Wine Dinner Blog Report #1

During this wine dinner, 3 friends and I had a meal with different sides as well as dessert and paired our meal with 3 different wines.  The main course meal was Chinese meal consisting of Chicken fried rice as a main dish and Broccoli with Chicken and General Tso's Chicken as sides.  The wines paired with the main meal were a Riesling as well as a Pinot Noir.  For dessert, my friends and I made cookie sundaes and paired this dessert with a Chocolate Cellar Dessert Red Wine. 

For the main meal, the first wine paired with the meal was a German Riesling called Landshut with a vintage of 2020.  This Riesling was semi-sweet on its own.  It smelt of tarte peach as well as hints of orange zest and tulips.  This wine paired excellently with the Chinese food. The softness of the wine allowed for all of the flavor of the food to still be experienced while sipping on the wine.  The General Tso's Chicken was spicy, and this wine allowed for the spice to be mellowed out, yet not completely cancelled.  The soft body of the Riesling really complimented the soft tastes and mild spices in the fried rice.  The acidity of the wine seemed to compliment the food and actually bring out the flavors of the meat more.  The food did not effect the taste of the wine negatively and the wine was a perfect sweetness to compliment the flavors of the Chinese food. 

Also with the main meal, a 2020 Dont Mind If I Do Pinot Noir was paired.  This wine was a very heavy-bodied and dry red wine.  Sipping on this wine left a puckering sensation in my mouth.  The wine smelt of oak and burnt wood as well as hints of black cherry.  The wine tasted a bit to dry to determine flavors without food pairing.  Once this wine was paired with the food, the dryness was tolerable and actually quite enjoyable with the saucy chicken and brocolli.  The dryness of the wine brought out extreme flavors of the food.  Drinking the wine after the food was a bit too overpowering to the food being eaten, but eating the foot after drinking the wine was perfect!

A Chocolate Cellar Dessert Sweet Red Wine was paired with our cookie sundae dessert.  This wine was extremely sweet and tasted like dessert on its own.  It smelt like chocolate covered strawberries and tasted like dark cherry with a lick of dark chocolate! This wine was a bit too sweet to drink on top of our extremely sweet cookie sundae.  The wine overpowered the dessert a little bit and vice versa.  If I were to buy this wine again, I would drink it with a more fruity and less chocolaty dessert.

This wine tasting experience was awesome.  Being able to talk about wine and drink wine with friends while enjoying an amazing meal was an awesome social and educational experience!