Wine Dinner at Blacksburg Wine Lab (3/16)

 Restaurant: Blacksburg Wine Lab

Date: 3/16/2024

Wine and Dish 1: Sassi Pinot Grigio with Toasted bread with Olive Oil

The pinot Girgio upon first sniff was very light, especially compared to the reds I have been drinking recently. It was full of fruity and floral notes and the taste was similar. The pinot grigio had a sweet, fruity taste and had hints of pear. It also had an almost nutty taste with a very nice mouthfeel. It was not very tannic whatsoever and lightly acidic with some floral notes apparent in the aftertaste. 

When pairing with the food, there was not too much of a change. The dish was a simply bread and olive oil appetizer which do not offer much to stimulate the palate. However, the balsamic vinegar present in the oil had a tangy acidity which paired fantastic with the wine and gave it a fully texture that I enjoyed. The bread itself was not as wonderful and it gave a neutral effect, or the wine soaked into the bread which gave it a very awkward mouthfeel as it felt like I was chewing a spongy wine. 

I would not pair with bread again, but a lighter or similarly acidic appetizer to the vinegar would complement the pinot grigio very well and add to the acidic without taking away the sweetness or other balancing mechanisms present in the wine. Otherwise, I enjoyed the wine, but the food was a neutral to negative in my book.

Wine and Dish 2: Frescobaldi Chianti Classico with Reuben sandwich

The Chianti upon first sniff had a rustic feel to it with a strong fruity odor. Upon tasting, I immediately was overcome with an overwhelming dry and tannic taste with an acidic aftertaste. After my initial surprise, a second taste revealed blackberry with some spices and dried herb undertones. It also had a woody aftertaste that matched its acidic and tannic mouthfeel that I did not particularly enjoy.

When pairing with the food however, my opinion of the wine dramatically improved. The taste of the salty and fatty Rueben perfectly masked the dry nature of the chianti while simultaneously letting the flavorings and acidity work their way through. Despite chianti working best with rich red meats and the bread and sauce getting in the way of that, the meat of the Reuben really put in the effort of complementing the taste of the chianti without losing anything of worth. 

The heavier fatty flavoring worked their magic with the rich chianti and created a dish pairing that I actually would recommend. Through tasting them individually, the chianti was not my favorite but the sandwich fixed all personal issues I had with the wine. I will definitely be trying chianti with other flavorful meats and I already have an idea of what to make the next time I head to the grocery store!

Wine and Dish 3: Cadao Ruby Port NV with Roasted Coffee ice cream

The Ruby port upon first whiff had a very strong fruity taste, more so than the others and that, along with some spices, was the only thing I could detect. Upon first taste, my first thought was SWEET. It had a very very sweet taste to the wine and had spices like cinnamon and cloves along with a fruity black cherry accompaniment. This wine had a very pleasant mouthfeel, likely attributed to the sugar present in the wine, which aided in creating a positive experience, though the sweetness did overpower the other facets of the wine.

When accompanied by the ice cream, something that I did not expect to happen happened. The wine choice was a recommendation by my waiter and I thought the sweet pair might bot balance well, but I was wrong. The sweetness of the ice cream and the sweetness of the wine paired together and somehow, masked the sweet taste of the wine altogether, allowing all the other flavors of the wine to burst forth. The fruity cherry became wonderfully prominent and the undertones of spice like clove and cinnamon lurched forward and became

primary flavorings within the port wine the I enjoyed tremendously. 

This pairing recommended by the waiter was wonderful and revealed a very unexpected combination that I enjoyed and will likely return to. 

    This dinner experience was wonderful and revealed a couple culinary combinations that I will not shy away from in the future. My favorite was the chianti and the Reuben because it revealed to me how a wine that I do not like individually, can become something fantastic when compared with a good food. My least favorite was the pinot grigio with the bread and olive oil, not because the taste was bad, as I did enjoy the wine and the food, but they did not mix together well. Other than the balsamic vinegar in the olive oil, nothing else seemed to mesh well and the bread itself soaked up the wine and created a weird mouthfeel that I will not seek out in the future. The ice cream and the Port ruby wine was the most unexpected and had the important role of teaching me to experiment with more foods and wines, even if it feels like it might clash because you could be surprised as I was. All in all, this was a pleasant experience that taught me more about the complementary effect between food and wine.