Dinner - Homemade Italian

So, this weekend, my delightful friend Marin and I, decided to get ourselves back into gear and try another wine dinner! We had a great time doing the French themed dinner at the beginning of the semester, so this time we decided to switch it up with an Italian theme.

I decided to do a baked ziti with tiramisu for dessert, and Marin brought over bacon-wrapped aspargus for the appetizer.

Dessert prep!

It took four whole things of marscarpone cheese!

All the ladyfingers! *drools*

Making the sauce

Pre-baking!

 We paired our bacon-wrapped asparagus appetizer with a bottle of 2014 Apothic Crush that I picked up at Kroger for $10.99. I've been a huge fan of the Apothic red blend ever since my cousin introduced them to me a few years ago, and I had never tried their "Crush" blend. According to the label, it is "a decadent red blend that combines red fruit flavors with notes of caramel and a velvety smooth mouthfeel." Intrigued and frankly starving after having spent hours prepping our meal, Marin and I dove in!

So I realized after dinner (an several glasses of wine) that I had forgotten to take picture of the Apothic bottle. So this was my *artful* (read: inebriated) idea of a photograph of it. Note that half of the picture is of the table... *When Courtney imbibes and thinks she's a photographer*

 Before we dove into the meal we took care to swirl, sniff, and observe before shoving our faces. We picked up on red berries and a hint of spiciness and "bite" in the nose. Tasting it without food, we were surprised at how smooth it was! I think I had assumed that younger wines would automatically be astringent and sharp, but this had a great mouth feel. There was no "bite" or heat of alcohol to it, and we found it to be light, airy, and sweet at the end. I actually managed to detect a slight caramel aftertaste to it, which I am rather proud of since I usually have such a hard time tasting the things that labels/sommeliers describe. Marin and I specifically forbid ourselves to read the descriptions on the back of the bottles beforehand so that we could really try to come up with our impressions ourselves. So, yay us. *pats self on back*

We then munched on some bacon-wrapped asparagus and tried the wine again. We found that it really complemented the bacon! The wine really brought out the smokiness of the bacon, which in turn accentuated the fruitiness of the wine. The salty-sweet combo really worked here. I'd definitely do this pairing again!

Apothic Crush + bacon = LOVE

We then moved onto our main course: the baked ziti. We tried to go full-fledged Italian with this one and so paired the ziti with a bottle of 2013 Da Vinci Chianti found at Kroger for $11.99. 

Da Vinci 2013 Chianti

Pre face-stuffing, we really noticed the alcohol in the nose of this wine. A few swirls later we were able to detect hints of plum too. Tasting without food, we picked up on the fact that it wasn't as smooth as the first wine, and that it had cherry notes. It also had a really biting, peppery finish.

All the cheesy goodness

With the ziti, we saw the hidden sweetness of the wine come out. Like the first wine, there was a good salty-sweet thing going on as the fatty cheese opened up the wine. The cheese cut out a lot of the sharpness we had before and we could pick up on more berry notes. That definitely improved the chianti, but overall we weren't that impressed. It was just a "meh" wine. I wrote in my notes, "Nothing special, doesn't blow our minds". I guess we were let down after the amazing appetizer pairing!

Mar and her ziti!

Wine dinner selfie!

After a very long digestion break, we moved on to the final course: dessert. We paire the tiramisu with a bottle of sweet Colombo Marsala. We chose this for several reasons. First, neither of us had ever had fortified wine and wanted to try it. Second, Marsala is apparently a traditional Italian aperitif/digestif. Third, the bottle we found was actually imported from Italy *ooh spiffy*. And finally, it was on sale. (*help us, we're poor*). 

But anyway, we had slightly high expectations for this.

We were so, so, wrong.

So smelling this before tasting our dessert, we thought it smelled "raisiny", like black currant, and spice. And rubbing alcohol. This smelled so boozy it made me want to gag. Looking at the label we noticed that Marsala has a whopping 18% alcohol content! WHOA. This gave me literally no desire to taste it. But taste it I did, like every good Geography of Wine student should. 

It was simultaneously sickly sweet and spicy, and burned like hell because of the alcohol. We then tried it with the tiramisu, and it was *surprise* HORRIBLE. I wrote a huge "NO" in my notes for this one. The level of the alcohol completely overpowered the subtle cream and espresso notes of the tiramisu. Never again. Ever.

Disgusting bottle of death!

Over all, this was another great wine dinner! Or the finale was entertaining at least. The Apothic Crush was beyond delicious! I'll definitely be picking that up again in the future. The chianti was just mediocre. I won't completely write off chianti from my future though, because I always like to try things twice in case my palate or opinions have changed. Maybe 2013 wasn't a good year for Chianti, or maybe Da Vinci is a mediocre winery. There will have to be more chianti in my future in order to figure that out! Marsala, however, will never pass my lips again. Ever. I should have known since I don't like liquor or boozy things, but hindsight is 20/20 I suppose. This was another great exploration into wine and cuisine; I'll definitely have to but some significant thought into the next dinner in order to choose a great theme that stands up to to this and the previous wine dinner! 

Until next time!

Tasting - Pillastro Primitivo 2013

My final, and favorite tasting of the weekend:

Name: Pillastro 
Variety: Primitivo
Region: Puglia
Country: Italy
Year: 2013
Price: ~$14.00 ? (This is an estimate found at wsjwine.com, my mom paid $69.99 for the box of 15 different wines as part of the Wall Street Journal's Discovery Wine club introductory promotion)

WSJ Wine review: 'In the glass, Pillastro offers "vibrant cherry fruit on the nose with strawberry and loganberry." IWC Judges have described it as "an early drinking, soft supple style." Top critic Malcolm Gluck also talked up a previous vintage as "lush and lovely... not expensive and terrifically drinkable." As you'll taste, Angelo's 2013 lives up to the hype - expert billowing red and black fruit aromas, with luscious, ripe currant, chocolate and vanilla-oak notes on the palate. Sip with meaty pastas.'

My review: I chose this wine out of my mom's box of 15 wines because it's from Puglia, the region where my family comes from! In the glass, I noticed this wine's deep, dark, almost black color. On the nose, I detected notes of apple, what reminded me of sparking grape juice or cider, and notes of strawberry. It seemed very "jammy" to me. When I tasted it without food, I picked up on its initial dryness, but its slightly sweet aftertaste, and perhaps a hint of plum.

I tasted this wine with Comte cheese. With the cheese I really was able to pick up on its smooth mouth feel and the fruit flavors - particularly the strawberry - came through really well!

This was by far my favorite wine of the weekend. The smell was amazing. I could have sat there and smelled it all night. My mom and I made plans to figure out where to buy more immediately after our tasting!

 

Tasting - J. Opi a.k.a. Rodolfo Sadler Malbec 2015

The fourth tasting of the weekend:

Name: J. Opi a.k.a. Rodolfo Sadler 
Variety: Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2015
Price: ~$14.00 ? (This is an estimate found at wsjwine.com, my mom paid $69.99 for the box of 15 different wines as part of the Wall Street Journal's Discovery Wine club introductory promotion)

Winery review: "Grapes for this expressive Malbec were hand-picked from our vineyard in the Maipu region of Mendoza, from vines irrigated with melt water from the Andes. It has an intense deep red colour; the nose and palate convey harmonious ripe blackberry and plum, underpinned by elegant smoke and vanilla notes. This attractive wine is the perfect partner to red meat dishes, spicy sausages and cheese."

My review: So I learned in doing a little wine research in several different wine books my mother has that Malbec is often characterized uniquely by its dark color with a lighter red ring around the rim. So when I poured this glass I particularly paid attention to its color, and it indeed had a dark, almost black color with a burgundy/red rim! So cool! I thought this had a very light, approachable smell. I couldn't detect any alcohol on the nose, something I appreciated since I hate the smell of booze. It also had floral, fruity notes of dark berries. When I tasted it alone, I found it too have a light mouth feel with jammy tones and a hint of spice. It also had a sweet undertone which I thought could maybe be vanilla. It also had a residual sweetness which was pleasing.

I tasted this at dinner with steak. I thought that this wine mellowed the saltiness of the steak while also revealing its fruitiness! It was great! Would definitely have this again!

Tasting - Aluado Alicante Bouschet 2014

My third tasting of weekend:

Name: Aluado Alicante Bouschet
Variety: Alicante Bouschet
Region: Lisboa IGT
Country: Portugal
Year: 2014
Price: ~$15.00 ? (This is an estimate found at wsjwine.com, my mom paid $69.99 for the box of 15 different wines as part of the Wall Street Journal's Discovery Wine club introductory promotion)

Wine Enthusiast review: "With the typical dark color of this red grape, this is a dense and firm wine. It has rich plum and berry flavors that are dark as well as juicy. Tannins lace the background to already delicious wine, finishing with refreshing acidity. 90 Points."

My review: So I picked this bottle out of my mother's box of 15 wines purely because its label is art. Also I love how poetic the name of this wine is! Aluado means "moonstruck," or "crazy," which is apparently what the friends of Jose Neiva called him when he decided to bottle his Alicante Bouschet grapes solo, or not in a blend. How poetic! But anyway, this had a deep red, burgundy color to it, with a complicated nose! It was hard for me to pick out individual aromas, but I found notes of berries and some kind of spicy, peppery hint. This was a bold wine! I noticed fruity, berrylike flavors with a hint of spice, like cinnamon or pepper in the aftertaste. It had a smooth mouth feel as well. I would definitely try this one again!

This was tasted without food.

Tasting - Raymond "The Inaugural" Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

This was the second wine I tried while at home:

Name: Raymond "The Inaugural"

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: Central Coast, California
Country: USA
Year: 2014
Price: ~$13.00 ? (This is an estimate found at vivino.com, my mom paid $69.99 for the box of 15 different wines as part of the Wall Street Journal's Discovery Wine club introductory promotion)

Winery review: "The Inaugural Cabernet Sauvignon is a red fruit based Cabernet, with flavors of cherry, rhubarb, and red plum with touches of spicy white pepper on the finish. Beautifully balanced with integrated tannins and a smooth texture."

My review: I liked this wine. I first noticed its nice, dark burgundy color in the glass. It had notes of red fruits (cherry, plum maybe?/does plum count as a red fruit?) and (fortunately) only a slight hint of black currant. (I really hate black currant, it turns out). I noticed it had a smooth mouth feel and earthy, almost dirtlike undertones in the taste. It also had a kick of spice at the end, which I surprisingly found pleasing. This was a bold, flavorful wine. Not bad.

This was tasted without food.

Tasting - Les Jamelles Syrah 2011

So I went home last weekend to visit my family and found that my mother, jealous of my wine explorations in Geography of Wine, had 1) signed up for Professor Boyer's Udemy class, 2) bought the same textbooks we use for Geography of Wine, and 3) had subscribed to the Wall Street Journal's "Discovery Wine Club", and so therefore had a box of 15 different wines waiting in our basement. Fortunately I was home for a couple days so we definitely got to explore the collection. Here's the first one I tried:

Name: Les Jamelles
Variety: Syrah 
Region: Pays d'Oc
Country: France
Year: 2011
Price: ~$10.00 ? (This is an estimate found at wine-searcher.com, my mom paid $69.99 for the box of 15 different wines as part of the Discovery Wine Club introductory promotion)

Winery review: "'Les Jamelles'" Syrah is a deep ruby red, with flavors of ripe raspberries and blackberries joined by cloves, cinnamon, and cedar."

My review: I definitely noticed the deep red color on this wine. I thought it had a raisin-y (which I later found out from my mother was black currant) smell on the nose with a big hit of astringency. I first tasted it alone and was surprised that it was sweet! I noticed hints of honey and black currant. I was really turned off by it initially, and I slowly got used to its oddness as I kept drinking.

I tasted this also with Comté cheese, which drastically cut the sharpness of it. The strong taste of the Comté also helped reduce the horrible raisin/black currant taste that I didn't appreciate so much.

Overall, I gave this one a big NOPE.

Tasting - Peter Mertes Platinum Riesling

Last entry for my first wine tasting experience!

Name: Peter Mertes Platinum
Variety: Riesling
Region: Bernkastel-Kues, Bernkastel-Wittlich
Country: Germany
Year: 2014
Price: $18.00 (Sale: $9.95)

Winery review: "Light bodied slightly sweet white wine; medium pale slightly greenish yellow. Inviting fresh white peach aroma and flavors. Easy to drink and not complicated, but what's there is very pleasant, and flavors develop in the glass."

My review: This was definitely mine, and everyone else at the tasting's favorite. The Vintage Cellar people had a hard time keeping enough out on the displays for people to buy! I noticed this one was a light yellow color and had sweet notes in the nose, which I thought was similar to sweet apple. I noticed citrusy notes on the palate (I've found that I tend to think all white wines have citrus notes... I should try more white wines!). I was also proud of myself that I detected some woody resinous tones of vanilla! This one was delightfully refreshing after those previous red wine disasters - it was definitely easy to to drink. I will for sure drink this again! I bought myself a bottle after I finished!

I tasted this without food.

Overall, this was a great first wine tasting experience. I felt a little rushed since the Vintage Cellar employees were trying to get a quick turnaround to make sure everyone who came to taste wine could, so I'm not sure I got to experience the wine like I should have. It was great to get to see peoples' reactions to each wine after when I was pouring! Hopefully I'll be able to do another tasting again soon!