Fuajia's Wine Blog: Wine Dinner at a Friend's

A couple of friends and I decided to have a wine and food pairing dinner at one of our homes. We had three wines. A 2010 Merlot for the appetizer, a 2010 Chardonnay for the entree and a Moscato for dessert.

Leopard's Leap Merlot

Sundial Chardonnay

Barefoot Moscato

For the appetizer, we had a caprese salad with bread and Parmesan cubes. This was probably my favorite paring. The merlot was semi sweet and with the food, especially the parmesan, I could get more of the sweetness and softer flavors from the wine.

The appetizer

The entree was penne al vodka with chicken and peas. The Chardonnay had some fruity flavors and the food brought out more fruity flavors making the wine more refreshing.

The entree

Finally, for dessert we had chocolate cake with the Moscato. This wine to me was a little too sweet. Its bouquet reminded me a little of roses and I am not fond of the smell of roses yet I got a good whiff of that each time I reached for a sip. Unfortunately, I am not able to eat desserts at the moment so as far as pairing it with the dessert, I had to rely on the opinions of the others. Some really liked it because it was sweet while others said the sweetness of the cake and the wine together was overwhelming.