for seafood!

Once the wine was poured it was time for dinner!  For our whole meal we had: crab cakes, zucchini pasta, tomatoes with cheese, quinoa, and stir-fry veggies.

We tasted the wine before and while eating.  As for the nose, it had a oaky, honeydewish aroma.  The taste before eating was peachy, tart, and pineappley.  Once we started eating however, the alcohol in the wine became much more prominent and much sweeter.  It is remarkable how a few bites of food can change the taste of a wine.

The next wine we tried with dinner was a Hogue Riesling.  This gave off a scent of surf board wax and was also very fruity and sweet.  We ate so fast that we were still working on finishing this wine when it was dessert time.

For dessert, we had fruit to dip into chocolate.  This Riesling was by far my favorite wine I have had in quite a while.  However, when it came to drinking this while eating chocolate, everything changed.  It left an awful taste in my mouth, too much sweetness at one time.

We had a third wine to try with dinner, however, like I said we ate too fast and finished all the food before we could get around to it.  Overall, these wines went very nicely with dinner.  This kind of dinner reminded me of a nice summer day eating on the porch, even though it was a chilly day in Blacksburg.  My friends and I had a great time making dinner and trying wines.

Tasting - Yellow Tail Sauvignon Blanc

Name: Yellow Tail Sauvignon Blanc
Variety: Australia 93% New Zealand 7%
Region: Yenda
Country: Australia
Year: I couldn't find a year on the bottle
Price: $7.00


Winery Review: For 3 generations the Casella family has been making wine at their winery in the small town of Yenda.  It is here that [yellow tail] is created with a simple purpose in mind; to make great wine that everyone can enjoy.  [Yellow tail] is everything a great wine should be.  It's approachable, fresh, flavorsome and has a personality all of its own.

My review:  This was a very refreshing Sauvignon Blanc.  I was able to pick up on the tropical fruitiness of it.  It was a very nice wine to end the day with.

I tasted this wine on its own without food.

Dinner - Shrimp and Wine

While I was home for Spring Break, I decided to make dinner for my mom and myself.  Because it is Lent and Friday I chose a seafood dish.  The natural chef that I am, I decided to make popcorn shrimp with green beans and red potatoes.  I googled what wines pair well with shrimp and I came up with a Brut Champagne.

This is a 2002 California Champagne.  I thought it tasted great.  My house reeked of shrimp after I cooked it in the oven, so it was tough to get that scent out of my nose to get any kind of aroma from the Champagne.  The bubbles were a great pair with the shrimp.  Although it wasn't the fanciest of dinners,  I thought the Champagne made the dinner much more exciting and my mom was very pleased with how the dinner turned out.  It was a lot of fun trying to figure out what kind of meal to make with what wine.  This was a very fun experience.

Tasting - Barefoot Riesling

Name: Barefoot Riesling
Variety: Riesling
Region: Modesto, CA
Country: USA
Year: 2012
Price: $7.00


Winery Review: Barefoot Riesling is a lovely wine with tasty aromas and flavors of Mandarin orange and tangerine, layered with luscious peach & juicy pear.  Hints of jasmine and honey complement the sweet and refreshing finish.

My review:  I always enjoy a nice Riesling.  This was very refreshing.  I was able to pick up on the orange flavor.  Overall a very nice wine.

I tasted this wine on its own without food.

Tasting - Aconga

Name: Aconga Chenin Blanc - Chardonnay
Variety: 80% Chenin Blanc 20% Chardonnay
Region: Mendoza, Argentina
Country: Argentina
Year: 2012
Price: $3.99

Winery Review: Like the practiced artisans of Argentina, this wine has been expertly blended for ample flavors of bright melon and citrus fruit aromas of a crisp Chenin Blanc which are masterfully combined with sweet apple flavors and the silky texture of Chardonnay.  This rich and smooth wine truly enlightens the palate and pairs excellently with seafood and chicken dishes.

My Review: This was one of the first times I was actually able to pick out a specific taste that typically described this wine.  I really enjoyed the citrus taste of it.  It was sweet but not too sweet.  A great wine for what the price of it is.

I tasted this wine on its own without food.

Tasting - Au Chocolat

Name: Au Chocolat Sparkling Wine
Variety: Dessert Wine
Region: Provence
Country: France
Year: n/a
Price: $14.99

Winery Review: Au Chocolat Chocolate flavored wine is effervescent and crisp, with a mellow chocolaty flavor and splash of sweetness. Perfect as an aperitif, digestive or with anything which chocolate would pair. Serve chilled 41-50°F.

My Review:  This wine was made to trick you.  When you initially sniff it you can definitely tell it is a chocolate wine, even if the chocolate has a very artificial smell.  Then when you taste it, it is like a completely different wine.  It is almost indescribable because you can't get over that it doesn't taste like chocolate.  It takes you off guard.  One taste was plenty for this wine.  It was a good attempt, but poor execution.

I tasted this wine by itself without food.

Tasting- La Fiera Pinot Grigio Veneto

Name: La Fiera Pinot Grigio Veneto
Variety: Pinot Grigio
Region: Veneto
Country: Italy
Year: 2012
Price: $10.99

Winery Review: This outstanding white wine value from Italy's Veneto region exhibits ripe peach and apple flavors with a pleasing mineral finish, perfectly suited as a delightful aperitif or served alongside salads, grilled chicken and seafood.

My Review:  This is one of the best wines I've tasted in my short time of tasting wines.  It had a nice sweet apple flavor.  It was very smooth and enjoyable to sip.  This wine would be perfect for a hot summer day.

I tried this wine by itself without food.

Tasting - Shine Dornfelder Sweet Red

Name: Shine Heinz Eifel Dornfelder Sweet Red
Variety: 100% Dornfelder
Region: Rheinhessen, Germany
Country: Germany
Year: 2011
Price: $12

Winery Review: The reflection of the sun’s rays off the Rhein river help to ripen these hearty red grapes, thus producing a full bodied wine with flavors of dark red fruits with a well balanced sweetness.  2011 was a difficult year for the vintners. Especially in the Rheinhessen area where May frosts cut yields dra- matically. This natural low yield, though bad for farmers in terms of quantities, was outstanding for consumers in terms of quality with grape sugar concentration lev- els averaging about 10° Oeschle (greater than 2 Brix) more than usual!

My Review:  I was surprised how much I liked this red wine.  It was not as bitter as I expected.  I could definitely pick up the fruity flavor, but I am still trying to figure out how to distinguish the specific smells and tastes.  This was a great red wine.

I tasted this on its own without food.

 

 

Pass the Natty

   For my first blog post, I am tasked with talking about my experience with wine.  Well, this will be easy because there isn't much to talk about.  I have no idea about anything when it comes to wine.  I have figured out that I am a much bigger fan of white than red, but that is about it.

   My first experience with wine was classic Franzia out of a bag.  Let's just say it wasn't the best introduction to wine.  Since then I have a glass here and there, but I haven't found a wine that I would buy and/or drink on a regular basis.

  Wine is a very new subject for me.  I am hoping this class will help me expand my taste pallet beyond a nice cold Natty Light.  I'll be a real adult soon, it is time I start drinking like one.