Wine Dinner 4/17/13

For this wine dinner, we had two whites and one red. The first white wine I honestly picked up because I thought the bottle was pretty. It was a Vinho Verde from Portugal. It was slightly fizzy which I really liked. We tasted the wine first, without pairing it with anything and it had a very apple-y taste to it. It was really light, and reminded me of a Pinot Grigio. The finish was slightly sour. 

We then paired this wine with swiss cheese and crackers. After the cheese, it tasted much sweeter, however it was kind of muted. It definitely tasted less fruity when paired with the cheese.

With dinner, (chicken, green beans and white rice), this wine was really good. It went really well with the chicken, it kind of reminded me of a capri sun. It definitely tasted a lot like juice. 

With the vanilla ice cream we had for dessert, this wine tasted really bitter and much too sour. Definitely not a wine to pair with sweeter treats. 

The red wine we had was a Merlot from Virginia. On the initial tasting, before we paired it with anything, the berry taste was very apparent. I tasted blackberries at first, with a spicy finish. It was dry, but not too much. 

After we paired this Merlot with the swiss cheese and crackers, I liked it a lot more. Instead of the fruity flavors I had tasted before, I tasted more of the vanilla and caramel after pairing it with something. 

We had this wine paired with dinner and I really didn't like it after having it with the chicken and rice. I felt like the dry finish became almost overwhelming and the fruit flavor was overtaken by an oaky flavor. Definitely liked this wine better on its own or with a simple food, like the cheese. 

With dessert (vanilla ice cream), I actually liked this wine a lot. The sweetness of the ice cream brought out some of the berry flavors we had tasted with the cheese. 

The Third wine we had was a Yellow Tail Chardonnay. I don't typically drink Chardonnay so this was a way for me to try something new. I actually really enjoyed it on first taste. It reminded me of Pinot Grigio but a little bit more dry. It had a vanilla/caramel finish, it was definitely less fruity than the first wine.

With the cheese and crackers, this wine was really good. Just like with the first white, it was sweeter tasting with the cheese. The light wine with the light food pairing went very well. 

Again, with the dinner, this wine did very well. I am beginning to believe the white wine and chicken pairing recommendation because both whites got much sweeter and really added a lot of flavor to the chicken. It was almost thirst quenching, while drinking the red with the chicken was too dry and overpowering. 

With the vanilla ice cream, I was surprised that I actually liked this wine. The vanilla ice cream brought out more of the vanilla flavors I had originally tasted with this wine.