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Local Resources | Wine Pairing with Paul |
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| Written by Dine Us Webmaster | |
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Page 4 of 5 And while it is a great dish … to me, it was another dish that would be difficult to match. Pasta, Olive Oil, garlic, spinach, pine nuts … not sure where to go with this one. I’m thinking white, but I’m not sure. So with Lauren’s help, I again went for a taste of four wines … 2 whites, 2 reds. This time, I tried the Maso Canali Pinot Grigio from Italy, the Robert Anselmi “Souve” from Italy, the Castillo de Fuendejalon from Spain, and the Pont d’Avignon Cotes du Rhone from France. The Maso Canali Pinot Grigio from Italy was good, but sweeter than I thought it would be. The description says green apple, pear & melon aromas with a crisp finish, but also mentions “viscous palate” … and it was slightly sweet and heavier on the palate. This wine was okay with the dish, but did nothing to really enhance it. This wine might be a great one to start out with when getting settled in, as most Pinot Grigio’s are. The Robert Anselmi Soave from Italy also had a somewhat sweet tone to it. Again from Italy (I’m thinking pasta here) but my country match & lighter style again didn’t really enhance the dish. This Italian blend is described as having fruit salad style flavors of pear, peach & apple, with a medium body. But while I thought the medium body would bode well for the meal, it just wasn’t the right match, mostly from the slight sweetness. Trying some reds, I thought the Castillo de Fuendejalon Crianza from Spain might be nice. A blend of mostly Grenache, a lighter red wine grape perfect for summer, this perfect summer red as some describe it didn’t really enhance the meal at all. I was disappointed that I was, yes, once again, not pairing a most excellent wine with this most excellent dish. It is a great glass of wine, but didn’t do it for me when enjoyed with this dish. Finally, the Pont d’Avignon Cotes du Rhone from France was a long shot. This blend of Syrah & Grenache definitely had that dark berry Shiraz feel, with some spicy notes as described on the menu. I like a nice Cotes du Rhone, but was I was hoping for a somewhat lighter Cotes du Rhone here. A great glass, and okay with this dish, but I kinda struck out on this matching round. But wait … luckily, I was able to revisit a white from the appetizer round … the Trebbiano from Italy. A white wine was really the match here … and the Trebbiano really came alive with this dish. Somewhat dull with the beef Carpaccio, this glass helped enhance my favorite dish that much more. Dare I say … I found the perfect match for this meal? Hey, it only took 5 tries, but who’s counting! As for the rest of the Wine List, I think that Caffe Phoenix has put together a great selection … A nice variety as well as a pleasant pricing point. All bottles are basically priced from $21 - $54 … not bad. The General Manager & Wine Sommelier clearly has a good eye for satisfying even the most particular palate. And with glass pours half off Monday – Thursday, who can beat it! My one suggestion would be to take a little more time in the organization of the Wine List. If you are going to take the time to put together such an amazing list, put some extra time into its organization. Bold the wine name, keep the descriptions away from running into the pricing, put some spacing between each wine, space things out to fill up the whole page, etc. By making it easier to read, you make it easier to make a selection. |
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