Wine Dinner #1

For our dinner I teamed up with Daniel Ball, Devin Skeens, and Hunter Sutherland and we prepared an amazing spread as follows,

First we will start with the appetizer, a nice Shrimp Salad with Italian dressing, paired with a Chardonnay.

Name: Barefoot Chardonnay

Variety:  Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2018

Price: $4.99

Winery review:  A delightful wine with tempting flavors of green apples and peaches. Hints of honey and vanilla enhance buttery finish, it is perfect with seafood, poultry, fresh fruits, white suave pastas and mild cheese.

My review: This wine was a perfect pair with a shrimp salad. The aroma brought notes of a very fruity taste, I got hints of pear and apples. The taste was bit "bitey" at first but smoothed out with the taste of the Italian dressing. It really enhanced the salad.

The Pairing: Paired with a Shrimp Salad with Italian dressing and a bit of cheddar cheese. Cracked pepper overtop.

My Score: 7.8/10 

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 Fetzer Cabernet

Name: Fetzer Valley Oaks
Variety:  Cabernet Sauvignon 
Region: California
Country: USA
Year: 2017
Price: $5.99

Winery review:  Our Cabernet Sauvignon appreciates the warmer vineyards of California's lower foothills, bringing out elegant flavors of black cherry and chocolate 

My review: This wine really brings light to the phrase "Bites back", because this sure does. The aroma was earthy and woody, and the taste was so astringent it was harsh on the tongue. The tannins were very upfront with this wine. To me it was woody, leathery, and even diesel tasting.

The Pairing: I paired this with an elegantly prepared Kroger Sirloin steak, medium with sautéed onions that Chef Gordon Ramsay taught me through a youtube video. However, the wine over powered the delightful taste of the steak and onions together. I couldn't finish my glass of wine with my steak.

My Score: j/10  (j represents an imaginary number because I can't justify a real number score, even 0)

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Name: Lindemans

Variety:  Shiraz
Region: Southeastern Australia
Country: Australia 
Year: 2018

Price: $4.99

Winery review: The generous flavours and contemporary, easy-drinking style of Lindemans Bin 50 Shiraz combines easily with food and most social occasions to deliver maximum enjoyment from the first glass to the last. Berry, liquorice and spice flavours.

My review: This wine was pretty bad. Aroma brought some very earthy tones. Smelled of just pure tannins and the taste brought that along with it. Very dry and earthy, however paired with the amazingly junior size cheesecake we paired with this for dessert it brought out some better taste of the wine. It surprisingly complemented nicely. 



The Pairing: Paired with a Shrimp Salad with Italian dressing and a bit of cheddar cheese. Cracked pepper overtop.

My Score: 5.7/10