This week, some friends decided to throw a little dinner party, so I volunteered to pick out some wines to try and pair with the meal. This was my first chance getting to really try my hand at pairing, so I was excited to give it a go. We ended up eating lemon pepper chicken with mashed potatoes and vegetables, so I decided to try it with a Sauvignon Blanc. However, I also had to be fairly careful in picking out wines, because the group of people I was dining with are notoriously averse to dry wines and red wines in general. Due to this, I just decided to go with a Gewürztraminer on its own for a safe sweet dessert wine.
So for the Sauvignon Blanc, I chose a 2015 vintage from Carving Board in California. I found it on sale at one of our local wine stores for $12 instead of $14, which made me a little wary. But, the flavor profile for it that I initially found noted its strong lemon component and floral notes, which I felt was a nice balance between appropriateness for the dish and the taste of my companions. However, most of the profiles I have sampled while writing up this review sound more like: "Silky, supple with flavors of lemon marmalade and acacia honey with a white floral component." The flavor of the chicken was not particularly strong, but it still managed to overwhelm the flavor of the wine. It was almost amusing because it actually seemed to cancel out most of the seasoning in the chicken but amped up the protein and "chicken" taste of the chicken, leaving the wine itself about as impactful as water. In the end, this wine was mostly just unimpressive. It wasn't offensive by any means – its balanced acidity and floral notes were enjoyable enough – but it left very little impression, especially with the meal. I feel like I could have really enjoyed this wine if circumstances were different, but they weren't, so here we are.
Up next, we've got the Sutter Home Gewürztraminer. Coming it at only $8 dollars, this one was also a bit of a gamble, but I feel like it really hit home. According to its flavor profile it "combines lychee fruit, white peaches, rose petals, and a hint of allspice," most of which I agree with, although I felt it was more like pear than lychee or peach. Its smell wasn't much of note, just the normal grape and flowers you'd expect. While we weren't planning on eating this one with anything, we ended up just experimenting with a few things and found some interesting notes. Paired with our cheesy mashed potatoes, the sugar and sweetness became much more prominent in the wine, almost washing out all the other flavors. And, while pairing it with a cinnamon pumpkin cake, the allspice reacted with the cinnamon and almost burned the mouth with how intense it got. Definitely a wine to keep an eye out for its price range.
Wines Reviewed:
Carving Board Sauvignon Blanc: http://grandcruny.com/carving-board-sauvignon-blanc-750ml.html
Sutter Home Gewürztraminer: https://www.sutterhome.com/wines/gewurztraminer/?age-verified=1baa2700f3
So for the Sauvignon Blanc, I chose a 2015 vintage from Carving Board in California. I found it on sale at one of our local wine stores for $12 instead of $14, which made me a little wary. But, the flavor profile for it that I initially found noted its strong lemon component and floral notes, which I felt was a nice balance between appropriateness for the dish and the taste of my companions. However, most of the profiles I have sampled while writing up this review sound more like: "Silky, supple with flavors of lemon marmalade and acacia honey with a white floral component." The flavor of the chicken was not particularly strong, but it still managed to overwhelm the flavor of the wine. It was almost amusing because it actually seemed to cancel out most of the seasoning in the chicken but amped up the protein and "chicken" taste of the chicken, leaving the wine itself about as impactful as water. In the end, this wine was mostly just unimpressive. It wasn't offensive by any means – its balanced acidity and floral notes were enjoyable enough – but it left very little impression, especially with the meal. I feel like I could have really enjoyed this wine if circumstances were different, but they weren't, so here we are.
Up next, we've got the Sutter Home Gewürztraminer. Coming it at only $8 dollars, this one was also a bit of a gamble, but I feel like it really hit home. According to its flavor profile it "combines lychee fruit, white peaches, rose petals, and a hint of allspice," most of which I agree with, although I felt it was more like pear than lychee or peach. Its smell wasn't much of note, just the normal grape and flowers you'd expect. While we weren't planning on eating this one with anything, we ended up just experimenting with a few things and found some interesting notes. Paired with our cheesy mashed potatoes, the sugar and sweetness became much more prominent in the wine, almost washing out all the other flavors. And, while pairing it with a cinnamon pumpkin cake, the allspice reacted with the cinnamon and almost burned the mouth with how intense it got. Definitely a wine to keep an eye out for its price range.Wines Reviewed:
Carving Board Sauvignon Blanc: http://grandcruny.com/carving-board-sauvignon-blanc-750ml.html
Sutter Home Gewürztraminer: https://www.sutterhome.com/wines/gewurztraminer/?age-verified=1baa2700f3
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