Wine dinner Blog #2 - Katie Williams

 

Wine Dinner Blog #2

    Second ever wine dinner blog which was super fun. Now knowing what to expect I wanted to change up the dinner type and went for an american style meal. I did hamburgers, french fries, and pasta salad. This meal is always a family favorite and comfort meal so I was excited to see the pairing with each of the unique meals. 

 

    The three wines I chose were, Barefoot chardonnay, Barefoot pinot noir, and Josh reserve chardonnay. I felt that these would have been best because it finally get to compare a cheap bottle of wine with a nicer more expensive bottle of wine. It also chose these wines because I get to try the different flavors with each of the wines. I was surprised when reading the Wine Folly textbook from pages 61 because red meat was not recommended with light bodied white wine but was recommended with red wine. On page 59 it recommended potato chip or salt for a full bodied red wine so hopefully it will pair well with the salty french fry. Lastly, I didn't see pasta or a type of carbohydrate being recommended for these wines so I was interested to see the flavors! 

Barefoot Chardonnay

Vintage year: Unkown

Variety of grape: Chardonnay

Country of origin: USA

Region of origin: CA

Price: $3.50

• • Smells: Immediately after the smell I felt like I was not going to enjoy this wine. It smelled very strong notes of peach and sweetness. It felt like more of a resiling than a chardonnay smell wise.

  • Flavor: Tasted like a resiling since it was very sweet but also had a very acidic taste when I drank it. It only had two tastes really of peach and apple but I see why its $3.50 for a mini bottle. Im very glad I tried it this way and not with an entire bottle because I would not have finished it.

  
  

  Burger: I was worried about this combination but surprisingly tasted good. It had a lot of flavors and tastes because it was onion, tomato, cheese and ketchup on top. The flavors

  
  

  French Fries: The sweet and fruity taste of the wine clashed with the salty french fries. It tasted like sweet but salty liquid being drank. Since the warm french fries were pretty hot it didn't pair well at all.

  
  

  Pasta Salad: Really liked this combination of the sweet wine and vegetable pasta salad. The base of the sauce was vinegar and oil. Felt like this pairing was super great with the acidity taste.

Barefoot Pinot Noir

Vintage year: 2023

Variety of grape: Pinot Noir

Country of origin: USA

Region of origin: CA

Price: $3.50

• • Smells: Smelled like dark cherry and acid. Smelled like hints of bourbon and oak.

  • Flavor: Tasted like dark cherry, acid, and oak. It did not have a great after taste and I dont think I would get this wine again.

  
  

  Burger: This was my favorite pairing with the bourbon and oak. I think the flavors complemented each other well and it made it smoother. I liked the greasiness of the burger because it added some flavor.

  
  

  French Fries: Did not like the pairing with this. The salt did not go well with the dark cherry and oak. I think it tasted like dirt and wasn't a pleasant taste. Because it was warm food with the acidic pinot noir it wasn't a great pairing.

  
  

  Pasta Salad: The pairing with pasta salad and pinot noir was my second favorite. The flavors went well with the cherry surprisingly. It did have a weird taste when you swallowed it but over all the first initial taste was good.

 

Josh Reserve

Vintage year: 2021

Variety of grape: Chardonnay

Country of origin: USA

Region of origin: California North Coast

Price: $25

• Smells: The smells included lemon and apple. It was subtle but the smell of vanilla hit my nose.

• Flavor: On my palate I immediately tasted a dry wine with lemon. I tasted notes of very sweet apple but when you swallow it tastes like oak. After keeping the wine in my mouth for a bit I could taste a sweet fruit but couldn't put a pin in what it exactly was.

Burger: The flavors with this wine and the burger did not go well together since there was so much going on. I think if I were to pair this wine with one singular item not an entire burger it would be so much better. The taste between the juicy burger and did not go well with the more lemon taste.

French Fries: I didn't like the flavors much together. Similar to the Barefoot Chardonnay I thought the warm, salty, and potato starchy did not go well with the lemon hints and sweeter hints of the chardonnay.

Pasta Salad: I did like the flavors of this because I felt like the vinegar and oil went well with the lemon and oak flavors. I felt like the flavors balanced each other out very well and made the pairing very strong.

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  To conclude, I really had a great time with my second wine dinner dinner blog. I am very glad I was able to try it the meal being at home with my family. It was very fun to show my parents how to do a wine tasting dinner blog. It was very fun to explore many spices and flavors. I liked trying a completely different meal than the first one I made that was with completely different flavors. Overall very happy with my experience and I am excited for the next one!

• Barefoot Chardonnay --> Pasta salad

• Barefoot Pinot Noir --> Burger

• Josh Reserve --> Pasta salad