What I Ate Wednesday-Wine Pairing

I’m going to link up to the What I ate Wednesday group and give the run down on the food and wine pairing Jeff and I attended Friday night. Everything was so delicious and I was surprised to find that I enjoyed each of the wines they paired with. Usually I can’t handle drier red wines, but my favorite was their Syrah!

Lets back up. Arrived and got ushered over to the area of the restaurant where they were doing the pairing. Got attended to quite a few times to make sure we didn’t want anything else to drink besides the pairing wines. Um, no, just give us the booze we came for, please! Jeff settled in and checked FB while we waited-they did start a little late:

We’re still newlywed enough I giggle when I see our nametag.

Started off with the first course: A Riesling paired with beef carpaccio, blue cheese, pickled apples, and a potato gaufrette. The gaufrette was basically a fancy potato chip, but the crunch really paired nicely with the softer texture of the carpaccio, and I really liked the apples as well. The wine really brought out the pickling of the apples, in my opinion. The Riesling surprised Jeff by being his favorite wine of the evening.

pretty taters!

Second course was the salad course. A Chardonnay paired with roasted beets, goat cheese croutons, and caramelized walnuts. Jeff and I were both hesitant-I don’t think either of us has ever been much of a fan of beets. I tried it, and enjoyed the croutons and walnuts but just couldn’t get into the beets. Their texture is strange to me and they taste like dirt. Just sayin. The wine was fine, and I can see why it was picked to pair up with the beets, but I expected it to be my fave and it wasn’t.

Third course was the main event: seared skirt steak, oxtail ravioli, parsnip puree, mushroom powder, roasted leeks, and a smoked hollandaise. The skirt steak was phenomenal, and the ravioli were OK. I didn’t feel like the ravioli really enhanced or showcased the oxtail-it could have been any meat in there, if that makes sense. The parsnip puree was really good, and so were the leeks. I just never buy leeks at the grocery store, but they were really good. The Syrah was my favorite wine of the evening, it was just dry enough to compliment the beef but still had some slight sweetness to it.

Finally, we had dessert. YAY! In case you couldn’t tell, I liked dessert:

this is my “take the picture” smile.

It was a chocolate chili pave with rosemary ice cream and a hazelnut tuile. I honestly couldn’t finish it; very, very rich. But quite yummy, and I didn’t get a pow of rosemary from the ice cream; it was subtle. Dessert paired with a merlot, and I was joking with Jeff that I’d have to pour mine into his glass before the pairing-merlot is just not something I’m used to drinking. It’s too dry for me normally. But I loved it and had no problem finishing my wine. Of course, they were tasting portions, so all in all we probably had 8 ounces of wine-not a ton. But I ended the evening really surprised how well I liked all the wines-I guess that’s what a pairing is all about?

I had a great time! I now have no fear about going to a wine pairing and would love to try another one soon. If the pairing is done right, then it doesn’t matter what you drink at home on the couch, if it goes well with the food you see it in a new light. I also want to give some compliments to the chef-this was the same restaurant I got Jeff the whole hog butchery class for Christmas from, so he kind of knows the chef. Brandon made a point to come out and explain each dish, the reasoning and background behind it, and make sure everyone enjoyed their food. Classy guy.

AND on our way back to the car after a fancy cocktail at our favorite bar afterwards (I had a French 75, which may be my new favorite thing. Champagne, vodka, and a twist of lemon? YUM!), I have to point out that we once again got catcalled. This time, the dude in the backseat of his buddy’s car had to yell to Jeff that his girlfriend had nice legs. Creepy guy, you make me blush! Thanks, buddy-now stay away. There’s a ring on this finger. 🙂