Wine Dinner 2

Wine dinner number two!

For this one I chose the wines pictured below:

As shown, the wines paired with the meal are a Gruner Veltliner, a Cava, and a Pinot Noir.

Each of the wines is paired with a different course - a salad with avocado, carrots, walnuts, and hemp hearts, with avocado oil and balsamic vinegar as dressing; chilled quinoa with fresh papaya and strawberries; and vegetarian lasagna, which includes carrots, broccoli, onion, garlic, tomatoes, tomato sauce, mushrooms, corn, bell pepper, zucchini, eggplant, and quinoa.

Name: Paul D.
Variety: Gruner Veltliner
Region: Wagram
Country: Austria
Year: 2014
Price: $13.95
Shop/Critic/Winery Review: "Paul Direder chose to plant Grüner Veltliner when he was in high school. Today, in his early 20s, he's creating quite a stir in the Wagram as he continues to learn from winemakers such as Anton Bauer. This is a dry, spritzy, delicious white wine that can double as an apéritif that you can enjoy through your meal."

My impressions: Lovely straw color.  Fresh apple on the nose, with some citrus.  Very fresh smell. Tart, nicely acidic.  Great fruit flavor, with minerals thrown in.  There's a note here that I haven't identified, but have tasted in every Gruner Veltliner I've had.  Quite nice.

Name: Juve Y Camps
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Penedes
Country: Spain
Year: Non-vintage
Price: $16.99
Shop/Critic/Winery Review: The Wine Advocate - "The Non-Vintage Pinot Noir Rose Brut is salmon pink in color with alluring cherry blossom and strawberry aromas and flavors. Broad on the palate with savory, spicy fruit, it will make a superb match for jamon Iberico and other charcuterie."

My impressions: Absolutely beautiful color.  Dark pink, like... Cranberry juice and vodka.  Strong strawberry smell.  Like those strawberry bonbons, that come in the wrappers printed like a strawberry.  Quite dry on the tongue though; here the fruit is much less obvious, but definitely still present, and less candyish.

Name: Promesses de France
Variety: Pinot Noir
Region: Burgundy
Country: France
Year: 2010
Price: $18.99
Shop/Critic/Winery Review: "This vintage has a light ruby color and a nose of freshly picked
strawberries with hints of spices and black pepper. In keeping with other Pinot Noir varietals, the mouthfeel is delicate and the taste is that of fresh fruits. The finish pleasantly lingers for longer than expected"

My impressions: Nice color, ruby/garnet, with a slight orange hue around the edges.  Berries on the nose, but not red - maybe boysenberries, or something like that.  Light body, fruit forward.  Only slightly tannic.  I'd almost think this was a Beaujolais, if I hadn't poured it myself.  Actually, on a second tasting, it isn't quite light enough for that, but close.  Very nice.  I think this bodes well for the lasagna pairing.

The salad was paired with the Gruner Veltliner.  With the salad, I find that the wine is very much toned down.  The fat in the avocado cuts the acid a bit, but the fruitiness in the wine is also reduced.  The walnuts especially do not go well with the wine.  Both taste wonderful separately, but they are not good together.  Both tastes suffer.

With the quinoa, the Cava is very nice.  The nuttiness of the quinoa doesn't do a lot, but the fruit, especially the strawberry, helps bring out the fruit flavor of the wine.  The wine actually tastes less dry after eating the fruit as well; I had expected the opposite, since the fruit is much sweeter than the wine.  Surprisingly nice pairing.

With the lasagna, the Pinot Noir just... goes.  The flavors meld together.  The broccoli in the lasagna almost goes into the wine.  The sweet potato helps bring out the fruit a little more.  The tomato sauce and tomatoes actually seem sweet in comparison to the wine, making the wine slightly more acidic (which I like) and... well, the tomatoes taste sweet.  That's just fantastic!  And the eggplant brings a slight earthy quality to the wine. Lovely.