The Grape Tapes: Courtney's Wine Blog: Beliveau Estate Visit: Wine Pairing Seminar

Beliveau Estate held a wine pairing seminar conveniently timed for the last day of our class blog entries. I admit, I went for the points, but I took a lot more than that out of the visit.

Above: the centerpiece at the table

Four different wines were featured:

1. Kaleidoscope (2012): a dry Pinot Grigio

First Impressions:

Aromas of dandelion and fresh cut grass.
Puckering mouthfeel due to the dryness coupled with the strongly acidic bite.
Flavors of granny smith apple and lemon.

After Food Pairings:

With lemon: acids balance acids, neutralized each other, while bringing out flavors
With Apple: Don't pair with sweet foods. It makes acid too strong!
With butter: it cut the fat nicely

Mystique (2012): a dry, heavily oaked Chardonnay

First Impressions:

Higher tannins than expected
Very strong earthy and floral aromas
Flavors of peaches, melon, honeysuckle
Extremely smooth finish

After Food Pairings:

With lemon: acids dull oak. No good.
With butter: good at cutting the fat.
With Peppermint: strong flavors of oak compliment other strong flavors! (This was the best pairing for this one.)

Silhouette (2012): a dry, lightly oaked Cabernet Sauvignon

First Impressions:

Aromas of blackberry, plums
Strong smoky, berry flavors contained a lot of the heat
Very heavy mouthfeel
VERY high tannins

With Food:

With lemon: acids dull tannins (not that good)
With butter: tannins great at cutting fat
With salt: Horrible. Made it so tannins were cringe-worthy strong.

Sweet Surrender: a sweet red Concord

First Impressions:

"Jammy" is not enough to describe this. This is literally a cup of concord jelly.
Smelled like gummy fruit snacks
All the heat from the alcohol was virtually undetectable
Popular "beginner" wine

With Food: