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.
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| Our Kitchen Table Transformed |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
