Wine Dinner 1

For our first wine dinner, we went with a classic cheap college student 3-course dinner. We started with the cheapskate's charcuterie board, cheese and crackers, followed by our entree for the night, Domino's Pizza and a frozen pizza just in case we were still hungry. For dessert, we made some boxed brownies, gluten free for our gf friend Selah! 

We chose an inexpensive Pinot Grigio to pair with our cheese and crackers. We hoped the drier pinot would pair well with creamy mozzarella and goat cheese. I had a chili fig jam we also could try with the cheese and crackers. To pair with our pizza, we chose a merlot, and finally, we chose a sweet red roscato to pair with our chocolate brownies.

Course 1 - Pinot Grigio with cheese and crackers

Name: Debonair Pinot Grigio
Variety of Grape(s): Pinot Grigio
Country of Origin: United States of America
Region of Origin: California
Vintage Year: 2022
Price: $8.99

Nose: Very fruity, buttery, orange, grapefruit, acidic

Taste: Fruit juice, very light ethanol, grapefruit, pear, acidic, slightly sweet, apple juice, watery mouthfeel

Food: Multigrain crackers with mozzarella and chili fig spread and goat cheese

Pairing: Saltiness of the crackers brings out notes of honey and extra sweetness. With fig spread, wine tastes extra dry and takes away from the overall experience. Goat cheese and fig spread did not pair well, and the wine tasted very dry and funky with the combo, but goat cheese alone on cracker paired very well, better than mozzarella.

My takeaway was overall quite positive. I felt the pinot grigio was a bit sweeter than I would've liked, but it was a good pairing. I will definitely skip the sweet jam in the pairing, but it was great experience that I look forward to repeating.

Course 2 - Merlot with pepperoni pizza

Name: Storyteller Once Upon a Dream Merlot
Variety of Grape(s): Merlot
Country of Origin: United States of America
Region of Origin: California
Vintage Year: 2022
Price: $13.99

Nose: Leather, tannins, cured meat, tomato, berries, expo marker, menthol

Taste: Fruity, sweet, tannins, blackberry, grape, metallic, pennies, kinda hot, strong ethanol, plum, oak

Food: Supreme pizza from dominos (pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, green peppers), pepperoni red baron

Pairing: Way better. highlights green peppers and olives. Wine tastes a bit sweeter but not overpowering. Ethanol tends to overpower tasting and not very good in general

I found myself struggling overall to enjoy this merlot, even with the pizza pairing. I felt like the ethanol was way too strong to truly enjoy the flavors, and it was a lot sweeter than I expected. It was very fruity with an off-putting metallic flavor, however I felt the fats and oils and the pizza hid some of those less desirable flavors pretty well. With the pizza, the wine was a lot more palatable, but I wouldn't say it was very good. We had decanted it for about 30 minutes as was recommended, but I felt like it didn't do much to enhance the experience positively. I'd be happy to try a similar pairing again in the future, hopefully with a higher quality wine, and a higher quality pizza.

Course 3 - Roscato with chocolate brownies

I am extremely disappointed to say I completely forgot to take my photos with the bottle! I did not succumb and take photos off of the internet, but I encourage you to imagine my smiling face next to a bottle of Italia Roscato.

Name: Italia Roscato Rossa Dolce - Sweet Red
Variety of Grape(s): Lagrein, Teroldego Croatina
Country of Origin: Italy
Region of Origin: Lombardia
Vintage Year: N/A
Price: $17.99

Nose: Not much aroma at all, kinda sweet aroma, a little bit grapey

Taste: Bubbly, very sweet, chocolatey, light tannins, very similar to a moscato, very fruity, pomegranate

Food: Gluten Free Chocolate Brownie

Pairing: Not a good pairing. Sweetness is way overpowering when combined. Fruity notes of roscato clash with chocolate in the brownie. Really bad, to be honest.

I did not like this pairing. In fact, I very much disliked it. I found the overpowering sweetness of the rich chocolatey brownies to be a horrible pairing for the also rich, sweet Roscato. The combination was too much of a good thing, and I found it almost inedible. As someone who prefers less sweet desserts, or rich desserts in very small servings, I chose to enjoy both of my dessert treats one-at-a-time, hoping to minimize the flavor crossover. I did thoroughly enjoy the brownie, and I found the sweet red to be quite nice on its own, but I would much prefer just one to cap off a nice dinner.