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| YUM |
Fiona and I decided to go to 622 North for a food and wine tasting! 622 North is a lovely and rather upscale restaurant in downtown Blacksburg. We paired 4 wines with 3 dishes and here is how it all turned out!
We sampled 4 wines and were able to try them before our food came out.
Wine
Lake Sonoma Russian River Valley Chardonnay 2012 - This was a rather lovely Chardonnay with golden yellow gleam to it. The nose was nutty and mellow. The taste wasn't sharp at all but rather had a buttery, nutty, apple-esque taste to it. Very good for a Chardonnay!
2011 Orogeny Pinot Noir Russian River Valley - What a delicious Pinot Noir! This light-med bodied wine had beautiful legs and a bouquet of sweet and shroomy goodness. The taste was rather farmyard and farinaceous but it sported a dominant plum taste.
Bodegas Lar De Paula Rioja Tempranillo 2010- What a gnarly wine! This wine was given 91 pts from Robert Parker. The legs were dank on this one and the nose was a very mild peppery smell. What this wine lacks in a nose it made up for in taste. This wine was a ride of wide pepper, bitter tannins, and earthy cherry. The finish was long and robust. Very delicious.
Il Gregoriano Sant'Antimo Montalcino -- This Red was very tasty! It is a blend of Sangiovese and Petit Verdot. This wine boasted a bouquet of strawberry and herb. The nose was similar to the leaves you find on strawberries. The legs were there and light. This wine was not fruit forward like many other Sangioveses i've tried but was earthy in a farmyard type of sense. A rather light wine, this tasted like dirt and strawberries.
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| Ravioli and Il Gregoriano |
Entrees
fried ravioli mushroom ravioli with caesar dressing, fresh greens, tomato and red onion
Before wine: Delicious and crunchy ravioli with a delectable buttery sauce. The mushrooms melt in your mouth and it is quite a good appetizer.
With wine: The first wine we paired with the fried ravioli was the Lake Sonoma RRV Chardonnay. Wow! This wine pretty much doubled the flavor of this entree. The creamy mushroom ravioli brought out big fruit flavors in the Chardonnay (which now tasted apply, peary, peachy, and of course buttery.) The wine also complemented the ravioli as it revealed a nice salty aspect to the fried-factor and the mushrooms. With the Oregeny Pinot Noir RRV this pairing was not nearly as delicious. The pinot seemed to clash in a sense with this ravioli dish. It rendered the mushroomy-delight pretty much incompatible to the taste-buds. This pairing seemed to blind each others flavors. We got a similar result with the Lar de Paula Tempernillo. This didn't pair well with the ravioli. The tannic bomb of this wine didn't mesh well with the buttery goodness of the mushroom ravioili. Still, not as bad as the Pinot Noir pairing. The Sangiovese and Petit Verdot blend paired with this particular mushroom dish ended up being a farm-fest in your mouth. It tasted like dirt and mushrooms!
The winner of this entree is the Sonoma RRV Chardonnay!
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| Buttery Ravioli + Buttery Chardonnay = Salvation |
american classic ground angus burger with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato and pickle on toasted brioche served with fries or vegetable du jour.
Before drinks: Your average delicious burger and fries! The meat wasn't too dry, but it wasn't wet either. The fries were salted with optimum precision.
After drinks: With the
Lake Sonoma Chardonnay paired with this delicious and hunky burger, I was sad when it killed the flavors of the meat. I noticed the burger brought out interesting apple notes in the wine, but this love wasn't reciprocated unto the burger. Not good.
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| Wine, making me beautiful and such |
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| My Burger and I. |
With the
Oregeny Pinot Noir, a better pairing occurred. Both the wine and the burger had very distinct flavors and they didn't do much to eachother. I noticed a very 'separate but equal' quality to this pairing. Overall, an OK pairing. The Sangiovese and Petit Verdot blend paired pretty awfully with this burger. Again, it just made the burger taste like i dropped it in pig-slop and then continued to eat it very quickly. Alone, this wine is okay, but with this burger it steals alot of flavor. My favorite pairing was the
Lar de Paula Tempranillo. It was so good! The wine brought out many new and delicious dimensions to the burger while the wine remained equally delicious-- if not more! It felt like the tannins melt the meat for you, making this meat dish super delicious.
Winner: Tempranillo!
duck breast pan seared duck breast with rum spiced julienned carrots, parsnip puree, ginger jus, bacon cracklings, and brussels sprouts
Before Wine: This is a very rich dish. The duck tastes like rich and buttery chicken. It is fatty, slightly beyond turkey level.
With Wine: The
Lake Sonoma Chardonnay and the Duck Breast turned out to be a decent pairing. The problem we tasted here was that the flavors of the duck overpowers the subtle deliciousness of the Chardonnay. I suspect it's the bacon component that causes this. I sipped this wine after eating some of the brussel sprouts and EW. Don't try this. Never eat brussel sprouts with Chardonnay. The next wine was the
Oregeny Pinot Noir. This was a very tasty pairing. The farmy and light Pinot is an excellent companion to the rich duck. The flavors seem to meld together very nicely and the duck brings out more of the plum flavor of the pinot. The
Lar de Paula Tempranillo kindof worked with the duck breast. The tannic and peppery flavors of this wine out competes the subtle flavors of the duck. Also, the ginger in the potatoes weirdly clashed with the tannins in this wine, leaving an odd sour taste. This particular pairing worked a little. The Sangiovese and Petit Verdot blend worked with the duck quite nicely! The bacon really gave this wine some life and this wine brought out some hidden character in this dish-- possible from the carrots or parsnip. It was nice not to taste farm, for once.
Winner : Pinot Noir
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| So good! |
In conclusion this was a very educational experience! Decent wine makes already exceptional food way more enjoyable!
