Wine Dinner Blog #2

Dinner - Steak dinner with sides of roasted carrots, mashed potatoes, and yeast rolls:

After going home to see my family, we wanted to celebrate our gathering as a family with a large meal and wine! My family was celebrating my return home so I felt I could give back by cooking them a meal and pairing it with some phenomenal wines. From the commissary, my dad and I purchased a beef tenderloin to eat along with some carrots, and mashed potatoes. After thinking of this meal, I did some additional research to see what wines would go well with each dish. After my research and going over some good pairings, I decided to pair a Cotes de Rhone blend with the tenderloin, a Les Portes de Bordeaux with the mashed potatoes, and a dry riesling to pair with the savory roasted carrots!

Our three wines - Les Portes de Bordeaux 2011, Cotes Du Rhone 2019, and Emma Reichart Dry Riesling 2022.

Dinner Spread - Beef tenderloin, savory roasted carrots, mashed potatoes with heavy garlic and cream, and yeast rolls.

Paring #1 - Beef tenderloin and Cotes Du Rhone:

For our main course, we had the beef tenderloin, I found it most important to get this pairing right. My choice was the Cote Du Rhone, the blend consists of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre grape varietals, and these are known to pair well with grilled or roasted red meats so I thought it was the most logical choice of the wines we had to choose from. The pairing was very solid overall with the feel of the wine in my mouth not clashing and the dryness and acidity of the wine leaving me wanting to eat red meat like steak. But in all honesty, this was my least favorite and most disappointing pairing of the meal. Something about the peppery nature of the steak just didn't quite work with the richness and body of the wine. From hearing about the red meat pairing with red wines, I expected more especially since this was a well-known pairing for the Cotes Du Rhone. I honestly thought it was overhyped, though it was still a fine pairing. A high-quality wine and high-quality meal that just didn't click for me. 

Dad and Sajith enjoy dinner while feeling some of the effects of the wine.

Pairing #2 - Mashed potatoes (heavy cream and garlic) and Les Portes de Bordeaux:

For the first side pairing, we had the mashed potatoes with the Bordeaux and it was delightful. I chose this pairing because Les Portes du Bordeaux is known to work especially well with mashed potatoes when they are served with significant garlic or a savory sauce. In our case, it was served with the former. I had the lowest expectations from this pairing but was pleasantly surprised, the significant body and tannin structure of the Bordeaux worked so well with the creaminess of the mashed potatoes and balanced out the garlic very well. My family didn't like this pairing as much as I did but I loved it and couldn't get enough of it. It makes me question my taste of wine pairings a little bit but at the end of the day, I don't really care because I enjoy the wine I enjoy and no one will take that away from me. Though I loved this pairing, I can't deny it is definitely the second-best of the pairings that were brought together in this meal.

Mom sipping on some of the Bordeaux.

Pairing #3 - Roasted savory carrots and Emma Reichart 2022 Dry Riesling:

The carrots were the most easy and fun dish to make. I had two options, savory or sweet roasted carrots, but for the dry Riesling pairing, it made the most sense to do the savory spice mix for the carrots as it would pair best with the wine and also the rest of the meal. Dry Rieslings from my research were known to go well with more sweet vegetables and fruits so carrots were the logical choice to pair with the rest of the meal. This was the best pairing of the meal and the consensus favorite pairing from my family as well. The peppery seasoning and sweet and soft consistency of the roasted carrots worked beautifully with the dry riesling. The Riesling had significant pear flavors and as it was labeled, it was definitely very dry and made me desire a savory food. This pairing made me fantasize about eating this pairing homemade on a farm with pleasantly warm spring air surrounding me as I watch the sunset eclipse the horizon. I knew once this happened that this is what a wine pairing should be like when it's just right. My friends Jack and Sajith audibly said "Wow!' when they had this pairing so I knew I wasn't alone in this opinion. It was great to be able to include a white wine in the meal for further variety too. 

Jack pouring himself another glass of Riesling (his favorite wine of the night).

Experience:

The best part of this dinner was getting to show my appreciation to the people I love by helping to cook a wonderful meal for them and spending time with them. The six of us (mom, dad, my sister Betsy, her boyfriend Sajith, and my best friend Jack), had to down the 3 bottles of wine (to not waste any of it of course) and so we all got decently inebriated while listening to some classic rock music and it was tons of fun. Getting to catch up with everyone after a long semester was really nice and seeing everyone enjoy the meal brought a lot of joy to my heart. I see now why Professor Boyer recommended doing this with friends and family because it made the experience that much more enjoyable. I cannot wait to do my next wine dinner blog to tell another great story of how the next evening of dinner and wine will go. 

Family and friends catching up after not seeing each other since the holidays.