Time for the wine dinner of the century! My friend and I decided to make three main courses in order to get the best wine and food pairings possible. The meals we choose were pasta with alfredo sauce, breaded chicken with Italian breading, and a rich steak. The wines we decided to with these foods were Pinot Noir for the pasta, Merlot with the breaded chicken, and Cabernet with the steak.
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| Name: Linderman's Variety: Pinot Noir Country: Australia Region: South Eastern Vintage: 202 Price: $4.99 |
The first pairing I tried was the pasta with creamy alfredo sauce with the Pinot Noir. The pasta by itself gave a very rich flavor and a lot of cream that coated the inside of the mouth. It did not have much flavor behind this but was extremely rich by itself. The Pinot Noir by itself expressed high levels of acidy and medium amounts of tannins. It also had some red fruit aspects with a lighter body feeling in the mouth. The combination of the two was pretty interesting, however. The high levels of acidy of the wine canceled out with the creamy, richness of the pasta and left my mouth with nothing. If the pasta had some other aspects in it I am sure that those hidden flavors would be expressed. But since it was just simple pasta all I had was just the pasta by itself once the two aspects were canceled out. It was nice but I probably would not try again unless I was in a restaurant.
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| Name: COLORBLOCK Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon Country: Italy Region: Valle Central Vintage: 2020 Price: $5.00 |
The next pairing that I tried was the steak with the Cabernet, the OG of pairings. The steak by itself was really nice and decently rich, since it was a cheaper cut there was not good fat on the steak, but still was a fan. The Cabernet by itself had some nice earthy flavors with some decently high tannins present in the wine. When combined it really was amazing, the tannins that were in the wine really invited the flavors of steak and worked well together. The richness of the wine, once drank, was built upon the richness of the steak which combined for a new level of richness never experienced before. If I had a better cut of steak with more fat that would have been rendered it would have been insanely good. However, I did really enjoy this pairing and definitely will try again.
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| Name: Bay Bridge Merlot Variety: Merlot Country: America Region: California Vintage: Merlot Price: $3.99 |
The final paring that I did was the breaded chicken with Italian seasoning with the Merlot. The breaded chicken had a really nice coat of Italian breading which has a nice salty side to the normally bland chicken, and it was cooked in some olive oil so it was really juicy as well. The Merlot had some medium tannins and acidy present in the wine, with some darker cherry flavors. It also had a nice body finish that left the mouth feeling great. When the two were combined together the saltness of the chicken was really paired with the cherry of the wine. The mixing of the flavors was a surprise for sure, but it worked well for my taste buds. The tannins also made the food taste better because it was like my mouth was "asking for the food". I would do this pairing again.
This was a truly cool experience for us, one because we normally do not cook big meals for ourselves so it was a nice change of pace, and two because we got to experiment with something new food and drink options. I know for me I normally just like to enjoy the food by itself, so I normally only get water, but now that I am familiar with these pairings that can heighten my experience with the food I can get these when going out. I am excited for the next time my friend and I are going to do this wine dinner and I am already thinking of some food and wine pairings.
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