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+--- Thread: Desserts and dessert wines (/thread-9875.html)
- wondersofwine - 01-27-2009
Last night the Fayetteville Wine Society met at Morgan's Chop House (previously Trio Cafe and then The Vineyard) to taste dessert wines with some desserts.
I didn't take good notes--was listening to conversations and eating, etc. but here is a list of what we tried and what desserts were offered (small portions per person as we shared a single dessert among about four people.)
We had a non-vintage Gruet Brut sparkling wine to start (New Mexico.) Yeasty nose with "pain grille" flavors. This was in a flight with the Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Noirs NV (sparkling wine from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.)
We had a plate of candy from The Chocolate Lady (a shop in downtown Fayetteville) and it was suggested that we pair the white chocolate candy with dried apricot and a touch of ginger with the Gruet and a white chocolate-covered strawberry with the Ste. Michelle. Both combinations were great!
Next flight was a Marenco "Pineto" Brachetto D'Acqui DOGC (Italy) and a 2007 Santa Julia "Tardio" Torrontes (Spain--CORRECTION: ARGENTINA.) I have had a couple Brachettos before (most often from Banfi) but always find them joyful and fun to drink. It is a sparkling rose' wine from the Brachetto grape and has strawberry, raspberry or watermelon like flavors. It paired especially well with the white-chocolate covered strawberries. The Torrontes is a white grape from Spain (CORRECTION: ARGENTINA) and in this case a "late harvest" riper version. It was flowery in aroma and very nice on the palate. I may order a bottle or two of the Brachetto and Torrontes for sharing with friends since they are are good intro to wine for the novice. I believe the Torrontes was under $11.
(To be continued tomorrow--I haven't even gotten to the desserts furnished by the restaurant and four more wines.)
[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 01-28-2009).]
- TheEngineer - 01-28-2009
Notes notes WoW, I'll be waiting for the second installment!
- brappy - 01-28-2009
I agree, very good notes. However, Santa Julia is from Argentina. I'm not 100% on this, but I believe Torrontes is native to Argentina. I don't know of anyone even trying it elsewhere. Though maybe someone should. Either way, great white wine. And inexpensive..... plus?? I think so...
- Kcwhippet - 01-28-2009
I've read that DNA testing shows Torrontes is a natural cross between Muscat of Alexandria and Criolla Chica (CA's Mission grape). The only substantial plantings outside Argentina are in Chile, but there it's only used to make pisco.
- wondersofwine - 01-28-2009
Thanks for the correction on the Argentinian wine Brappy. We had extensive handouts on dessert wines in general but not specifics on the wines we tasted at the meeting. Also, the end of my table had one or two loud, talkative ladies who kept talking while the speaker was introducting the wines so I didn't catch the country of origin. At one point I did ask the others to stop talking so I could hear Nick (the speaker). They probably consider me a rude killjoy but in my opinion they were rude to keep chatting when one of the organizers was speaking to the whole group. I will say that the one loud lady had a good sense of humor and I think we patched over the differences by the end of the evening. She came up the suggestion (half joking) that the speakers should put their remarks on a video so if we miss something at the meeting we could review it later at home. She also expressed interest in attending any future winetastings I hold as a church fundraiser and bringing others so I hope to be on friendly terms with her. She seems like a fun personality.