Dinner - Italian Sausage and wine.

This week I decided to do a Wine Dinner with my family. I decided to theme it as Italian due to the ingredients and wine I already had. This was a fun assignment to do as it got everyone involved and interacting. Everyone really enjoyed the meal and giving their opinion of the wine and how it went with the food.

The wines used. 


For the first course I decided to make an Italian style salad and some garlic bread with some Italian bread. I made the salad with roma tomatoes, black olives, feta cheese, cucumbers, and a vinaigrette dressing. As a pairing I used an Italian Moscato. This wine was quite acidic and sweet. It was really crisp and light with notes of pear. This wine paired really nicely with the salad. The sweetness and acidity of the wine complemented the acidity of the dressing. This also helped to offset the bitterness of the greens. This was a really refreshing way to start the meal. Everyone enjoyed the wine and drinking it with the salad and toasted bread.
The first course. 
The second course was spaghetti topped with Italian Sausage. This was a very powerful tasting meal with the tomato sauce and heavily seasoned Italian sausage. For this course I paired it with a dark red Italian blend. This wine comes from an Italian restaurant from Sandusky, Ohio. The family that own the restaurant still has ties home in Italy. They have their own special blend made in Italy and shipped to the U.S. for them. This wine had notes of blackberry, miked with leather, and a medium tannic build. This wine paired nicely with the spaghetti. The spices from the sausage competed with the flavors from the wine. This gave a really full and intense flavor when eaten together. This was a really full bodied wine, and needed a powerfully flavored sauce to reach its full potential.
The second course
The third course was where I went wrong. I was unsure on what to do for an Italian desert wine. I decided to use a desert wine I  had previously bought on a winery visit. This was a chocolate flavored Merlot and was the top seller at the winery. I decided to pair this wine with a vanilla ice cream, since the wine tasted like chocolate cake. This wine was very sweet and the chocolate flavor was overpowering. The wine also had a very strong cherry flavor. When paired with the ice cream this combination was a little to much. It was too sweet had too much going on. It still was not amazing, but the wine improved dramatically when poured onto the ice cream. This turned the dessert course from a mediocre pairing, into an alcoholic, chocolate and cherry flavored ice cream float. This was a really interesting pairing, but next time I will be doing something a little more traditional for dessert.
The third course.


All five of us eating dinner. 
Making Salad


Making Spaghetti. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wine Introduction

I have never been a very big wine drinker. I feel that this is pretty common for most college students. Wine is not something that is usually drank at parties or other social events. Despite this, I do enjoy wine. Most wine that I have tasted I have liked. Before this class I probably only drank wine less than once a month. Usually this would be out at a nice dinner or with family.         The only wine I have ever not liked was dark red wines. I am not sure what kind they were exactly, but those are typically my favorites. My favorite types of wine are white wines, like a pinot grigio. I also like some of the sweeter light red wines. I like sweet wines, but I usually try to drink dry wines since they have less sugar.       One thing I am most looking forward to is try new wines and expanding my practical knowledge on wine. Whenever I do try to pick out a wine I almost always buy the same wines. Picking out a wine can be overwhelming so I am looking...
Read more

Tasting - Flaco Tempranillo

Image
Name - Flaco Tempranillo Variety -100% Temprannilo Region - Vinos de Madrid Country - Spain Year - 2017 Price - $9.00 Critic Review - " Light, bright strawberries with an attractive floral, rose-like edge. Tangy, bright red-fruit flavor and easygoing tannins." James Suckling, with score of 88.  My review- I was a little disappointed with this wine. This wine was recommended to me as being a good introductory Tempranillo for a good price. I decided to pair this wine with a pulled pork sandwich, as the bottle recommended pork. This wine smelled very fruity. Upon tasting the wine it was even more fruity. I was greeted with a jammy taste of strawberry and blackberry. I thought I might have tasted a bit of an earthy aftertaste, but this was very subtle. I thought this wine was very one dimensional with it just being jammy tasting. I think someone who does not enjoy or drink red wine often would find this wine to their liking. Paired with th...
Read more

Tasting - Castello Banfi Pino Grigio

Image
Name - Castello Banfi San Angelo Pinot Grigio Toscana Variety - 100% Pino Grigio Region - Tuscany (the southern part of Montalcino.) Country - Italy Year - 2017 Price - $17.00 Winery Review - "San Angelo Pinot Grigio is an elegant wine. Lush tropical fruit aromas and flavors, balanced with crisp citrus notes, reflect its unique Tuscan character and distinguish San Angelo Pinot Grigio from its northern counterparts."  This wine received a 90 and gold medal in the  sommelier challenge . Review from  Banfi Wines . My Review - I chose this wine because I enjoy Pinot Grigio and it appeared to be a quality one. Upon smelling this wine I was greeted with a strong smell of alcohol. Less potent were the smell of pear and a floral component. When I tasted the wine I was met with the subtle flavors of pear with an aftertaste of citrus. The wine also had a distinct tartness to it. I drank this wine with chicken over rigatoni and pesto. This helped to balance the w...
Read more