Tasting - Vina Galana

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: Vina Galana
Variety: Tempranillo
Region: La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: N/A
Price: $6.95, Regular Price $9 Sale

Winery Review: Natural fruit flavors and succulent red wine all fused together in one bottle. This doesn't require a punch bowl and big ladle, you can chill your bottle in a cooler and head out to the beach of a hike and enjoy a cup of the best sangria anywhere you choose to be.

My Review: This wine tasted like Christmas in a sip. Strong hints of cinnamon and granny smith apples. Tasted almost like a non-alcoholic sip of apple cider that continued to linger during the finish.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Tres Ojos Old Vines Garnacha 2016

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: Tres Ojos
Variety: 85% Old Vine Garnacha (40-50 year old vines), 15% Tempranillo
Region: Calatayud
Country: Spain
Year: 2016
Price: $6.95, Regular Price $12 Sale

Winery Review: This wine has a brick red color with a bouquet of red raspberries, spice and white pepper. The palate is incredibly concentrated and rich. The modern styles of Garnacha in Spain are continuously being perceived worldwide as wines of extraordinarily good quality. This wine is fruity, juicy and shows a great depth, ripe tannins, length but yet with wonderful elegance and lightness.

My Review: Strawberries and raspberries were apparent with oaky, creamy and buttery notes. The after taste was long and lingered for awhile on top of a dry, puckery feeling from the tannins. Bold taste with a light finish.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Tenuta Rapitala Campo Reale 2016

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: Tenuta Rapitala
Variety: Nero d'Avola
Region: Sicily
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $7.95, Regular Price $14 Sale

Winery Review: This early-drinking Nero d'Avola opens with ripe black-skinned fruit, tilled soil and cooking spice aromas. Straightforward and savory, it delivers black cherry, blackberry and ground pepper flavors alongside round tannins. - Wine Enthusiast, 87 pts

My Review: Cherry, blackberries offered a bold but lighter bodied red wine. It was spicy and strong but had a bitter, lighter after taste. Tannins were persistent during the finish.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Four Sisters Sauvignon Blanc 2013

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: Four Sisters
Variety: 85% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Semillon
Region: Central Victoria
Country: Australia
Year: 2013
Price: $4.95, Regular Price $9 Sale

Winery Review: Vibrant passionfruit, gooseberry and lemon citrus flavours shine through on the nose and palate with a fresh, crisp finish. A fantastic match with fresh shellfish, sushi or smoked salmon.

My Review: Leather, sandalwood, grass scents made the wine pungent and slightly funky. The taste was lighter and more crisp than expected, but the scent wasn't enticing. Didn't enjoy this white wine.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Giarola Saint Valery 2016

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: Giarola Saint Valery
Variety: Garganega, Cortese, Trebbiano Toscano, Trebbianello, Chardonnay
Region: Bianco di Custoza
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $6.95, Frontline $15 Sale

Winery Review: Brilliant pale straw-yellow color with greenish reflections. Fruity, floral bouquet. Dry, crisp and clean with a soft, fruity finish. Harmonious and refreshing. Pairs best with seafood, grilled and roasted white meats and chef salads.

My Review: This wine was fresh, fruity (specifically apples and pears) and aromatic with strong floral notes. It was light and refreshing with a delicately short after taste that was clean and crisp.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Winery Visit - The Biltmore Winery in Asheville, NC

Ethan and I at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC

Over the past weekend, my boyfriend (Ethan) and I met up with a couple of our closest friends who graduated from Virginia Tech just last year. We all decided to meet up in Asheville, North Carolina, a place that Ethan and I are familiar with yet they had never been to, so we all decided to explore the city together.

The entrance into the Biltmore Winery in Antler Village

I had been to the Biltmore Estate many times with my grandparents since they were born and raised in Asheville, but I had never had the opportunity to visit the winery. We all thought that on top of taking a tour of the Biltmore House we'd take a tour of the famous winery!

The pathway right outside of the entrance that leads you to the tunnel towards the winery

The winery is only a few miles away from the Biltmore House itself, located in Antler Village near a few restaurants, shops, and the Biltmore Inn. After walking through this entrance here, you walk along this beautiful path that leads you into a tunnel with a bunch of historical information on the winery itself as well as the whole estate.

The tunnel with informational signs talking about the history of the estate and the winery

After walking through the dark tunnel which is shown above, you step foot into the main area serving all things that have to do with wine: the shop (filled with a large + diverse amount of wine, glasses and decanters, souvenirs, snacks, etc.) and the tasting room!

A small part of the wine shop filled with wine and glassware

The first part of the tour was definitely more historical and informational regarding the site and the winery. The winery was originally a dairy farm from 1902-1985 before transitioning. William Cecil converted the "dairy barn" into a winery to continue his grandfather's original intent in having the whole 8,000 acre Biltmore Estate be self-supporting (his grandfather being George Vanderbilt, the original owner of the Biltmore Estate). The winery opened to the public in 1985.

The tasting room in a section just off of the main shop

A fun fact that we learned about the winery is that at this tower, workers have to use a remote control to make a set of stairs drop down from the balcony shown below (where the door is located). An individual would then have to go up the set of stairs and crank a 400 pound weight to make the clock work for just one more week. This is done every Friday to have the clock working 24/7.

The tower in the winery showing the door/balcony they use to get ahold of the clock

The next area we made our way into held the large tanks. In one room the tanks are specifically dedicated to red wine, the other room being dedicated to white wine. During harvest time, something they liked to call "crush," they mentioned the idea that the white grapes require a much shorter amount of growing time in comparison to the red grapes. From other vineyards, the grapes go to the crush stock and are pressed. The tour guide mentioned that the red grapes produced in the winery are left in the large tanks for a significantly larger amount of time to give the bold colors and tannins in the wine.

The horizontal tanks

These large, horizontal tanks rotate to essentially "stir the pot" with the skins and seeds for the complexity of the wine with color and tannins. When the fermentation process is done, these tanks are then rotated in the opposite direction and all the extra stuff/byproducts that need to be separated from the wine are put onto a conveyor belt and shot out. This process is clearly different from the vertical tanks as they do not rotate as a whole unit like the horizontal tanks. Instead, there are plungers to plunge the skin down, a very different way to stir the wine.

The vertical tanks shown behind our tour guide

Next, we made our way into one of the three existing former milking parlours which now takes care of bottling (shown below). Every single day there are about 20,000 bottles that are completed. Each bottle gets cleaned and shot into a contained room where nitrogen is placed in the bottle to force the oxygen out of the contained space.

Former milking parlour turned into the bottling area

Next we made our way into my favorite room of the whole tour, the barrel room. This building behind the winery is filled with wine, most barrels here being prepped to go in a barrel. Another fun fact we learned was that a "Cooper" is an individual/craftsman that makes a barrel in the colonial times, therefore a "Cooperage" is a company that makes barrels. We were told that most red wines are in the oak barrels. Through trial and error, white oak was shown to have the audacity to give off pleasant flavors. American oak is also very different in French oak as American gives off more mocha and caramel notes whereas the French oak gives off floral notes with some spice. The white oak barrels they typically receive come from Kentucky and Tennessee. French oak barrels are about 2-3 times more expensive than American Oak barrels in the winery.

The barrel room

As we've learned in this class, a winemaker certainly has the ability to add flavors or mix barrels and reblend the wine for certain notes, especially in a new wine they are experimenting with. Some winemakers decide to create a wine where 2/3 of it is aged in French oak and 1/3 of the wine is aged in American oak and later reblended to create new, exciting flavors. Our tour guide talked about how these barrels breathe, not a lot but definitely enough. A little bit of oxugen goes right through the wood and is introduced into the wine (in a controlled way) through a process called microoxygenation. This process can influence wine, soften the tannins and give some complexity.

One of the American Oak barrels showing the labeling and capacity in greater detail

These barrels hold a mere 59 gallons. But due to some evaporation over time, the 59 gallons that go in the barrel lessen over time to where less than 59 gallons end up coming out of the barrel. They coined this term as "angels share." After the first batch of wine is aged in a barrel, 60% of the good qualities in the barrel go in and out with the wine, so the second or third batch of wine will have to stay in the barrel for much longer. Typically a barrel will no longer be used for aging after 3 uses.
The Biltmore's red wines are usually aged in the oak barrels for about 10-24 months whereas their white wines (more specifically talking about Chardonnay) is aged in oak barrels for about 6-10 months.

Ethan and I walking to the sparkling wine room!

From the barrel room, we made our way into the process of sparkling wine. The Biltmore winery uses the French method for their champagne (they do not label it as champagne as it isn't from the region outside of Paris). The chardonnay is placed in the pressurized tank for more sugar and yeast, and the fermentation makes it into a sparkling wine. The bubbles actually start in the bottle for 3 weeks and contained with a temporary cap; the amount of pressure created is the same as a semi-trailer truck.

Champagel machine where bottles are placed uspide down for riddling/taking out the yeast

These sparkling wines then sit for another two years to get flavorful, and once they are ready, you take the bottle, shake them to get all the yeast out in a process called riddling. The Biltmore riddles 500 bottles at one time, making the bottles clear all the way down. They are then chilled overnight and placed in the Champagel device (shown above) upside down in -22 degree liquid (a man-made fluid) for one minute and a half to grab all of the yeast. Because the bottle is no longer filled up all the way, a round of dosage is added into the bottle to add maybe some more residual sugars if the winemaker decides they want it to be sweeter on the palate or a kind of cognac for wine feel before the bottle is corked. The corks are extremely large and are microwaved to shrink the cork to be placed in the bottle properly using the corking machine (shown below). A cage is then placed on top to force the cork down, an individual does 6 turns on the cork to get it tight and ready for placement on shelves!

Corking machine for sparkling wines

After learning about how the winery makes/ages their white wines, red wines, and sparkling wines, we made our way into a private tasting room that came complimentary with this "behind the scenes" winery tour.

The private wine tasting room

Below are photos of the labels of wine we tasted (followed by a quick summary and conclusion of the tour), including basic information and details on the specific wines as well as winemaker notes and personal notes of each. We tasted 5 wines in this room starting with a sparkling wine, moving onto a dry white wine, tasting 2 red wines and ending with a semi-sweet Muscat Canelli. These wines were amazing and I was surprised with how much I enjoyed each glass.

Wine Tasting Notes:

Name: Biltmore Estate Blanc De Noire Brut Sparkling Wine
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: North Carolina
Country: USA
Year: N/A
Price: $25.00
Winemaker Notes: Careful aging produces a crisp sparkling wine with a delightful light pink hue and flavors of cherries and strawberries.

Personal notes: I thought this wine had strong notes of strawberries, raspberries and cherries. It was more on the dry side with a crisp, yet refreshing finish that lasted for about 3 seconds. It also had a beautiful rose-like coloring from the pinot noir grape.

Name: Biltmore Reserve Chardonnay
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: North Carolina
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $24.00
Winemaker Notes: Crafted from North Carolina's finest locally grown Chardonnay grapes, this wine is full-bodied with good acidity highlighted by citrus and tropical fruit flavors.

Personal notes: I thought this wine was absolutely fantastic. You could tell this wine was aged in oak barrels with oaky, creamy, and vanilla hints. It was acidic yet fruity, but also extremely light and not too dry of a finish. One of the best chardonnays I've tasted thus far.

Name: Vanderbilt Reserve Pinot Noir Russian River Valley
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2015
Price: $30.00
Winemaker Notes: This Pinot Noir thrived in the cool climate of California's Russian River Valley, resulting in a complex expressive wine with an elegant, almost delicate mouth-feel. Strawberry, raspberry, vanilla, and well-integrated oak aromas give way to supple fruit flavors.

Personal notes: The Pinot Noir had strong notes of dark berries, cherries, and tobacco. This was one of the wines where the Biltmore partners with a winery in California and use their facilities to also bottle this particular wine. It definitely has some tannins, but the dry/puckery feeling went away fast. It was surprisingly not too heavy.

Name: Biltmore Estate Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: North Carolina
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $19.00
Winemaker Notes: Remarkably smooth with rich vanilla aromas, lush cherry flavors, and soft lingering tannins.

Personal notes: This Cabernet Sauvignon had a medium body with hints of oak and vanilla on top of raspberry and plum. The aftertaste lasted only for a couple of seconds, so the "tannic feeling" went away fast and wasn't too overpowering.

Name: Biltmore Estate Limited Release Muscat Canelli
Variety: Muscat Canelli
Region: North Carolina
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $17.00
Winemaker Notes: Enticing floral aromas with notes of fresh tropical fruit and spice, and a sweet lingering finish.

Personal notes: This Muscat Canelli had strong notes of apple, pear and lime. It was definitely sweet, but not too overwhelmingly sweet with an acidic aftertaste that lasted for longer than usual. It was refreshing and light. I absolutely loved this wine.

The two glasses for the wine tasting plus a wine tasting guide/booklet for our own personal notes

Overall, I think this experience at the winery really opened my eyes beyond just learning about wine production through a screen. Seeing the amount of real estate covered by large machines that facilitate this industry (as well as the rows and rows of grape vines) was eye-opening and extremely interesting to learn about. Ethan and I definitely felt a little judged (in a funny way) by those around us during the tour since we were taking detailed notes on our phones, but we were able to apply the knowledge we have learned thus far in the course and understand what the tour guide was talking about. Learning about how the Biltmore Winery specifically produce their wines was a clear example of how each winery has a different way of working behind the scenes. This was such a fun & exciting experience and I definitely would love to learn more about how other wineries works in the future!

Ethan and I at the wine tasting room at the end of the tour

Tasting - Annalisa Malvasia

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: Annalisa
Variety: Malvasia Nera
Region: Malvasia di Castelnuovo don Bosco
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $9.95, Regular Price $27 Sale

Winery Review: "A sweet, thirst-quenching wine, it features a highly unusual combination of crispness and density of aromas. This very pleasurable low-alcohol wine has a very light fizz making it highly quaffable. Aromas of the forest dominate in the bouquet followed by surprising floral hints of wisteria and iris on the attentive nose. A perfect accompaniment to any type of dessert, although especially good
with fruit as well as plain cakes and pastries." - Winemaker

My Review: This wine was bubbly and sweet, yet refreshing. I could pick up on some floral and fruity notes - specifically apple, pear, and strawberry. This wine's aftertaste was just as good as the scents/taste and I definitely want to try pairing this with a dessert!

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - CK Mondavi Red Blend 2015

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: CK Mondavi Red Blend
Variety: 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 13% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2015
Price: $9.95, Regular Price $20 Sale

Winery Review: Red Blend is their winemaker's signature cuvee, an expression of five red varieties capturing the best of each vintage. It has the backbone of Cabernet Sauvignon, the finesse of Merlot, the structure of Petit Verdot, the floral essence of Cabernet Franc and the boldness of Malbec. This full-bodied wine offers flavors of black cherries and plums and ends in a soft, balanced finish.

My Review: A very full, pretty heavy wine with hints of cherry and prunes. I'm still not a big fan of red wines but this one didn't have too strong of an after taste/finish. The blend was also surprisingly floral besides being full-bodied.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Vigna Lenuzza Friuli Colli Orientali Refosco 2011

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: Vigna Lenuzza
Variety: Refosco Dal Peduncolo Rosso
Region: Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: $5.95, Regular Price $15 Sale

Winery Review: Classic varietal notes of wild herbs, roasted coffee beans, leather and spices deep ruby hues while on the palate sweet spiced notes of cinnamon and cardamom, held together with lively acidity and graceful tannins.

My Review: This wine was earthy and pretty heavy. I could pick up on hints of cinnamon, cherry and could definitely taste the tannins as it made my mouth dry/puckery during the finish. Although I will admit that the acidity balanced this wine out, especially with the finish.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - William Fevre 2016 La Mision Reserva Chardonnay

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: William Fevre La Mision
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: Maipo Valley
Country: Chile
Year: 2016
Price: $9.95, Frontline $22 Sale

Winery Review: "White-flower aromas carry the nose and lead to a simple palate of yeasty flavors that are low on fruit intensity." - Wine Enthusiast, 82 pts

My Review: This wine was buttery/oaky, and had hints of vanilla. It was aromatic and extremely floral! I could also pick up hints of lemon. It was quite fresh and had not too long of a finish. Would definitely like to try this paired with fish.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Mont Pellier Viognier 2015

Photo taken from Moodle

Name: Mont Pellier
Variety: Viognier
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2015
Price: $8.95, Frontline $15 Sale

Winery Review: With abundent aromas of honey-suckle, stone fruit, apricot and tropical fruit, our Viognier finishes crisp and clean with hints of vanilla and fruit that is pleasantly balanced.

My Review: This wine was not sweet, more dry than expected and quite refreshing + fruity. I could pick up on peach, apricot and apple flavors/scents, but it wasn't too overpowering. The aftertaste was quite sharp/crisp.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Wine Dinner - Homemade Stuffed Pasta Shells

Ethan and I, both taking Geography of Wine

My boyfriend and I are taking Geography of Wine together this semester, and we decided to do the first wine and food pairing together and cook (most of) the food together. On January 31st, we (on a whim) decided to challenge ourselves in the kitchen and find a recipe that caught our eye; we both agreed on making a special, baked pasta as our main course, specifically chicken alfredo stuffed shells. We then decided that we'd stick to something on the easier/lighter side for our appetizer (crackers, cheeses and meats) and something simple and easily achievable for dessert (chocolate chip cookies). 

Coffee table set for appetizers, dinner and dessert with the three wines we paired with each dish

Since we were baking and cooking in a not so large kitchen, we were definitely using up more of the island/counter top space than expected, so we decided to set up the coffee table in my living room for a relaxed dinner instead. Limited on the number of wine glasses we had, Ethan used his full red wine glass for all three wines and I used a full white wine glass with a thicker stem I got as a souvenir from Bristol for the three wines.

Course 1: Crackers with meats and cheese

Our first course was crackers with cheese and meats, something super easy and simple so that we could have time to focus on the main course (which was challenging to say the least). We picked this up at Kroger- it included Ritz crackers, salami and pepperoni for the meats, and colby jack, cheddar, and pepper jack cheese. Even though this was simple, it was a great appetizer to have before a heavier main course, and it was great to pair this with wine and really focus in on the wine tasting without an overpowering dish.

Course 2: Chicken alfredo stuffed shells

Our main course was challenging, most definitely not perfect, but so much fun to make! We found a recipe online by delish that immediately caught our attention, so we instantaneously went to the grocery store to get all of the ingredients to start this dinner experience! We first had to cook the pasta and cheese sauce simultaneously, then stuff a mix of shredded chicken/cottage cheese/spices into the shells and drizzle the cooked cheese sauce all over the pan before baking it. I accidentally forgot to add two whole cups of milk into the cheese sauce (which I highly regret due to the cheese sauce being more solid-like than it should've been), but the pasta was surprisingly still pretty good nonetheless. The major flavors that came out of this dish were definitely the ricotta and mozzarella cheese with shredded chicken, as well as garlic and butter hints.

Course 3: Chocolate chip cookies

Our final course/dessert was easy and simple chocolate chip cookies. We definitely wanted to focus on the main course (which I ended up messing up) so we picked up Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in the dairy section of Kroger and figured it would be an easy way to not mess up dessert and have our stomachs be happy! We were highly satisfied by the cookies as we expected, and the wine paired amazingly with them.

Wine 1: F.J. Serra Chardonnay

Name: F.J. Serra
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $11

Label Description: Ripe and creamy, with flavors of pineapple candy, honey, brown sugar, buttered toast and cinnamon. It's just what millions of Chardonnay lovers want.

Ethan chose this chardonnay because it was a great price and because we knew we wanted to start off with a white wine before having a red for our main course. The wine and cheese/meats gave us the ability to try this wine by itself first, then see how it paired with the snacks which went surprisingly very well!

My review of the wine on its own: This chardonnay wasn't as dry as I expected it to be, it was definitely buttery and creamy with hints of vanilla, potentially from being in oak barrels. It was light, refreshing and quite fruity on scents. I actually quite enjoyed this wine.

Wine 2: Anciano Reserva - 5 Years Tempranillo

Name: Anciano Reserva
Variety: Tempranillo
Region: Castilla La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: 2012
Price: $13.95

Label Description: A ruby coloured wine shading to brick red towards the rim. Complex aromas of balsamic and liquorice combine with vanilla, spice and rich fruit compote on the nose. Appealing ripe berry and cherry fruit flavours come through at first taste, followed by balanced tannins and a smooth, satisfying finish.

Ethan also chose this Tempranillo because we talked about how we wanted a red wine for our main course (but we did end up choosing this red wine a day or so before we picked our pasta dish). It's a wine that didn't seem too astringent or bitter, but maybe a little lighter in body than a heavy red wine so we decided that maybe we could use this wine for our wine dinner pairing.

My review of the wine on its own: This red wine was maybe a bit stronger than I imagined it would be with a quite a long, tannic aftertaste. It had hints of darker berries, cherries, plums and oak. Definitely worth every penny and it was on the shelves for a great price. 

Wine 3: Crane Lake Gewurztraminer

Name: Crane Lake
Variety: Gewurztraminer
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2016
Price: $5.95, Regular Price $9 Sale

Label Description: Slightly high-toned notions of rose petal mingle with lemon on nose and palate of this lightly sweet, richly textured yet balanced Gewurztraminer. This is not as heady as you may expect and will be a treat with spicy Asian dishes. Lychee and rose petal make another very fetching appearance on the finish.

I know what you're thinking! This was one of the free wines we tasted a week or two ago at the Vintage Cellar, although I knew instantaneously that I wanted to buy a bottle of this for a food pairing of my own since I loved it, I decided to not do a wine tasting post for this wine that week and did another wine tasting at Kroger for that week so I could save this specific wine for this dinner (since I know there's no double dipping allowed!).

My review of this wine on its own: This wine was sweet, but definitely not too sweet or overwhelming. It was floral, aromatic, and you could definitely taste hints of apple (almost like a Granny Smith apple). The finish wasn't as sweet as the taste of the wine itself, which was a wonderful surprise. Again, absolutely love this wine.

Intentional pairing for the first course

Crackers/cheese/meat with Chardonnay: The chardonnay paired with the crackers and meat definitely brought out the more oaky, buttery flavor and made the after taste less fruity and more creamy. The one pairing that confused me in a not-so-positive way was the pepper jack cheese with the chardonnay. The pepper jack cheese was too spicy in a sense for the chardonnay and brought out salty, spicy flavors and overwhelmed/overpowered the flavor of the wine. After trying the chardonnay with the pepper jack cheese, I steered way clear of the pepper jack cheese and kept trying the wine with crackers, the 2 meats and the other 2 cheeses (colby jack and cheddar).

Intentional pairing for the second course

Chicken alfredo stuffed shells with Tempranillo: The tempranillo paired with the chicken alfredo stuffed shells definitely brought out the more fruity flavors like cherries and plums. The creamy, white cheeses (ricotta and mozzarella) had a little bit of a funky after taste with the wine, definitely making my mouth feel dry and puckery, so I could pick up on the amount of tannin in the wine. It wasn't too bad, I think if I had the chance to choose another wine for this dish or choose another dish for this wine, I'd choose differently.

Intentional pairing for the third course

Chocolate chip cookies with Gewurztraminer: I absolutely loved this pairing, the chocolate chip cookies did not make this wine even sweeter, in the best possible way! The Gewurztraminer brought out good-ness in the apple and lemon scents. The cookies surprisingly didn't overpower the wine and the wine also didn't overpower the cookies. I thought this was a wonderful surprise, very complimentary of one another, and both the wine and cookies weren't too sweet altogether.  

A different angle on the whole set up for dinner

Overall, I think the exercise of actually sitting down, enjoying the wine and then seeing the difference in pairing wine with particular foods and how both the food and wine can be affected was eye-opening. I was able to decide, for myself, what wines and foods I enjoyed better together or better separately. I am excited to take this knowledge that I've learned this far and hopefully apply it in a better way for the next wine dinner pairing (hoping I don't mess up the pasta or choose the wrong wine for the main course)! On top of gaining more knowledge about wine and this course, I think this was overall such an enjoyable and fun experience to share and learn from.

Tasting - Pierre Olivier Rose

Name: Pierre Olivier
Variety: Airen + Tempranillo
Region: Catalan
Country: France
Year: N/A
Price: $9.95, Regular Price $17 Sale

Winery Review: Pale pink salmon. Just a touch off-dry, this is a very pleasant sparkler that reveals aromas of spicy red apple with a hint of cinnamon that carry through to the palate. Well made and exceedingly pleasant to drink. - i-winereview.com, 89 pts

My Review: This sparkling wine rose was very enjoyable, with hints of raspberry, strawberry and cinnamon. It was fruity and sweet, but definitely as sweet as I thought it would be (just the right amount). Definitely would like to try pairing this with a chocolate cake of some sort for dessert.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Terra dei Savoia Nebbiolo d'Alba

Name: Terre dei Savoia
Variety: Nebbiolo
Region: Piedmont
Country: Italy
Year: N/A
Price: $6.95, Regular Price $20 Sale

Winery Review: Its perfume is quite complex, with spicy notes of cinnamon and vanilla, pleasant and characteristic; at the same time it is also fruity, with cherry and strawberry notes, and at the end we find dried fruit and pleasant toasted almond aroma. The palate finds a totally dry taste, with an interesting structure, characterized by a soft tannicity, which together with alcohol and acidity, create harmonic and elegant sensations.

My Review: This wine was aged in oak barrels as I could pink up on hints of vanilla. The appearance of the wine definitely caught my eye, it seemed as if there were micro-sized pieces of tobacco or dark particles floating. The wine was very dry with a long, tannic after taste with leather, tobacco and cherry notes.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - El Cortijillo Tempranillo

Name: El Cortijillo
Variety: 100% Tempranillo
Region: La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: 2017
Price: $5.95, Regular Price $9 Sale

Winery Review: Vivid ruby. Pungent red berry and peppery spice scents show good focus and lift. Gently sweet and incisive on the palate, offering jammy raspberry and cherry flavors that tighten up slowly on the back half. Finishes taut and spicy, with supple tannins sneaking in late. - Josh Raynolds on Vinous, 88 pts

My Review: This taste of this red wine was much lighter than expected in contrast to the smells. I could pick up on hints of cherry and prune with lots of tannins in the aftertaste. My mouth was extremely dry and puckery following the short, but light aftertaste that ended within a couple seconds.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Tres Ojos Rosado

Name: Tres Ojos
Variety: 70% Garnacha + 30% Tempranillo
Region: Calatayud
Country: Spain
Year: 2017
Price: $6.95, Regular Price $9 Sale

Winery Review: Medium pink. This is Garnacha rose made in a fruity, easy drinking style. Showing ripe strawberry fruit, its moderate acidity and suave texture makes it the perfect sipping rose. A blend of 70% Garnacha and 30% Tempranillo grown on limestone, marl and slate soils and made by the San Gregorio cooperative, which includes about 900 ha of 40+ year old vines. 14.5% alc. - i-winereview.com, 89 pts

My Review: This blend had strong scents of strawberry (with a hint of raspberry) with the obvious floral note of roses tied in. It was drier (and almost a little bitter) which was unexpected, and it ended with a five second long after taste. Overall, it was quite fruity and floral.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.

Tasting - Barth Rene Pinot Blanc

Name: Barth Rene
Variety: Pinot Blanc
Region: Alsace
Country: France
Year: 2012
Price: $9.95, Frontline $20 Sale

Winery Review: This is a crisp, fresh Pinot Blanc. It has a light touch of spice, although the wine is really dominated by tight green apples and fragrant acidity. It is ready to drink now.

My Review: This Pinot Blanc had strong hints of that famous Granny Smith apple (super sweet and fruity) with a little bit of pear and almost banana. It was acidic and had an extremely long after taste (which I'm not sure was as pleasant as the scent), but the wine was pretty good and aromatic.

With/without food: I tasted this on its own without food.