Wine Dinner- 622 North

Me at the 622 North wine dinner!

This week I did a wine dinner with my roommate Allie, and we had a great time trying all of the different wines with the different foods. We decided to go with an American theme, so the three wines we tasted were Sawtooth (Late Harvest Riesling) from Snake River Valley, Idaho, Paraiso (Pinot Noir) from Monterey, California, and Jekel (Chardonnay) from Monterey, California as well. We paired these wines with a cheese platter, a corn salsa with chips, and a spring mandarine salad. These pairings can be seen in the picture below. 

The three wines with the three food choices. 

Jeckel paired with the spring salad.

I first paired the Jeckel (Chardonnay) with the spring mandarine salad. The wine by itself smelled like an apple or a pear with some honey accents. The flavors of this wine were kind of earthy. I thought this wine was surprisingly ry and a little bit tart. However, it was very smooth and crisp on the palate. The salad had a very interesting mandarine-esque dressing on it that had a basil and mint flare to it. This wine paired well with the salad, and the flavors of the salad actually brought out a certain spiciness to the wine. Overall, this was a good pairing. Although this was claimed to bring a spring salad, it actually reminded me more of fall flavors, especially when paired with this wine. 

Sawtooth with the corn salsa & tortilla chips

Next, I paired the Sawtooth (Late Harvest Riesling) with the corn salsa and tortilla chips. The salsa tasted a lot like pico del gallo with a little bit of corn. I absolutely loved this wine, and it might possibly be one of my more favorite wines to date. It had a bit of a maple syrup smell to it with hints of apple. It kind of reminds me of a caramel covered apple. The wine was very sweet, but in more of a dessert way rather than fruity. This pairing brought out tons of spiciness to the salsa. I was kind of surprised that this pairing went so great together because of the contrast between the flavors. This was a terrific pairing. 

Paraiso with the cheese platter. 

Finally I paired the Paraiso (Pinot Noir) with the cheese platter. This wine smelled like blackberries with maybe a little bit of cherry. It was extremely dry, and there really weren't many flavors to it. Overall, I thought this wine was very bland, and it wasn't the wine for me. I thought that this paired well with the cheese on the crackers because the carbohydrates kind of calmed the dryness of the wine. I absolutely loved the green cheese that came with this platter. It was very smooth and had almost a vegetable like cheddar taste to it. I though that the cheddar paired well with the wine, but it kind of overpowered the taste of the cheddar just a little bit. The white cheese on this platter tasted a little bit like either bleu cheese or brie cheese. Overall, this pairing was not one of my favorites, but I think that is primarily due to the fact that I did not like the wine. 

This dinner was a great way to end the semester, and I am so glad I got to have this experience. Of all the dinners that I've participated in, I think I enjoyed the wines of this one the most. I also think these wines paired the best with the foods, and it was probably due to the fact that we had a professional advising us to pair certain wines with certain flavors. The staff at 622 North was so friendly, and I would definitely go back for another experience like this. It was very educational to find out which wines pair best with which foods, and it was even more interesting to put those tips to practice by actually tasting the pairings. 

The three wines

The 622 North menu

Specials: Spring Salad 

Tasting- Bera Asti

Name: Bera Asti

Variety: Italian Sparkling Wine
Region: Neviglie, Piemonte

Country: Italy

Year: 2011

Price: $9.95

Shop Review: "90 pts, Decanter Magazine
Bera is a soft and plush wine with creamy foam, lemony mousse and loads of fragrant peach blossom, honey and sweet almond on the bouquet. You’ll love the intensity of elegant,  fresh, rich flavours and vibrant acidity." - Vintage Cellar

My Review: This wine overwhelmingly smelled like flowers, and this translated to the taste. I also surprisingly tasted some peach in this wine, which went well with the floral aspect. The texture of this wine was very similar to that of Sprite. Overall, I liked this wine and I would definitely try it again.  

Food: I drank this wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting, so I was unable to pair any foods to this wine. 

Tasting- Tarima Monastrell

Name: Tarima Monastrell

Variety: Monastrell
Region: Alicante

Country: Spain

Year: 2013

Price: $9.95

Shop Review: "90 pts, Stephen Tanzer. Bright purple.  High-pitched red and dark berry scents show good clarity and pick up a licorice nuance with air.  Tangy and focused on the palate, offering juicy black raspberry and spicecake flavors with an exotic touch of candied violet.  Closes spicy and long, with silky tannins building slowly and adding gentle grip.  This is a fantastic value." - Vintage Cellar

My Review: This wine smelled very spicy and oaky right off the bat. I could taste some hints of cocoa in this wine, but there were so many flavors going on that it made it hard to distinguish one from another. I also thought that this wine had a certain oaky aspect to it. Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of this wine. 

Food: I drank this wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting, so I was unable to pair any foods to this wine. 

Name: Coreto Tinto

Variety: Caladoc , Alicante Bouschet , Castellan , Pinot Noir , Tinta Roriz , Touriga Nacional
Region: N/A

Country: Portugal

Year: 2013

Price: $6.95

Shop Review: "Caladoc , Alicante Bouschet , Castellan , Pinot Noir , Tinta Roriz , Touriga Nacional.  Great as an aperitif, is a perfect wine for the day-to-day. Excellent addition to dishes with meats, stews, roasts, barbecue, pasta, pizza, vegetarian dishes, Mexican food, Chinese, Thai and cheeses. Excellent with food or by itself. You can follow for example, roasts, barbecue, pasta and vegetarian dishes or made of cheese. Serve at a temperature of 14-16ºC which enhances the fruity, also being much more enjoyable in warmer weather, on a terrace or a party." - Vintage Cellar

My Review: I definitely did not like this wine at all. I am more of a fruity girl, and this wine was extremely dry and bitter. I could sense some oaky smells to this wine, but that was about it because I was so overwhelmed by the dryness and bitterness. I've realized that I get extremely distracted the bitter and dry aspects of a wine, and it makes it hard for me to pull any other flavors from it. 

Food: I drank this wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting, so I was unable to pair any foods to this wine. 

Tasting- Tarima Blanco

Name: Tarima Blanco 

Variety: 70% mereseguera, 20% viura and 10% moscatel
Region: Alicante

Country: Spain

Year: 2013

Price: $8.95

Shop Review: "(70% mereseguera, 20% viura and 10% moscatel):  Light yellow.  Perfumed aromas of Meyer lemon, melon and white flowers show good clarity and a hint of ginger.  Juicy, open-knit citrus fruit and peach flavors are firmed by a zesty mineral quality and a touch of white pepper.  The melon note repeats on the clinging but slightly warm finish." - Vintage Cellar

My Review: This wine had a strong smell of lemons and citrus (maybe either an orange or a tangerine). It was very refreshing and light on the palate. When tasting this wine, it was very smooth but it definitely had a certain acidity to it that I wasn't too fond of. I didn't find anything about this wine to be extremely unique from anything I have tasted before. 

Food: I drank this wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting, so I was unable to pair any foods to this wine. 

Tasting- Dom de la Condemine Macon-Peronne “Le Clou”

Name: Dom de la Condemine Macon-Peronne “Le Clou” 

Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Region: Burgundy

Country: France

Year: 2012

Price: $19.00 (Regular) $7.95 (Sale)

Shop Review: "Made from 100% Chardonnay. Sustainable agriculture: very low use of chemicals.  Their philosophy is to produce a wine in the traditional style of Mâcon, with minimal intervention and not use of Oak.  The soils is made of Clay and Limestone (Argilo-Calcaire) and the parcels are located right next to Viré Clessé Appelatio.  A light golden hue, floral aromas. Intense, clean and fresh on the palate. Citrus notes, bold acidity. Excellent match to seafood with butter or cream sauces or rich blue cheeses." - Vintage Cellar

My Review: This wine smelled like vanilla extract with maybe a few little floral hints. It was extremely smooth and rich when tasting. There was kind of a creaminess to this wine that I really liked. This wine gave me a huge rush of sweetness on the palate, and it was definitely a very bold wine that I would consider drinking again. 

Food: I drank this wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting, so I was unable to pair any foods to this wine. 

Winery 2- Attimo

Attimo Wine Tasting!

Last weekend a bunch of my friends and I went to Attimo winery for yet another fun experience! When we first got to the winery, the vineyard greeted us at the sign on the right, and the tasting room was just beyond that. Upon entering the tasting room, we sat down at a table and glanced over the menu before beginning our experience. 

We learned that Attimo means "In the moment" in Italian, so every wine that they produce are named after a moment in time, and the taste of the wine is supposed to reflect that moment. I loved this theme, and I found it to be very interesting as we tasted the wines and were told about the different experiences. Listed below are each of the wines we tasted and the notes that I took on each of them:

Yesterday's Song: This wine was a standard Chardonnay and was lightly oaked for 2-3 weeks to preserve the fruitiness. Our server told us that this wine pairs wonderfully with cheese. I thought that this wine was a very tart white, and it definitely tasted like a bitter apple. It also had some earthy undertones that tasted similar to maybe a sediment. This wine has won multiple awards, which include the following: 2011 Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition - Vintage (2010) Bronze, 2011 International Eastern Wine Competition – Vintage (2010) Bronze, 2011 Virginia Wine Lover's Classic – Vinatge (2010) Gold, 2012 American Wine Society Commercial Wine Competition – Vintage (2011) Silver.

Sonnet 98: The grapes used to produce this wine were on the vines that greeted us at the front of the winery next to the sign. This was named after Shakespeare's ode to spring, and it is a Vidal Blanc. This wine had very floral flavors and earthy smells like that of bark on a tree.  This wine reminded me of rocks at the bottom of a river bank. It was also very thin in texture and it went down the throat smoothly. I think that this wine would be a great one to bring  along on a hike. This wine has also won many awards, which include the following: 2011 International Eastern Wine Competition – Vintage (2010) Double Gold & Best in Class, 2011 Virginia Wine Lover's Classic – Vintage (2010) Gold, 2011 Wine of the South Competition – Vintage (2010) Silver, 2012 Virginia Wine Lover's Reader's Choice, Western Division, Best White – Vintage (2010) First, 2012 American Wine Society Commercial Wine Competition – Vintage (2011) Bronze, 2012 Townpoint Wine Competition – Vintage (2011) Silver, 2012 Wines of the South Competition – Vintage (2011) Bronze, 2012 International Women's Wine Competition – Vintage (2011) Silver, 2013 Governor's Cup (Virginia) - Vintage (2011) Silver, 2013 Florida State Fair International Wine and Juice Competition --  Vintage (2011) Bronze, 2013 Int'l Eastern Wine Competition -- Vintage (2011) Silver, 2014 Governer's Cup (Virginia) - Vintage (2012) Bronze. 

Wonder: This wine won the gold medal in the 2014 State Fair of Virginia Wine competition. It was produced in last harvest and was heavily oaked and is very sweet. This wine was described by our server to taste like a toffee with a honeysuckle sweet edge. I thought that it tasted exactly as if I was sucking on a coffee bean. It was very sweet and came at me with unexpected flavors. I actually loved this wine and I think that it would pair extremely well with any dessert. 

I do: This wine was described to have a grassy straw hue from the trim with a smokey exotic fruitiness from another part of the wine. Our server told us that this wine pairs well with spicy food like curry or a spicy salsa with mexican food or Chipotle. I thought that this wine tasted like a crisp apple or pear, and I couldn't really pull any of the smokiness from this wine. This wine has won two awards, and they are the 2011 Wines of the South Competition – Vintage (2010) Silver and the 2012 Virginia Wine Lover's Reader's Choice, Western Division, Best White – Vintage (2010) First. 

Just Kissed Blush: This wine won the silver medal at the 2012 Wines of the South Competition, and it is a Vidal Blanc/ Red Raspberry. This wine smells a little smoke and tastes a little bit like burnt wood with a raspberry twist to it. I thought that this wine went down very smooth, and I actually really enjoyed it. ***

After Midnight- This wine also won the silver medal at the 2012 Wines of the South Competition, and it is a Merlot/Zinfandel/Blackberry blend. This wine smelt very sweet and it tasted even more sweet. It also had a smokey aftertaste. This was not amongst my most favorite wines of this tasting. ***

Deep Silence: This wine is a very dry red Cabernet Franc. It smelled kind of sweet with a hints of burnt coal. It also tasted like burnt coal and had a peppery spice to finish it off. I was not a fan of this wine, but it was still extremely unique when comparing it to other wines that I have tasted up to this point in time. It has won several awards so far, and they include the following: 2011 Wines of the South Competition – Vintage (2010) Bronze, 2012 Virginia Wine Lover's Reader's Choice, Western Division, Best Red – Vintage (2010) First, 2012 American Wine Society Commercial Wine Competition – Vintage (2011) Silver, 2012 Wines of the South Competition – Vintage (2011) Silver. ***

Sudden Downpour: This wine smelled very home-like and like nature. It was very sweet and I could taste a fruity apple in this one. This wine had a bold earthy sweetness to it that I really liked. This wine has also won several awards and they include the following: 2011 Wines of the South Competition – Vintage (2010) Bronze, 2012 Virginia Wine Lover's Reader's Choice, Best Fruit Wine – Vintage (2010) Fourth, 2012 Virginia Wine Lover's Reader's Choice, Western Division, Best Fruit – Vintage (2010) First. ***

Wines & their awards

                             

                                       Wines & their awards

Wines & their awards

I really enjoyed this experience and learning about the production of all of the different wines. I thought that their theme was very unique and it made for a unique tasting experience. I liked the majority of the wines that I tasted, and I thought that every single wine was so unique from anything that I have ever tasted before. Even the wines that I didn't like were extremely unique. There were tons of flavors in these wines that I had never tasted in a wine before. My absolute favorite wine from this tasting was Wonder. I usually enjoy wines that are fruity and sweet, so I was surprised that this was my favorite out of the whole bunch. I would've bought a bottle of this wine if I wasn't such a poor college kid on a budget. Overall, this was such a fun thing to do with my friends and I would definitely return to this winery for another tasting in the future. 

All of us having a good time at the tasting!

All of us at the wine tasting!

Dinner #2: Homemade Italian Night!

Italian Dinner Night!

This week, a couple of friends and I decided to do an Italian themed wine dinner! We paired three different Italian wines: Villa d' Rosso Toscano (Sangiovese), Fabbrica (Moscato), and Caparzo (Sangiovese Toscana) with three foods: a beef-based lasagna, spaghetti carbanera, and some bread and butter. Each of these items can be seen in the photos above and below. 

Villa d' Rosso Toscano

Fabbrica Moscato

Caparzo Sangiovese Toscana

Buttered Bread

Lasagna

Spaghetti Carbanera

First I tried the wines without food. The first wine that I tasted was the Caparzo Sangiovese Toscana, and I wasn't really a fan of it. This wine was very dry and tart, and I honestly couldn't taste many flavors because I was overwhelmed with the tartness. The only flavor that I could really pull from this wine was that of a berry. I then tried the Villa d' Rosso Toscano, and it was kind of dry and had a bit of a spiciness to it. There were some sweet undertones to this wine, which tasted a little bit like a blackberry or a plum. I then tried the Fabbrica Moscato, and I was caught by surprise because I actually didn't really like it that much. I usually love Moscatos, but this one lacked a lot in the fruitiness and it wasn't as sweet as other Moscato wines that I've had before. It had a slight pear taste to it with slight pineapple undertones. 

Me with the three foods and the Sangiovese

Now it was time for the wine pairing with the food! I first tried the lasagna with the Villa d' Rosso, and I actually really loved these two together. I thought that the two complemented each other very well, and the cheese in the lasagna was accentuated by the dry Italian fell of the red wine. I then decided to pair the spaghetti carbanera with the Caparzo Sangiovese Toscano and I thought that these also went well together. The wine really brought out the bacon flavors of the sauce and the pasta, and it was just right. The pasta was not overpowered by this wine, which was a good thing. The wine paired with this food was very well balanced overall. Finally, I decided to pair the Fabbrica Moscato with the bread. Again, I was pleasantly surprised by this pairing because I did not originally love the wine. I thought that this wine made the bread taste like a very sweet desert. The Moscato seemed to soak into the bread and make for a sweet treat. Overall, this dinner was a success! I originally did not like the wines, but pairing foods with them actually enhanced their flavors and brought out tastes that I hadn't previously pointed out upon my original tasting. 

The three wines

The three foods!

Friends with their food and wine!

Friends with their food and wine!

Friends with their food and wine!

Friends with their food and wine!

Tasting- Jam Jar

Name: Jam Jar

Variety: Moscato
Region: Westem Cape

Country: South Africa

Year: 2014

Price: $8.95

Shop Review: "This charming, easy-drinking Moscato offers flavors of peach, apricot, lychee and orange blossom. A lively jolt of acidity keeps it fresh and fruity. Fancy enough for a special occasion toast, yet sweet-natured enough to enjoy every day, our bright and cheerful sweet wines are sure to capture your heart." - Vintage Cellar

My Review: I really liked this wine and I actually ended up purchasing it. This wine obviously had a very fruity taste to it since it is a sweet white Moscato. I could taste some flavors of either strawberry mixed with a bit of pineapple and I also pulled the floral flavors from this wine that tasted a little bit like a peony. This wine was sweet, but it wasn't overwhelming because the floral flavors kind of balanced it out. This wine would be perfect for a spring day. 

Food: I drank this wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting, so I was unable to pair any foods to this wine. 

Tasting- Rare Red

Name: Rare Red

Variety: Zinfandel, Petite Syrah, Petite Verdot, Merlot
Region: California

Country: United States

Year: 2013

Price: $9.95

Shop Review: "A multi-vintage blend of Zinfandel, Petite Verdot, Petite Syrah, and Merlot that is full-bodied and fruit forward with a spicy and complex finish. This wine has been partially barrel aged for eight months in American and French oak." - Vintage Cellar

My Review: This wine was a tiny bit dry, but not as dry as the Becca wine. Again, this wine had pepper-like hints to it and was a little bit spicy. I did not taste any of the fruitiness to this wine because the other flavors seemed to be more profound and "in your face".

Food: I drank this wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting, so I was unable to pair any foods to this wine. 

Tasting- Becca Tovana

Name: Becca Tovana

Variety: Old Vine Garnacha
Region: Munebrega

Country: Spain

Year: 2013

Price: $8.95

Shop Review: "Gnarled vines, grown without irrigation, are a mainstay of Spain’s winemaking tradition and produce small clusters of perfectly ripe Garnacha grapes. Aromas of blackberries, plums, and cherries fill the glass and develop into luscious flavors of black stone fruit. Long, supple tannins complete this extraordinary wine." - Vintage Cellar

My Review: This wine was very very dry. It tasted a little bit smokey with a hint of blackberry to it. The finish on this wine tasted almost like caramel or a chocolate to me. It also had a tiny hint of pepperiness to it, which made it unique. Overall, I thought that there were too many flavors going on in this wine, and it wasn't one of my favorites. 

Food: I drank this wine at the Vintage Cellar tasting, so I was unable to pair any foods to this wine.