Wine Dinner at Naples

Hi!! I had a big time tonight! Naples and Ashes host a monthly wine dinner, which we go to when we're able. The food is always fabulous and the pairings are quite good. Ashes often showcases wines that are new to them, so it's a little preview of up and coming wines. There's always a distributor present and they give a little information on the wines. There were five courses, with the wine presented first. I find this helpful because the aroma from the food can interfere with assessing the aroma and flavor of the wine. So, wine is poured first, then a little talk about the wine, then that course is presented. Then plates are cleared and the next wine is poured. Seating is in tables of eight. It's a very pleasant way to spend an evening,

The first wine was a 2009 Marques de Caceres white riojas. It was paired with a goat cheese and pancetta tartlet with roasted almonds. Delicious!! The wine was very dry with a fairly delicate nose of apricots and light floral tones. The taste was crisp with notes of lemon, melon, apple and citrus. It was fairly full bodied for a white wine. Heavier than a pinot grigio. The pairing with the goat cheese was terrific. This wine sells for $10 a bottle at Ashes.

The second wine was a 2008 Perrin Cotes du Rhone Blanc. It was paired with calamari with tangerine and mango relish. The food was very good, a little spicy, but I like that. Spicy, (hot spicy) is a difficult flavor to pair with wine. The wine was a little "funky". The nose was very nice with strong scent of peach and other more subtle fruit scents. The flavors were similar but there was an odd taste on the finish that I thought was a little unpleasant. This seemed to disappear when sipped with the food, but the spiciness of the food would cover many flavors. Perrin is supposed to be a very well regarded label, but I really didn't care for this particular wine. It runs $11 a bottle at Ashes.

The third wine was a 2007 Peregrine Central Ortago Pinot Noir from New Zealand. It was paired with salmon and grilled corn and wild rice cake, served with avocado butter. The salmon and the rice cakes were terrific! The pinot, I thought was very good. Someone at our table commented that it was pretty light bodied for a red. It was a light red, but many pinots are. It seems that pinot noir varies quite a lot from one terroir to another and from one winemaker to another. This pinot reminded me of the burgundy I had recently, and the distributor remarked that it was made in more of an old world style. I thought it was good with the salmon, but maybe dominated it just a bit. The nose was pomegranate, blueberry, and light smokiness. Similar on the palate, with a nice balance of acid and tannin and a lingering finish of fruit and licorice. Al liked it with the salmon more than I did. Some people thought this was the best pairing of the night. At $36 a bottle, I thought it was a little steep, but it's a little harder to find great bargains among pinot noirs.

The fourth wine was a 2008 Spice Route Chakalaka from South Africa. It was paired with beef short ribs with tomato, potato and eggplant lasagna. Delicious!! This wine was extremely fruity with big cherry nose and flavor. It also had tones of spice (especially cloves) and smoke. It's tempting to call it a fruit bomb, but it was so delicious, who cares? At $21 a bottle it's too good to pass up. This would be great with barbeque, steaks, burgers, sausage, etc.

The fifth and last wine was a 2001 Borgo Scopeto Vin Santo from Italy. This was paired with blueberries and pomegranate zabaglione. What a great ending to the evening! The wine was sweet smelling with aromas of vanilla, cherry, and figs. It tasted of raisins, figs, vanilla, and spice. It was sweet and alcoholic and very smooth. $42 for a half bottle, but it would be perfect with that holiday dinner dessert, and each person only needs a little bit.

Overall, a very fun (and filling) evening. I thought the best pairing of the night was the goat cheese tart with the white Riojas, but my favorite wine was the Vin Santo. It brought back memories or big Italian dinners with Al's family. It was just a great wine. I also really liked the Chakalaka. It may find a spot in the winerack alongside Al's favorite zinfandel.