Jonathan Sperlazza's Wine Blog: Dinner #2 " "Home (Southern Food)"

Creamy Alfredo with Angel Hair Pasta

Renwood (left) Avery Quinn (Center) Wrongo Dongo (Right)

The second wine and food pairing dinner was held on April 11, 2014 with a much smaller group this time around (Conner, Tyler, and myself). At this dinner we had two red wines (Wrongo Dongo, Renwood) and a light white wine (Avery Quinn). Each of these wines paired with a certain food that we researched such as the Monastrell Wrongo Dongo being paired with a salty Boars head ham and sharp tasting Spanish Manchego cheese, a red Zinfandel Renwood paired with a very sweet Jack-Daniels BBQ, and finally a Chardonnay Avery Quinn with a light, and creamy Alfredo. This dinner was completely different than the first one because the pairings paid off along with the pairing research, which brought out the best characteristics of both the food and wine for the most part.

Jack Daniels BBQ

Boars head Ham and Manchego

The first wine and food pairing that we tried was the Monastrell Wrongo Dongo matched with Manchego cheese and Boarshead ham. The wine alone smelled and tasted like powerful cranberries, and fruity to say the least. Surprisingly it had very little tannins and wasn't very dry, but the the direct opposite with a short and sweet taste along with a thick, viscous texture. The most surprising thing for this dinner is how well this pairing went together and complimented each other. The salty ham and sharp taste of the Manchego cheese went very well together making the wine more bold and flavorful. When I say it was more bold, it was like my taste buds got sucker punched by stronger flavor like POW right in the kisser. This shocked me because this did not happen in the first wine and food dinner pairing that I had earlier this year.

The Wrongo Dongo with the Manchego Cheese and Boars Head Ham

The second pairing consisted of Zinfandel Renwood and the Jack Daniels BBQ. The Renwood alone smelled very floral and tasted like I had little beets in my mouth. This wine was very heavy and full with a hot and spicy finish, so I was not sure if I liked this wine by itself due to its bland, hot taste, but boy was I wrong. The Renwood combined with the BBQ killed most of the hot finish and made the wine smooth and delicious. The sweetness from the BBQ sauce was strengthened with a little hot finish/spiciness on the end of it. The wine enhanced the foods sweetness and was easily the best part of the dinner. Alone the Zinfandel was average, but with the BBQ it took it to a whole new level of flavor.

Jack Daniel's Pulled Pork

Renwood Matched with the BBQ

The last pairing was the only white wine, which was the Chardonnay Avery Quinn matched with the angel hair creamy Alfredo pasta. The wine by itself had a interesting pale yellow color with smells of green apples and pears. It had a very smooth and thin texture that was comforting on your throat. The flavor reminded me a tart apple juice that you got in a juice box as a kid, but the wine alone was still very good. The addition of the pasta with the wine had minimal to no change in the taste of either. They did not feed off the creaminess of the sauce or the fruity flavor of the wine.The only conclusion we made was that the sauce was to thin and lacking that extra spice to alter or enhance my taste buds of the wine. This pairing was boring and blah and had no affect on the pairing, which was surprising because you would think a white wine would compliment a nice creamy sauce well.

Opening the Avery Quinn

Opening the Renwood

Alfredo Pasta and Avery Quinn Pairing

Once we tasted the wines with the appropriate pairings researched we started to experiment with out palate. The only food that went extremely well all 3 wines was the Jack Daniels BBQ. This either enhanced the red wines finish or the sweetness when paired with the white wine. The pairing that also went well was the Chardonnay and ham, cheese, and cracker pairing because it increased the longevity of the cheese flavor in your mouth, while also lingering afterward on your palate. Once we took the necessary tasting notes, we then just got to enjoy the masters, while eating a delicious dinner, and drinking some very good wine. That's what it is all about !!!