Wine Dinner: Wine and Food Pairing Party

My girlfriend's running buddies held a wine tasting dinner party a few weeks ago (or months now, this took forever to finish and post), and I was invited to attend. There were a total of seven wines, each paired with a different appetizer. There was a good sized crowd that showed up, and we put all 14 bottles to good use.

My date and I.

The Menu, listing each wine and what it was to be paired with.

The group photo.

The first pairing was Bluestone Chardonnay with shrimp dip and chips. The chardonnay was fairly bland and acidic, but the acidity did go nicely with the cheese and shrimp in the dish. I'm not a fan of chardonnay, which is mostly why I didn't like this wine. The dip was excellent though.

Bluestone Chardonay

Cream cheese dip and potato chips

The next pairing was Kilaurwen Riesling with shrimp cocktail. This pairing was alright, not helped by the fact that this wine was fairly bland too. It had hints of citrus, which is why the paring was OK, but didn't have any richness to it. The shrimp was good of course, but the two together didn't really stand out to me. 

Kilaurwen Riesling

The third pairing was Cupcake Pinot Grigio with pepper jack cheese and brie. Like the previous two wines, this one didn't have a bold taste either that stood out over the food we were eating, but the acidity did pair well with the cheese. The light, fruity wine balanced out the spicy pepper jack fairly well.

The fourth wine was Turning Leaf Pinot Noir, our first red of the evening (finally).  It was paired with both firecracker shrimp and spicy beef that was taken out from P.F. Chang's. The wine was fairly light and mellow for a Pinot, with lots of fruit and berry flavors, which was disappointing after having three light whites. It paired well with the spicy shrimp dish, but a darker red would have been better with the steak.

Turning Leaf Pinot Noir

Pairing number five was a Mandolin Merlot with pulled pork. The wine was fairly smokey and peppery with some hints of cherry, but following the trend of the evening, was not very dark. The paired well with the barbecue pork, which was very good, but again, it could have been darker and more tannic.

The meat aisle.

After the first five light wines, I was relieved when we finally got to the darker, bolder stuff. Maybe I was just sick of light wines by this point in the night, but the Cooper Cabernet Franc was far and away my favorite. There was lots of blackberry and raspberry flavor, with strong tannins. It was paired with cheddar cheese, which the wine cut through extremely well. 

2010 Cooper Cabernet Franc

The last wine was a Cooper Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine was earthy and woody, with some plum and dark berry flavors. It was paired with Italian style meatballs, which were definitely my favorite food of the night. They paired especially well with the wine, which is to be expected for such a tomato sauce- heavy dish. 

Balls of meat, in sauce.

After seven wines, it was amazing that I remembered an of this to even write about it (which should explain why my wine descriptions are not nearly as detailed as usual), but it was a surprisingly fun time with some really great food.