Following the midweek celebration of Valentine's Day, my boyfriend and I decided to spend an evening inside to cook dinner together and taste three different wines. We took a trip to the Vintage Celler to pick out some wines we wanted to try, and then began brainstorming dinner ideas.
We settled upon baked chicken breasts with roasted potatoes and a veggie medley consisting of artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and onions.
While dinner was cooking, we decided to open each wine and do a taste test and assess the flavor profiles.
Wine 1: Apothic Crush - Soft Red Blend
Variety: Blend with Petite Sirah (primary grape), Pinot Noir
Region: Califronia
Country: USA
Year: 2021
Price: $10.99
My review: The Apothic Crush wine was very buttery, in both mouthfeel and taste. It smelled strongly like cherries and had notes of raspberry in flavor. Overall, I really enjoyed this wine.
Wine 2: Fernlands Sauvingnon Blanc
Variety: 100% Sauvingnon Blanc
Region: Malborough
Country: New Zealand
Year: 2022
Price: $13.99
My review: After hearing Professor Boyer describe New Zealand's Sauvingnon Blanc as "cat piss", we knew we had to give it a try. This wine was very dry with no sweetness at all. It had a crisp citrus-like flavor, with strong notes of lemon. The taste was overall a bit sour with a slight smell of "cat urine". Overall, I enjoyed the lightness and critrusy flavor of this wine.
Wine 3: Menage a Trois Exotic Blend
Variety: Blend with Chardonnay, Moscato, and Chenin Blanc
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2021
Price: $9.99
My review: Similar to the Sauvingnon Blanc, this white blend also had strong notes of citrus both in taste and smell. It also smelled like flowers, which nicely enhanced the lightness of the wine. It had a slightly sweet flavor. Overall, I enjoyed the floral notes of this wine and liked how light it was.
After writing down our thoughts on each wine, we cleansed our palates with some water and plated our dinner.
Carefully assessing each food, we again tasted all the wines with our dinner to determine how they paired:
Roasted Potatoes
Wine 1: Apothic Crush - Soft Red Blend - This wine did not pair well with the potatoes, it counteracted the fattiness and made the wine seem excessively strong.
Wine 2: Fernlands Sauvingnon Blanc - We used duck fat when roasting, so there was a good contrast between the fattiness of the potatoes and the tartness of the wine.
Wine 3: Menage a Trois Exotic Blend - There was a nice contrast between the richness of the potatoes and the floral taste of the wine, it was a good balance. It enhanced the flavor of the wine and I enjoyed it more.
Baked Chicken Breast
Wine 1: Apothic Crush - Soft Red Blend - The butteriness of this wine combined well with the chicken, although the white wines still paired better with it.
Wine 2: Fernlands Sauvingnon Blanc - It matched well with the lightness of chicken, the flavors both seemed to taste midly "bland" but not in a bad way.
Wine 3: Menage a Trois Exotic Blend - This wine mellowed out the spices that we had put on the chicken, which made it a great combo. It felt almost "clean" tasting.
Veggie Medley
Wine 1: Apothic Crush - Soft Red Blend - This wine matched very well with the mushrooms and veggie blend, it tasted very mellow.
Wine 2: Fernlands Sauvingnon Blanc - The mushrooms had a very earthy flavor, which seemed to linger for longer in an odd way when paired with this wine.
Wine 3: Menage a Trois Exotic Blend - The veggie blend overpowered the taste of the wine, and it was not very detectable.
Overall, we had a great time preparing dinner and trying different wines. I believe I gained a little more knowledge on how to pair wine with different dishes, and what flavor profiles go well together.
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