Jonathan Sperlazza's Wine Blog: Wine Dinner #1 -"Tyler Smalls Apartment (classic dinner)"

The first wine/ food dinner was held on Thursday January 30, 2014 with a group of friends (Conner, Blake, Tyler,Ben, and Carrick) that brought 3 white wines that included Rockbridge Virginia St. Mary's Blanc, Franz Wilhelm Langguth Erben Spätlese, Barboursville Vineyards Carbernet Blanc served with steak, chicken with Caribbean Jerk seasoning, cheese and crackers, and white rice. We opened up this event with popping all 3 bottles of wine with a handheld corkscrew bottle opener, each getting a turn to attempt to open it. The first white wine that was opened and tasted was the Rockbridge Virginia St. Mary's Blanc 2002, which had the highest percentage of alcohol, 13%. This wine was very tangy, bitter, and provided a strong after taste. This wine tingled the taste buds with green apples, and a hint of pineapple, so a very tropical wine to say the least. This also carried over when the wine was being smelled, which gave off a very tropical smell, but more so overpowered by the pineapple aroma. In my opinion out of all the food we had this wine didn't pair well with any of the food that was prepared, and was the last bottle that was completely gone at the end of our wine/food dinner. This wine overpowered the appetizers and the main meal thus not being the wine of choice for anyone that was at the dinner. The next wine that was tasted was the Franz Wilhelm Langguth Erben Spätlese. This too was a white wine and a crowd favorite among everyone there. After I swirled the wine and began to sniff and could not quite put a specific smell on this wine except for a strong fruity aroma. When this white wine was washed back and forth in my mouth and swallowed a tangy peach and green apple taste was the two flavors that came to mind. Unlike the last wine this wine paired great with the chicken, but even better with the steak and ranch combo. It complimented the tough texture of the steak with a nice smooth after taste. Since this had a smooth aftertaste this was easy to eat with the cheese and crackers before the main meal, and made for a better dinner experience since it complicated all aspects of the dinner. Lastly was the Barboursville Vineyards Carbernet Blanc which had a tangy and tart aftertaste. The slight taste of strawberries was the only flavor I could put my finger on, but that was even hard to pick out. The smell that was most potent was a fruity like smell mixed with a flower like scent. This wine paired well with the chicken and rice combination because the chicken was excessively covered with the Caribbean Jerk spices so it was left with a real hot and spicy taste, which was killed by the bitter after taste that the spicy mixed chicken and rice gave off. This experience sparked endless conversation between everyone that was there such as what they tasted to what the smelled, and what everyone wanted to try for our next dinner/ food event.