Wine Dinner #2

 

Intro

    This wine dinner was actually done a few weeks ago, but I missed the deadline to post about it. The first course was Vietnamese pizza, also known as bánh tráng nướng,. We then had chicken jhol. Then the third course was Vietnamese pork chops. We also had a dessert course. However, I was too full and ended up skipping it. For our wines we went to the Vintage Cellar and asked for recommendations.

Course 1 - Vietnamese Pizza and Tabali Pedregoso Viognier Gran Reserva

    The Viognier wine was one of the lightest wines I had ever tasted. The aroma was like a whisper of pear and citrus. Flavour wise there were notes of nectarine and pear. The wine also had a very short finish. Once it was paired with the Vietnamese pizza, the flavours of the wine were forced to shine. Every part of the wine became more bold. The pear and nectarine notes were joined by a strong tartness and fuller body. All of the boldness stayed longer as the flavours of the wine lingered longer once paired with the dish.

Course 2 - Chicken Jhol and Chateau de La Chaize Brouilly 2019

    For the chicken jhol we were recommended a brouilly to pair with the stronger, spicy flavours of the dish. I hadn't tried a brouilly wine yet, so I was excited to experience it. The wine smelled very fruity with cherries, berries, and oranges. There was also a slight hint of spices coming from the wine. When drank the wine was soft and fruity, true to its smell, with more berry flavours coming through. At first I thought it would be completely taken over by chicken jhol, but instead, they complemented each other very well. The wine actually made the food taste sweeter, and the food actually made the wine taste stronger. The jhol brought out the tannins of the wine, and that made the flavours of the wine become more pronounced.

Course 3 - Vietnamese Porkchops and Matua Pinot Noir 2020

    For the last course I ate, we had a pinot noir by Matua. This wine was from New Zealand, and it ended up being my favourite from the night. On the nose, this wine displayed aromas of smoke, strawberries, and slight hints of grass. Once drank, the wine had notes of cherry, wood, smoke, grass, earthiness, and berries. The wine was bitter, and had a light body and medium finish. Paired with Porkchop, the wine lost some of its bitterness, and those fruity flavours took a backseat to the earthy and grassy tones. The wine started to taste like alcoholic green tea, which made it a refreshing pairing with the pork chops.