Wine Dinner Blog #1

This week I got together with some friends to have a wine dinner. We all had mutual friends from classes, sororities, etc. so it was very enjoyable to meet some new people that are also taking this class. For dinner, we had bruschetta, vodka pasta, and brownies. For wines, we tried a sauvignon blanc, rosé, and the Rinaldi Red Dream.

Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc

First we tried the Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc. The wine was pretty light bodied and was not too dry. The main flavor I got was apple with crisp citrus hints. We also all identified more subtle hints of grapefruit and lemon by using the wine wheel. We then tried the Sauvignon Blanc with the bruschetta that I made. With the bruschetta, the wine seemed less sweet and the flavors balanced well. I thought the balsamic and tomatoes in the dish balanced the acidity of the wine very well and made it seem less acidic. The crispness of the wine counteracted the flavorful bruschetta and made the bruschetta seem a little less tart and more fresh. Overall, I think it went very well together and balanced each other in a unique way. In the end, we all agreed that this was the best pairing from the evening.

Barefoot Rosé

Next was the Barefoot Rosé California. When I first sniffed the rosé it smelled like it would be very dry, however, when I tasted it it was less dry than I expected and was actually pretty smooth. The main flavor I got was florals with hints of fruit like strawberries and raspberries. We also identified some cherry and a bit of citrus. The label mentioned watermelon which we could detect but we didn’t identify that flavor on our own. We tried the vodka pasta with garlic parmesan with the rosé. We thought maybe going with the color rule would help here, pairing a pink rosé with a light pasta sauce. However, we did not think it ended up pairing very well. The sweet rose overpowered the pasta a bit, especially because the pasta was light on sauce. The rose was so sweet and powerful that it did not complement the pasta. With the rosé I felt like the cheese of the pasta did not come out as much. I think the wine made the pasta a bit fruitier but mostly overpowered it. We thought that the pasta may have paired better with a drier white wine. 

Rinaldi Redream 

Finally was the Rinaldi Redream which was a sweet dessert  red wine. This wine was extremely sweet and fruity and we joked that it didn’t even taste like wine. The main flavors I identified were cranberry and cherry. We also identified blackberry and plum. This was a dessert wine so we had it with the brownies. With the brownie, I thought the wine enhanced the brownie and made it fruitier as if the brownie had berries in it. I think the chocolate of the brownie may have enhanced the raspberry in the wine a bit but overall did not affect the brownie too much. Even though each was not affected by the other much, both went very well together and were both very sweet. 

As I mentioned earlier, I think the bruschetta and Sauvignon Blanc were the best pairing. Then the brownie and red wine, with then the pasta with the rosé being last. This was our first wine dinner experience which I found to be very fun! It was nice to meet up with other people taking the class and share our opinions. We all agreed that we think wine is better with food overall!