Our dinner: pork chops, couscous and brocolli
This first wine is a Cabernet Sauvignon which was a tannic red wine. In the initially tasting I got baking spices and blackberry as well as hints of black cherry and cedar. On its own its a strong wine that is full bodied. For me its a little much to drink on its own but worked great with the pork. It cut through the fattiness and became less tannic and brought out the acidity of the wine. The pork also brought out the cedar flavor in the wine and the wine brought out the pepper flavor in the pork. This wine was okay with the couscous, the did not complement each other but the were not opposites either. The broccoli on the other hand countered the taste of the wine and they clashed. A bell pepper would have been a more appropriate vegetable for this wine. I think an even fattier meat would work even better with this wine
Our first wine a Cabernet Sauvignon
The Merlot was much sweeter, and for my personal taste too sweet. As a more savory dinner it did not pair as well. Before trying the food I immediately smelled chocolate when doing the swirl & sniff. This was an interesting layer to the wine. I also tasted plum and cherry but overall the wine was sweeter and less tannic than what I am used to. With dinner it was not the best pairing. The wine did not complement the fatty pork as well since the tannic flavor was not there. It was just okay with the couscous as the flavor profiles weren't similar but did not clash. This wine did work much better with the broccoli though as the dried herbs in the wine were brought out. I did try this wine with a piece of chocolate after which worked with the chocolatey notes in the wine. I think a sweeter sauce would work better with this wine.
Merlot was our second wine of the night
The last wine we tried was a Pinot Noir and it was my favorite! It was a good mix of the other two wines in my opinion. It was more tannic than the merlot but not as overpowering tannic as the Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a good wine to drink without food but also paired nicely with the meal. Initially I tasted the cloves, cherry and raspberry flavors. Once trying it with the pork I got some allspice flavors as well. The wine also worked well with the fattiness of the pork and any fattier of a meat would have overpowered the wine. The pepper of the pork was also brought out by the wine. The couscous also paired well with the clove in the wine. Lastly the broccoli worked better with this wine than the others. There was a bit more of a match with the hibiscus and dried leaves flavor but it would have been interesting to try a mushroom dish to taste the hints of mushroom in this wine.
Our third and final wine: Pinot Noir
Overall this was a really fun experience and trying wines all from the same vineyard made the notes in the wine more related to the grape than the region. It was interesting to note the differences as I have never compared different red wine grapes to each other. I have mostly had Pinot Noir before because that is what my parents drink but this helped confirm my own personal test. I also enjoyed pairing the wines and foods myself and will definitely do experiments like this again.
The Caubernet Sauvignon and me! The Merlot bottle and me again
My favorite of the three, the Pinot Noir, and me!
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