Dinner: Homemade (American Foods, Worldly Wines)

Woohoo! It't time for a family wine dinner. To start off, my family doesn't drink a lot of wine. They DO drink, but they're more beer people. My parents wine cabinet is full of bottles they've received as housewarming gifts that remain untouched.

Mom, Dad, and brother with our dinner. We used so many wine glasses.

I thought this would be a great opportunity to teach them a little about drinking, pairing, tasting, and enjoying wine. Although the wines are from different regions, we found foods that would go specifically well with each one. They had a Pinot from California, and a Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand, (accompanied by one German riesling from Target that I bought today.) Hopefully these wines from around the world will make for a great combination...

We chose foods that would go well with each wine according to this course and the amazing internet. This is a well-balanced American family dinner for us with a brown sugar ham, asparagus, mashed potatoes and cheesecake for dessert.

Our three wines in order. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir,
and Riesling.

Name: Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Vintage: 2015
Region: Marlborough
Country: New Zealand

Name: Mark West Pinot Noir
Variety: Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2014
Region: Appellation, California
Country: USA

Name: Cupcake Vineyards Riesling
Variety: Riesling
Vintage: 2017
Region: Pfalz
Country: Germany

PAIRINGS:

The ham and asparagus stayed in the oven a bit too long, but
were good despite the extra heat.

My mom is not a wine drinker
but participated fully. Her
favorite was the Riesling.

Sauvignon Blanc & Asparagus: Before the asparagus, the Sav Blanc was sour, and extremely heavy on the tannins. It's an intense flavor, but has a mild aftertaste and doesn't linger. It paired extremely well with the asparagus, which is surprising because I didn't even know I liked asparagus. The tannins really brought out the seasoning and intensified the flavors in the vegetable. In addition, the sav was less bitter after the asparagus and had a softer flavor. Great combo the whole family enjoyed. 9/10

We had both chocolate and New York style
cheesecake with Riesling, which my brother
described as tasting as sharp as a
McDonalds Sprite. 

Pinot Noir & Sweet Ham: Alone, this Pinot Noir isn't too overly sweet or tannic, and is a nice compromise between the two. I get hints of oak and black cherry, along with a bit of spice. It's not too heavy but is a nice solid red. I would drink it again. With the ham, the pinot wasn't sweet enough to complement the brown sugar on the ham. If I did it again, I'd choose a sweeter red or make my ham a little more savory to balance it out. I think it was an okay combination, they didn't add too much to each other. 6/10

Riesling & Cheesecake: This riesling smelled weird before trying it (my whole family noted). Surprisingly, this was all of our favorites. It's sharp, quick, and goes down smoothly. It's a bit tart and citric, my brother even noted a bit of orange when combined with cheesecake. The tannins in the riesling brought out the subtle sweetness in the cheesecake. It was a great pairing as both aren't too sweet, and the riesling was definitely the family favorite. 6/10

Me with my wines and a notepad I wrote
down flavors on! My family was so excited
about this activity. 10/10

FINAL THOUGHTS:
This was the best family dinner in a while. The pairings were all good, but by far the best was the asparagus and Sauvignon Blanc which created a savory party in my mouth. For people who don't enjoy wine, my family seemed to enjoy the sort of game-like aspect of trying pairings and comparing tastes. This was a great way to bring the family together and try something new without being too adventurous.

My brother thought he looked cool in this pic
and requested it in the blog.