Wine-Dinner Pairing (Round 2)

Nando Fragolino, 446 Chardonnay, Napa Cellars Zin

Here we go. Round Two of wine and dinner with my parents. This time we opted for takeouts from a local restaurant, The Bistro. It's classic American Cuisine with a little French flare. I opted to use the same three wines from our first pairing, to see how they would fair when matched with entirely different foods. To recap, from the first dinner, I found the 446 Chardonnay from California to be the best match for the breaded pork tenderloins and garlic herb rice meal. Let's see what happens this time.

Steamed Clam Appetizer

For starters, we had about 3 dozen steamed clams. They were in a white wine garlic butter sauce with tomato, rosemary and onion. AWESOME! These clams were fantastic! And, they paired well with Chardonnay. The buttery quality of this CA Chardonnay enhanced the flavors in the clam sauce and vice versa. The hints of citrus in the wine complimented this appetizer nicely.

Let's move to the main dishes. We all got something different, but I tried them all. They go as follows, My dad had a filet with a blue cheese and mushroom cream sauce over a bed of pesto rice. (I should note: my sister also had this meal, but she's a baby and can't drink yet.) My mom had coconut shrimp over a bed of spicy rice in an orange lime sauce. I had lemon chicken piccata in a white wine sauce served with fresh snap peas and country style mashed potatoes.

My meal was fantastic! The wine sauce over the lemon chicken was a perfect match! It's no surprise that the chardonnay complimented this meal nicely. It should also be no surprise that the Zinfandel was NOT a match with this meal. The heavy oakiness and dark berry notes of this powerful Zin were not the right combination. The chardonnay, however, was delectable. The meal reminded me much of the tastes and flavors in the wine - a citrusy component masked by a buttery, creamy quality made this meal excellent.

Coconut Shrimp Over Spicy Rice

Now we will move to the Coconut Shrimp.  Another fantastic pairing for the chardonnay. Patty Pat was NOT a fan of the Zin (surprise, surprise)! She did, however, enjoy the Single Vineyard 446 with this sweet and tangy meal. The strong, spicy, citrusy quality of the rice and sauce was made much more subtle when paired with the creamy, butteriness of the chardonnay. I would even go as far to say that Patty Pat actually enjoyed this pairing. (Her young, inexperienced palette had a tough time with wine.) I, too, agree that this meal was paired nicely with the chard. For me, the tropical notes in the wine were enhanced by the fruity aspects of the orange lime sauce. I could detect hints of pineapple and a crisp green apple in the wine. There were also subtle notes of grapefruit, of which I could not detect when tasting the wine sans food.

Next up, we have the big, bad filet. It should be no surprise that the Zin went much better with this than with the other meals. My dad seemed to think the steak cut some of the oaky component of the wine and gave the wine less of a bite at the finish. I tasted it and agreed. That strong tannic component on the finish was less mouth puckering when paired with the steak. I also picked up that the spicy, peppery aspect of this wine was a good pairing for this grilled, red meat. I will say, that I still think the Chardonnay was a better pairing with the pesto rice. There was just something about how rich and silky this wine was that made it a nice match with most of the dishes.

Lemon Chicken Piccata

Filet Over Pesto Rice

For dessert, we had a raspberry cheesecake. The Fragolino offered litle more than it did the first night. It was good, but it was sweet. Drinking large amounts of this sparkling candy syrup is difficult because it's so fruity and sweet. I did, however, detect hints of raspberry on the bouquet this time, which I did not notice before. (Maybe it had to do with the raspberry in the cheesecake?) And, I detected subtle hints of peach flavors on the mid palette. Other than that, few surprises from this Italian candy drink.

The parents, goofy as they are, enjoying their meals (and attempting to enjoy their wines).