Wine Dinner

 This week, my friends and I got together to celebrate the superior holiday in March, Pi Day! And we thought, what better way to celebrate than with a lot of pie! So that's exactly what we did, we got together and had a lot of sweet, sweet pie. So, I thought I'd use that opportunity to make it into a bit of a wine dinner, even if it may have been in part just for myself! But, as I am lacking in funds to do something super fancy, I thought I'd take a few 'low key' dishes and pair them up with some wines. 

The three courses went as follows:

Appetizer: Chips and salsa paired with a 2022 California Dream Pinot Grigio, $5 

Main: Salmon filet with a 2020 F.J. Serra Chardonnay from California, about $8

Dessert: Homemade ice cream pie paired with La Marca Prosecco from Italy, about $6.50

Appetizers

    I tried the California Dream Pinot Grigio alone, and what can I say besides it tasted like a five dollar bottle of wine would. It was very light on the nose, not much to pick up on in terms of smell. I picked up a lot of pear. Maybe this sounds a bit outrageous, but honestly thought it smelled a bit like sea salt, possibly because the grapes were grown on the coast? I don't know, but just something I picked up on. 

    In having the wine with the chips and salsa, I thought the combo was definitely an interesting one. I don't know if they necessarily brought out the best in each other, but definitely brought out...something.  Since the salsa had a bit of heat to it, I thought it really ramped up the acidity in the wine, but not exactly in a good way. I thought it kind of made the wine taste worse, not better. I think the light, crispness of the wine really complimented the heat in the salsa well, but the acidity from pairing the two was a little overwhelming and wasn't the most enjoyable. 

Main Course

       In tasting this Chardonnay, I picked up on a lot of oak, and and a very sweet scent overall. There were notes of tropical fruit, like pineapple, and just a nice, gooey honey scent. Upon tasting I found it to be very smooth and buttery, but still very light and enjoyable. 

    I paired this with a salmon filet from EarthFare. It was rubbed with some sort of herb butter, and I baked it in the oven until it was nice and flaky. In trying the salmon with the Chardonnay, I felt that the two were an amazing pair, and that they complimented each other with the buttery flavors they both had. I though the salmon, though buttery, was nice and light and flaky, complimenting the smooth quality of the wine. 

Dessert 

    La Marca Prosecco is a well known sparkling wine, and yet this was my first time trying it! But after reading what pairs well with ice cream (my favorite dessert), I read that sparkling wine was the best. The Prosecco alone was nice and light and refreshing, and very light on the nose. I picked up on a lot of citrus notes, primarily lemon with a hint of orange. Upon tasting, I felt that the wine was super crisp and had an apple flavor along with a nice, very juicy peach flavor. Overall, a very pleasant, light sparkling wine. 

    With the vanilla ice cream pie that I made, I felt the two made a great pairing. The crispness of the wine complimented the creamy quality of the ice cream. Since vanilla is a relatively plain flavor, the Prosecco adds a freshness and almost a bit of flavor with the different aromas and fruity flavors it had. I really liked the contrast of the dense, creamy flavor of the ice cream with the fun, bubbly texture of the sparkling wine. It was a great combo and I would love to try it as an ice cream float sometime as I've seen many recommendations for!