Wine Tasting 2/27

 Wine Tasting 2/27

Hello everyone! Today, I tasted the wine, Pinetti Zinfandel from the Fossalta di Piave region in Italy. The year of the wine is 2020 and it was around $5 at Kroger. Some tasting notes I found online at Vivino.com were "pretty basic, Anise, and blackberry". After tasting the wine myself, I would agree with the online review. I thought the wine was spicy with notes of cinnamon, cherry and blackberry. Although I did not have the wine with food, I would rate the wine a 6/10. 

https://winefolly.com/grapes/zinfandel/

Wine and Cheese Pairing #1

 Don't wine about it, this might be a little cheesy! I recently did a wine and cheese pairing and would love to share my thoughts with y'all!

The first pairing was Winking Owl merlot and cheddar. 

The merlot was fruity and sweet with cherry and vanilla. I thought that the wine paired really well with the cheese. The sweetness of the wine contrasts the sharpest and heaviness of the cheddar well. Neither cheese nor wine was too overpowering. The cheese made the wine less fruity and balanced it well.

The second pairing was a honey goat cheese and a Landshut riesling.

The honey goat cheese was sweet and really creamy. The riesling had fruity notes and was crisp and light. I thought the pairing was okay, but the sweetness from the wine and the cheese clashed some for me. The acidity was good with the creaminess of the cheese. However, the cheese was a little overpowering of the wine and made the wine a little heavier. 

The last pairing was the provolone and Fyi red blend. 

The red blend was 60% Tempranillo, 20% Cabernet, and 20% Garnacha. The red blend was tannic, acidic, and fruity while the provolone was smooth and mild. I did not enjoy this pairing, as the wine was too full-bodied for such a mild cheese. The cheese was overpowered by the wine, and I would recommend this wine with cheddar cheese or something sharper. 

Wine Dinner #1

    Amidst Covid, my love for cooking and wanting to stay in has really grown. My boyfriend and I decided to have a night in for a nice dinner with wine pairings instead of going out. Both he and his wallet seemed very happy with this decision (as seen below)!

For our first course, we made a seafood mac and cheese. I paired the mac and cheese with a Winking Owl sauvignon blanc. 

The sauvignon blanc had notes of citrus and apple. The wine paired really well with the seafood mac and cheese as the wine's acidity cut through the heaviness of the cheese. I do not think the wine or food was overpowering, as they really complimented each other really well. The food made the wine heavier which I really liked. Overall, I really enjoy this pairing and would 8/10 recommend!

The second course was a vodka sauce with rigatoni pasta and grilled chicken paired with an RB red blend.

The blend did not have the percentages on the bottle. The wine had notes of vanilla and spice. I did not particularly enjoy this wine alone since it was too dry and really heavy. However, when paired with the food, the wine was significantly better. The wine complemented the food really well and vice versa. The wine helped with the sweetness and saltiness of the sauce, and the sauce helped balance out the heaviness of the wine. Although the wine was not my favorite of the night, I would 7/10 recommend this pairing. 

For dessert, we paired a Moiselle sweet red with vanilla ice cream and brownies.

This blend did not have the percentages on the bottle either but was one of my favorites. The wine had notes of cherry and raspberry and was delightfully sweet. I made dark chocolate brownies that paired perfectly with the wine. The vanilla ice cream, however, was a little too sweet. The fruity notes paired well with the vanilla and brownies, but the ice cream did overpower the wine to some extent. I would recommend the wine to be paired with brownies rather than the ice cream. I would rate this pairing 8/10.