Wine Dinner #1

This past week my friend Andrew in the class wanted to meet up and do a wine pairing with a meal, of course I agreed and he had another friend that was going to cook the main meal and we only had to bring appetizers and a dessert. Not a bad deal. So Andrew and I hit the grocery store and picked up some french onion dip and celery for our appetizer. I brought a Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 Vintage from McManis Vineyards in California. purchased for $7, with a 13.5% alcohol content. We made a mistake by not purchasing wines that pair well with the appetizer or dessert. But as dude's that aren't picky we didn't complain haha. The wine was very good, it was very full bodied, fruity aroma, with cranberry, cherry, and a hint of bitter raspberry. It was like the perfect amount of flavors to match the alcohol content. Hands down my favorite wine of the night and since then have purchased another two bottles.

    For the main course my friends friend Will, prepared London Broil with mashed potatoes and to my surprise no veggies. Not a problem because I'm not a huge fan. The mashed potatoes weren't too great considering they were from a box. But the steak was great, he had marinated it in Mushrooms and in the Night Harvest wine that we paired with it. The wine really broke down the steak and soaked into it creating a juicy sauce with each bite. The Night Harvest wine ($5 and 14% alcohol content) and  was a watered down version of the McManis. It was my least favorite of the wines of the evening. It had a great nose, fruity, light, and a brighter color than the previous Cab. But the taste was just not there, it was watery with little boldness, and the alcohol content pierced through any attempt there was at flavor and just had a vicious bite. It did however complement the steak a little, the taste of the meat made up for the lack luster wine performance.

The final course for the night was vanilla ice cream with chopped up fresh strawberries. I am a Riesling fan but was a little disappointed with the Crane Lake ( $7, alcohol content 13% ). While cutting the strawberries we smelled the wine and had a before taste test. It smelled like it was going to be a great riesling with a honey and citrus nose. The taste was an over the top sweetness and acid with hints of lemon, lime, peach, and a honey aftertaste. The alcohol content was the only thing bringing it together. Once we ate some of the delightfully ripe strawberries and ice cream, we took a second taste and we were blown away. The sweetness from the dessert made our palates open up and able to taste wine from a different perspective. With our mouths coated with sugar we were able to get past the sweetness of the wine and I began to get more flavors such as pear and pineapple. It was cool to see how a wine can open your palate that much and was my first experience having the taste of a wine paired with food change so much. Totally cool experience that eating ice cream can make alcohol taste better!!!