Wine Dinner #2

For the second dinner pairing, I went to The Mantle Wine Bar & Bistro. This was the first time I have been to this restaurant and it did not disappoint. The server was super friendly and gave us suggestions on which wines would go with what.
I began my meal with a Broadside from Paso Robles, it was a very fruity smelling cab, you could practically smell the sugar in the wine. It wasn't super smooth, but very tannic and bold. I paired this wine with goat cheese dip, and this pairing really complimented each item. I don't know if the cheese was just so sweet that it masked the rigidness of the wine. Maybe this cheese would pair well with any wine because it was just so fantastic. This pairing overall was very complimentary of each other. After finishing the Broadside, I tried an Italian red called Tommast Valpolicella "Ripasso" from Cariano, luckily it was the only Italian red sold by the glass so I didn't have to try to attempt to decipher the name. This wine was different. It was kind of fruity but then also very tannic and acidic. It almost seemed unbalanced to me.

I paired this wine with a lobster bisque, and it seemed to be a very good combination. The bisque seemed to really bring out the fruity flavors as well as the acidity of the wine. One thing I noticed was that the bisque was so incredibly creamy that it almost cuts through the wine, and brought out the black cherry flavors of the wine. This pairing worked pretty well overall. The bisque made me like the wine more, I think that this wine is one that is meant to be consumed with food, it worked best when it was paired.




For my entree I ordered Lobster and Crab Manicotti, I asked the server what would pair best with this entree. With lobster she told me that a Riesling or a Chardonnay, I knew that white wine paired well with lobster, unfortunately I'm a big red wine fan. I told her I pretty much only like red wines and she said that the pairing works well for whatever you like! So of course I went with another red wine, it was a Pinot Noir called Pali "Riviera", from Sonoma Coast. This wine was very tannic and overpowering, what was crazy was that it dried my mouth out. I know that this typically means that the wine is meant to be paired with food. After trying the manicotti I took a sip of my Pinot, and the wine actually became very acidic, oddly enough I was still able to taste a good amount of fruit, after I took a couple more sips the wine really began to open up, the fruit flavors ever got more stronger than they already were. The manicotti also brought out an oaky taste in the wine. The pairing worked really well, I would definitely get this combination again.

This dinner pairing made for a great night! We had a lot of fun trying to dive into the complexity of each of the dishes and how well the pairings worked or how they didn't work. Overall it was a great experience!

Pinot Noir

Broadside

Italian Red