On 2/18/2023 I did the Drink This Now: Lesson 1. The goal of this lesson was to understand why Europeans drink wine with their meals more frequently than Americans do. Europeans think of wine as a food on its own that pairs well with other food. In this lesson, I have eaten, drank, and established a connection between how the flavors of a certain wine and cuisine complimented each other throughout my experience.
What I grabbed:
I grabbed a Chianti Classico from Italy and paired it with a wedge of hard parmesan cheese from Wisconsin and spicy Italian meatballs.
What I did:
Step 1.
Name of wine: Cavaliere D’oro Chianti Classico
Year: 2019
Region: Tuscany
Color: Medium Ruby
Price: $10.99 at Kroger
Just opened:
Smell - vanilla, plum, cinnamon
Taste - creamy, spicy, black pepper, spicy
Body - medium to heavy bodied
My review: 5/10
Slightly dry but less dry than most other red wines I’ve had so I like it in a sense of its
bearable, it is more tannic than not but not overpowering with the component
Step 2.
Two hours later:
Smell - more potent, less appealing, more cinnamon, less vanilla
Taste - cream, cinnamon
Body - Medium bodied
My review:
Less tannic, has less taste overall, much creamier but still dry
Step 3.
With cheese:
Smell - cinnamon, makes the wine dull
Taste - enhanced acidic flavors, harsh
Body - brought the wine back to medium to heavy bodied
My review:
The more cheese I eat the more acidic the wine becomes in my mouth but it makes the
cheese taste better because I don't like block parmesan cheese on its own
Step 4.
With meat:
Smell - starting to smell like rubbing alcohol, less specific smell than before
Taste - more dry, tannic, really acidic taste directly after eating a meatball, dry
Body - back to original medium bodied
My review:
The meatball brings out the dryness of the wine and makes it taste worse
Step 5.
Unable to complete step 5 of tasting it after 24 hours because we drank all of it while
doing the tastings.
Overall thoughts:
I would like to try this lesson again with different wines and foods to see if I can find a pairing that works for me. I was surprised that I enjoyed the wine with the parmesan cheese since I hate plain cheese on its own in general. It was nice to experience something that a lot of people do daily that I would have never thought to try on my own.
