Dinner - Blacksburg (Vegetarian Harvest)

We got together Sunday evening, several good friends and I, to compare and to pair our various wine selections and dishes. Now I am a self professed gourmand, though you wouldn't know it to look at me. (Skinny guy in the black shirt above) I am also no vegetarian but being democratically outnumbered I prepared, as best I could, a Garden Chedder soup. Typically a beef stock base I was hopeful, despite substitution of vegetable stock, that my soup would pair well with the 2010 La Grange de Piaugier Cote du Rhone I had brought. My friends had chosen to pair a Sweet potato Risotto with a 2012 White called El Sierro and a clutch of chocolate cover strawberries paired with a 2010 Cueva de las Manos Cabernet Sauvignon.

 First Course 

El Sierro White 2012 + Sweet Potato Risotto

Being a young white I was fairly certain it would be a somewhat closed palate. Alone it was smooth with almost no acidity. It had very distinct mineral notes and a fair hint of peach. Simple but straight forward. The finish was very light. When paired with the Risotto in my opinion it did ok. The Risotto had a heavy cream base from the cheese added to it and the onion bits were a little bit big and some what over powering the wine. I didn't think the acidity was enough to cut the creaminess of the dish and thus the peach flavor was almost entirely lost in the wine. I think due to the wines almost watery texture and very little sweetness the pairing simply needed more sugar. Either in the form of the dish with perhaps some cinimon sugar to coat the sweet potatoes or a little more expression in the wine itself. All and all it was a very delicious pair. 

 Second Course

La Grange de Piaugier Cote Du Rhone 2010 + Garden Cheddar Soup

Next came my dish. Truthfully I have had this red before so I knew somewhat to expect. Alone it opened with almost a buttery aroma quickly fading to jammy hints of plum or perhaps black cherry. On the palate it opened up a little giving more red fruits and a little spice. The finish was sharp coming in peppery but then leaving quickly, somewhat of a disappointment. The soup, normally a beef stock base but tonight a vegetable one, was a mixture of carrots, red onion, celery, tomato, garlic, parsley, mushroom and finally cheddar cheese. Unfortunately in my haste to cook the dish and deliver it to our party on time I neglected to check what type of cheddar I was grating into the soup and to my horror found it was Horseradish Cheddar. The soup normally calls for a sharp white cheddar. Luckily for me the horseradish mostly dissipated but served to bring out a very savory and shockingly meaty flavor from the mushrooms. The soup was exceptionally hearty and had a much more earthy tone than I had every made before. The only problem now was that I had intended the wine to pair with the original flavor. Now far more savory, the soup over powered the wine. If I had chosen a bigger wine with more body, higher tannins or perhaps complimentary notes of smoke, or meat or leather this paring would have been better. But again it was an ok pairing and I enjoyed it. 

 Third Course

Cueva de las Manos 2010 + Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Lastly came the simplest pairing of all and as it turns out the best pairing. Alone the wine was superbly smoky with a very savory and meaty aroma. A big cab sav, it hit all the high notes, intense red fruit, high tannins, and hot to the point that the alcohol almost burned. But despite it practically beating you over the head with all this noise when paired with the simple sugar of the dark chocolate and the strawberries the wine just sang. The tannins mellowed, the alcohol came into perfect balance and the fruity notes amplified in the presence of strawberries. I don't usually go for wines this loud they tend to crush most dishes and alone, for me, they seem imbalanced. But tonight it was most definitely the best pairing. 

Some of the pairs may have missed their mark but after three bottles of wine and good company the oversights on the part of the chef (me) I think can be over looked. Especially when good friends come to the rescue with such a simple move like chocolate, strawberries and wine. If there's a lesson to be found at the bottom of the glass I guess its this, keep it simple. At least at first. My soup had a lot going on and so did the wine I chose. Being a complete novice at pairing it was probably ambitious to think I could nail a pair like that right of the start. Lesson learned.

Cheers.