Dinner blog #2

My roommates and I had our second wine dinner by cooking in and pairing our dishes with comparable wines. We consulted Wine Folly, and other online resources, to best pair our starter, entrée, and dessert with wines that would express beneficial flavors. We paired a 2020 Calandrelle Vin Blanc blend, 2020 Verdejo Ylirum blend, and a 2021 Belfiore Merlot with a caprese salad, rigatoni alla vodka, and a chocolate cake. 

Above is a picture of the dinner and wines that pair with it. We paired the caprese salad with the Calandrelle Vin Blanc blend. The lightness of the caprese brought out the zesty and lemon based aroma of the wine. The fruity wine allowed us to taste the flavors of the mozzarella and basil. Moreover, the sharp notes of the Verdejo Ylirum blend brough a more buttery taste that allowed creamy taste of the pasta come through. To enhance the taste more, adding more balsamic glaze would have allowed more acidity to come through which would have paired well with the wine. There were strong buttery flavors from the Verdejo. 

Above is a picture of myself with the two wines and the dinner. Overall, the wines paired well. The acidity of the Vin Blanc was slightly overwhelming for transitioning straight into the pasta. A less acidic and less fruit forward wine would have allowed for a better transition between dishes. The buttery Verdejo was an excellent pairing for the creamy pasta. 

The above is the Merlot we paired with our dessert, the chocolate cake. The richness of the merlot paired well with the heaviness of the chocolate cake. Looking back on it, a darker red such as a Cab would have paired very well with the cake. The deep hues of plum and raspberry really brought out the richness of the cake. The merlot also had deep blackberry tones. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the pairings we selected to go with our dishes. The weak link between the three was the Vin Blanc with the caprese. The acidity and fruit forward notes were slightly overwhelming once we transitioned into the much more mellow combinations for the pasta and cake. I enjoyed how the dishes had immense flavor and richness brought out by the wines.