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| Pasta and Wine Night! |
I chose to bring a 2009 Villa da Filicaja Chianti Superiore for $13. It was recommended to me by a sales associate at the Vintage Cellar. This was a nice, full-bodied wine that paired very nicely with the spaghetti and meatballs. The nose on this wine had a touch of dark raspberry which made the final taste a little sweet. However, the sweetness was not overpowering and really added a touch of spice to my palate.
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| Villa da Filicaja Chianti Superiore 2009 |
My friend Ali brought an 2010 Alamos Malbec from Argentina. When I was in Argentina this winter break, I drank Alamos wine so I definitely have a soft spot for this winery. This wine was a beautiful dark violet color. Alamos Malbec is also a full bodied wine with a very rich taste. It also had hints of raspberry and even chocolates on the palate. . However, since it is aged in oak, it also had that nice element of spice which paired very well with the pasta sauce. Malbec is my favorite type of wine so I thoroughly enjoyed this selection.
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| Alamos Malbec 2010 |
Diana brought over 2008 Senda 66 Tempranillo, also recommended to her by the Vintage Cellar. This wine is medium-full bodied and was also a rich purple color. It had hints of blackberry on the nose and almost had a coffee-like aftertaste. This wine paired well with the spicy meatballs we had with our pasta dish. The sales associate said this wine would pair well with hearty meals and that was definitely the case with this tempranillo. This was the first tempranillo wine I have ever tasted and I appreciated the fruity nose. Like the Chianti and Malbec, the "oak monster" came out in this wine and it ended with a nice, light-spicy finish.
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| Senda 66 Tempranillo |
The next wine was 2010 Old Vines Garnache de Fuego from the Aragon region of Spain. This was a very intense wine and my least favorite out of the five wines we tasted during the evening. The nose was very powerful and smelled like too much alcohol. After I tasted this wine, the taste lingered in my mouth for a little too long. Although she was told this wine would pair well with our meal, I thought it was too overpowering for my palate. I thought the aftertaste was smoky, instead of spicy which I definitely prefer. It also had hints of blackberry which toned the smokiness down, but not enough in my opinion.
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| Garnacha de Fuego 2010 |
The final wine we had this evening was 2007 Biagio Chianti Riserva from Italy. This wine was aged 24 months in oak cask. This "oak monster" element brought the nice spicy after taste which paired very well with our pasta dinner. I have had this wine before with pizza and recommend it to anyone eating hearty Italian food. This wine had nice blackberry scents on the nose. It had a medium to long finish which I thoroughly enjoyed.
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| Biagio Chianti Riserva 2007 |
This wine dinner was a great success. My friends and I have had wine dinners before, but it was nice to sit around and discuss the different tastes and smells from the different wines. We all preferred different wines which was nice because it really shows that everyone has such a different palate. I did not like the Garnache de Fuego; however. this is one of Katie's favorite wines and that is why she brought it to the tasting. I had never gone into the Vintage Cellar before and asked a sales associate what type of wine they recommend with a certain dish. It was nice to get someone's professional perspective on what I should drink. Both of their recommendations, the chianti and tempranillo, were delicious pairings with the pasta dish. Everyone had a great time that evening and I look forward to many more wine dinners.
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