Wine Dinner 2

For our second Wine Dinner, my friends got together and pooled resources for an amazing feast. We started with a nice charcuterie board with crackers, cheeses, nuts, and some hot honey and fig jam. Following this, we dined on a great steak cooked by Chef Nate. Marinated in a nice savory rosemary sauce, he used a bit of extra MoonX Pinot Noir to craft a nice pan sauce gravy he beautifully layered over the meat. Finally, I contributed the Cooper's Hawk Vin Chocolate Almond wine paired with rich chocolate cake and tart raspberries. Selah is digestively challenged and can't indulge on the glutenated chocolate cake, so she tried some blackcurrant dark chocolate she believed would go great with red wine. Nate also cheffed up some great roasted seasoned potatoes to accompany the meal that were enjoyed throughout.

Course 1 - Charcuterie and MoonX Pinot Noir

Name: MoonX Black Pinot Noir
Variety of Grape(s): Pinot Noir
Country of Origin: United States of America
Region of Origin: California
Vintage Year: 
Price: $13.99

Nose: Blackberry, meat, bitter, slightly hot

Taste: Very smooth, fruity, light tannins, jammy, stone fruits like plum and peach

Charcuterie: Cotija Cheese, Bourbon Bellavitano Cheese, assorted nuts and crackers

Cotija's saltiness paired really well with the sweetness of the wine. Went beautifully with a cracker and some hot honey. I felt the spiciness went well with the sweetness, while the honey complemented the fruity notes of the wine.

I didn't like the bourbon bellavitano cheese much at all and couldn't really decipher much in the pairing because I really disliked the cheese.

Overall, I had a great time with this first pairing and I felt it was a great way to prep my palate for the next few courses.

Course 2 - Zinfandel and Steak

Name: Josh Cellars Reserve Bourbon Barrel Aged Zinfandel
Variety of Grape(s): Zinfandel
Country of Origin: United States of America
Region of Origin: California
Vintage Year: 
Price: $19.99

Nose: Tannic, strawberry, jam, hot, blackcurrant, berry

Taste: Very balanced, fruity, tannic, oak, bourbon, smoky, bitter, berries, blackcurrant

Pairing: The rosemary and savory flavors in the meat paired well with the spiciness of the wine, but I wouldn't consider this a great pairing. The marinade on the steak was pretty sweet, which unbalanced the wine and made it taste overly tannic and bitter.

The wine itself was delicious, as was the meat, but the pairing was just not right. I think a more salty steak with a less sweet marinade and sauce would pair much better. The potatoes paired well in an interesting way that highlighted the heat of the wine and brought out those spicy, smoky, bourbon notes. I found those flavors to be especially interesting and I was really curious how much I would have noticed them had I not already known the wine was aged in bourbon barrels.

Course 3 - Vin Chocolat Almond, Chocolate Cake with Raspberries and Blackcurrant Chocolate

Name: Cooper's Hawk Vin Chocolat Almond
Variety of Grape(s): Unknown
Country of Origin: United States of America
Region of Origin: California
Vintage Year: 2024
Price: $16.99

Nose: Box of chocolates, almond, cherry, fruit, jam, chocolate cake, no tannins or bitterness noted

Taste: Very sweet, chocolate, almond, cherry, slightly tannic, syrupy, heavy, fruity tartness

I broke this pairing up into distinct sections because of the stark differences each food brought about.

Pairing: Chocolate Bar

When I took a bite of the chocolate first, coated my mouth, and then tried the wine, the jammy, fruity notes, as well as the tannins were highlighted in an interesting way. When I reversed the order, the fruity notes of the wine melted into the deep, rich flavors of the chocolate and blackcurrant and tasted wonderful.

Pairing: Raspberry

With the raspberry first, then the wine, the fruity and chocolate notes of the wine were brought out stronger. The sweetness died out a bit, and it was easier to drink and more to my liking. With the wine first, the raspberry tasted more bitter, but the combined flavors tasted like a black forest cake and the finish was very nice. I felt like I could enjoy that aftertaste for multiple minutes before needing to go back for another sip. This might be a great way to enjoy a low-calorie dessert while still getting a sweet treat!

Pairing: Chocolate Cake

Everything was very rich and too sweet with this pairing. I didn't initially think to pair sweet chocolate cake with sweet chocolate wine, but when coming up with alternatives to the raspberries, ChatGPT was very persistent that I should try it with chocolate cake. I think one of the main dangers of AI is putting awful ideas in people's heads because when I tried to two together, my taste receptors were so overloaded that I had to drink some water in-between tastes. When analyzing the experience itself, I found the almond and cherry notes of the wine were enhanced by the chocolate cake, and the tannins were really nice in comparison with the richness of the cake. I think a much drier, more tannic red would do a much better job pairing with this rich cake.