Wine and Dinner Pairing Spring Break Edition: Spagetti and Meatballs, Salad, and Garlic Bread

During Spring Break with a few friends, while on vacation in Charlotte I did my first Wine and Dinner Pairing, on the menu we had Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad with Italian Dressing, and Garlic Bread.

To go with this meal I decided on three wines, an Italian Garofoli Piancarda (Vintage 2020, $14.99), a French Château Roc de Segur Bordeaux (Vintage 2022, $10.99) and a German Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese (Vintage 2022, $15.99). Side note, I purchased these at a wonderful Liquor/Wine Store in South Carolina called Frugal MacDoogal, if you are ever in the Charlotte, North Carolina area I highly recommend going there, they have an amazing selection and a very knowledgeable staff.

 

The first wine I tried was the Riesling. It was relatively sweet, but not too sweet, and paired best with the salad. The vinegar taste of the dressing and lettuce of the salad contrasted well with the acidity and sugar of the wine. The Riesling went alright with the pasta and garlic bread, but I think bolder red wines went better with those. Speaking of the bolder red's, lets move on to the Piancarda. The bold, heavy body of this wine paired extremely well with the pasta, the flavors of the two complemented each other exquisitely, with the sauce binding to some of the tannic components of the wine allowing the more subtle notes to express themselves, this wine also went very well with the garlic bread. Finally onto the Bordeaux. The Bordeaux also paired incredibly well with the pasta, the combination of the two, like with the Piancarda allowed some of the more subtle flavors to be expressed. The Bordeaux also went incredibly well with the garlic bread, and as sacrilege as this might be to say, I think went better with the garlic bread then the Piancarda did. The Bordeaux and Piancarda are definitely neck and neck as far as pairing with the pasta goes, both were excellent choices. Overall I'm really happy with my wine choices, each of the wines paired really well with at least one food item, and two of them paired exceptionally well. I look forward to attempting future wine and food pairings, as it is a really fun process!

Drink This Now Lesson 4: Oak on Wine

For this Month's Drink This Now lesson, I chose Lesson 4: Got Wood? The influence of Oak on Wine. The purpose of this assignment is to determine how aging wine in oak barrels effects the flavor. I started out this assignment by going to Vintage Cellar in Blacksburg to select two Chardonnay's: One aged in a metal cask, and one aged in a oak barrel. Vintage Cellar did not have the wines listed in the book, but Randall recommended Foxglove Chardonnay (Vintage 2019), and Butter Chardonnay (Vintage 2023) as good substitutes for unoaked and oaked Chardonnay respectively. Both of these wines are from California, and I spent around $20.00 each on both of these bottles.

First, I opened each bottle and poured a glass of each, while still at room temperature. The first one I decided to try was the Foxglove. It had a more fruity smell, with notes of crispness and golden delicious. The taste had a bit of an apple flavor and was also nutty. This wine had a lighter body, with a relatively watery mouthfeel. Next I tried the Butter Chardonnay. This wine had a woody, toasty aroma, with hints of vanilla. Unsurprisingly, when I tasted it, it had a very buttery taste. This wine had a heavier body compared to the Foxglove. The two wines were very similar in color, I was unable to discern a difference.

 

  

After tasting the wines at room temperature, I then proceeded to chill them for about an hour. After letting the wines chill, I repeated the tasting. The Foxglove had the same aroma notes and tastes as before, but I did notice the aromas and flavors were much more pronounced when served chilled. Same with the Butter Chardonnay, the aromas and flavors were more pronounced, but I also additionally smelled a smokey aroma in the Butter Chardonnay after chilling. I definitely prefer these wines after chilling them, it allows the flavors to be more pronounced and really expressed the wines more. I think this experiment would be interesting to attempt again with Chardonnay's from different regions, perhaps with French or Australian Chardonnay's. I really enjoyed this lesson because it allowed me to really get a feel for just how much of a difference oak barrel aging can make on wine.