Dinner-My Apartment (American)

My roommate and I are typical college students, in short we are broke. We decided to do a wine pairing dinner on the cheap. We are lucky because we both have meal plans (at the top ranked college campus for food) and we have a wine hook up. Our roommate’s neighbor works for a wine distributer and got us $30 bottles of wine for $5 each. We ordered a mix of whites and reds. When they arrived we read the descriptions and decided what to pair them with from West End dining hall. We picked classic American dishes to pair with our three wines, a white, a red, and a rose.

First, we picked up our food on campus and brought it back to our apartment. With six boxes we must have seemed pretty crazy to all of the other students. We decided that even though we are broke college girls, we could still live the fancy life and put our food on nice plates rather than the styrofoam containers we brought them home in. When we set everything up it looked like we were in an actual restaurant.

Our Kitchen Table Transformed

Salad and Wine Pairing

The first wine we tried was La Noble Chardonnay. The description said it could be paired with a wide range of food, specifically lighter dishes including chicken and seafood. We decided to pair it with the simple All American Salad. This salad has tomato, carrots, onions, cucumber, and American cheese on a bed of mixed greens.

The wine had an apple, pair, and generally fruity aroma. I found it to be acidic with a sour apple and green melon mid palate. The finish had a surprising burst of honey. I thought it was nicely balanced overall. When I tried the wine with the salad at first the acidity of the wine complimented the balsalmic vinigarette dressing. However, as I kept eating the salad pushed the fruit flavor in the wine aside and made it too acidic. I would choose to have this wine with bri instead of a salad with dressing.

Steak and Wine Pairing

The second wine we tried was Selection Laurence Feraud. The description for this wine also said it could be paired with a multitude of weekday dinners. We decided to pair this wine with Broiled steak, mushroom gravy, mashed potatos, and buttered green beans.

The wine had a buttery and plum nose. The mid palate had darker berry flavors with a tart finish. This wine would definitely be good with any type of food. The food brought out the fruity aspects of the wine and the wine brought the buttery flavor of the food out more.

Dessert and Wine Pairing

Finally, we tried the Commanderie de las Bargemone Rose. This wine said it could be drank alone, with a light seafood dish, or with a light dessert. However, we decided to pair it with our favorite desserts that were anything but light. For dessert we got a chocolate brownie with vanilla icing and cheesecake with a strawberry topping.

The wine had a white grape Welch’s grape juice scent with a more floral mid taste. The label said the wine was dry, but I thought it was only mildly dry. The wine brought out the sweetness in the chocolate brownie, making it taste even richer. The cheesecake, however, did not taste very good with the wine, it made the wine taste more acidic. The brownie definitely balanced out the wine and made it taste fresh, they definitely complimented each other.

Enjoying the End of Our Dinner

 I was very happy with all of the wines I had with dinner. While the Selection Laurence Feraud paired so well with dinner, and I drank seconds of the Rose with my brownie, I still liked the Chardonnay the most. I thought the Chardonnay was very classic and I will drink the rest of the bottle later by itself.