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| I'm just in love with the feel of this restaurant |
Again, I need to point out how much I love The Palisades. I mean, it's just all around fabulous - gorgeous restaurant, great food, and the most helpful and kind staff. I was thrilled for this date night and couldn't wait to get tasting the wine and foods. After the cheese plate, I was ready for more wine and great food.
Back to our amazing waitress Mandi that I talked about in the wine and cheese blog - she really made the whole experience for me. As someone in the wine class who is totally new to wine, the whole "wine and dinner" thing makes me nervous because I don't want to screw it up, but with Mandi's help that wasn't going to happen. She was so patient and ready to help me pair with whatever I decided on as my meal, even if I changed my mind on my meal twice.
When I finally decided on the pork and beans with creamed corn and corn bread for my main course, she immediately suggested pairing it with the Bodega Tempranillo from Spain. At this point, I began getting worried about finding where I'd fit in my other two wines, but Mandi reassured me that she'd help me fit them in. When my boyfriend Johnathan ordered the gluten free pepperoni pizza, Mandi suggested that I have some of his pizza and pair it with the Santa Julia Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina. She also suggested that I get my final wine in with dessert, so I was ready to start this whole tasting once I knew I'd meet all the blogging requirements.
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| My Cabernet and Gluten Free Pizza |
First up for me on the meal was the pizza and Cabernet Sauvignon pair. I decided that I should taste the wine first alone before pairing it with the pizza to see if I noted any differences. With the wine alone I personally wasn't a huge fan and thought that there was way too much presence of tannins in the wine along with a heavy pepper taste. When pairing it with the pizza, immediately I noted that the fat from the pizza helped to cool the heaviness brought on by the tannins and alcohol content. The wine was a lot more smooth and balanced and I began to note a flavor of dark cherry in the finish. Additionally, I think the wine actually helped with the acidity of the pizza sauce as it was a very acidic tomato sauce.
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| Worlds Best Pork and Beans |
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| Pork and Beans, Cabernet and Tempranillo |
Next up was the Tempranillo and the pork and beans. I really enjoyed the Tempranillo solo as it was fruity and had strong flavors of cherry, blackberries and blueberries. Together however I wasn't a huge fan at first. The pork and beans were a little on the spicier side and with the first few bites I found that the spiciness from the meal really brought out a dryness in the Tempranillo that wasn't there before pairing. However, I found it really strange that when I paired these two in the opposite order, beans first and then Tempranillo, I enjoyed the wine more than I did solo. I think it might have been the combination of the different flavors in my mouth that really brought out some spiciness in the wine that was a great compliment to the fruit.
Additionally, I ended up pairing the Cabernet Sauvignon with the pork and beans because I had some left over from the pizza. While Mandi had suggested the Cabernet to go with the pizza, I found that I enjoyed it much more with the pork and beans. Together, the Cabernet really helped to cool down the heat from the pork and beans and, at the same time, brought out a more enjoyable cherry flavor with a nice dryness, which helped to cool the heat of the wine. Together, I think the Cabernet Sauvignon and the pork and beans helped to improve the taste of each other simultaneously.
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| Cranberry Citrus Cheesecake/Port |
After having a fabulous meal of pepperoni pizza, pork and beans, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo, I wasn't sure where I would find room for dessert, but knew I had to fit it in for the final wine. Mandi, again with the great suggestions, explained that port wines typically go great with dessert and told me how popular their cranberry citrus goat cheesecake is as a dessert. So, that was it for me for my final course - the cranberry citrus goat cheesecake and the Ferreira Branco White Port wine from Portugal. Johnathan ended up getting the flourless chocolate cake with brown butter ice cream.
Excuse the selfie, but the lighting was horrible and I just had to get a good picture of the cheesecake - I mean, is that dessert gorgeous or what? Once the dessert came, Johnathan was completely involved in that and wasn't interested in taking another picture for me ;-) I think it's safe to say he enjoyed his dessert, as it was the first piece of "cake" he's had in months.
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| Johnathan in Heaven |
For my dessert, it was amazing as well. I followed my system of trying the wine before pairing with food and wow - I'm not a big port person. Port is, well everything that I thought it would be - strong, hot, high in alcohol content. I will say that this particular port, maybe because it was white, was somewhat light and had a honey flavor to it that I enjoyed, but as far as how pronounced the alcohol was - no thanks. I'm not a huge fan of "alcohol" and definitely don't enjoy feeling my drink as it goes down. For the first time ever, I felt every sip of this burn as it went down. However, here is why I'm already in love with food and wine pairings - with the cheesecake, it was actually
enjoyable. This wine went from terrible in my book, like absolutely horrible, to being something I would look forward to drinking again (but only with the cheesecake. With the cheesecake, the port suddenly became so much smoother. The heat was calmed down immensely and it ended up having a somewhat syrup consistency, which paired with the flavor of honey went together pretty nicely. I also think the port helped the cheesecake by taking it from being overly cheesy to giving it a nice sweetness.
Yet again, I'm beyond impressed with the entire experience at The Palisades. It was not only a great date night, but a fun experience for someone learning about wine. While I must admit that by the end of it all, I could have been rolled out of the door I was so full, every single bite and sip was amazing.
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| The aftermath of the deliciousness |
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