Daja's Wine Blog: Wine Dinner #2

My second wine dinner was a success! This time around I was able to enjoy a delicious meal with my family! This pairing was EXCEPTIONALLY better than the last because Mexican and wine do NOT work for me. My meal of choice was an appetizer of Bruschetta, an entree of Shrimp Scampi, and a dessert of Chocolate Soufflé. My brother and I made this meal while my mom was at work and it was quite a hit. Also, my mom really loves Stella Rosa wines which is why it was the wine brand of choice for the night.

Appetizer: Bruschetta

My brother really slaved over this appetizer and in the end it got burnt in the oven because I didn't hear him ask me to take it out. Despite it being slightly burnt, it was super delicious! For this course, the dominating flavors were tomato, basil, and garlic with a topping of mozzarella. I paired this course with Stella Rosa's Moscato D'Asti.

Name: Stella Rosa Moscato D'Asti

Variety: Moscato

Region: Piedmont

Country: Italy

Year: 2014

Price: $9.99

Shop/Wine Critic Review: Fresh peach, apricot, and honey characteristics. This is in perfect balance with the sweetness. Natural carbonation. - Winemaker's notes

My Review: When comparing my notes to the winemaker's, I was pretty spot on! I tasted strong hints of peach and honey with an appropriate amount of sweetness. I really liked the carbonation in the wine because it added a hint of complexity to it. I enjoyed this one and I would definitely buy it again!

Paired with: Bruschetta

Pairing Review: The Bruschetta was oh-so delicious and when paired with the wine it was excellent! When paired with the food, the carbonation of the wine really mellowed out and the sweetness decreased by a lot. As for the food itself, the garlic flavoring toned down and it brought out more flavor in the tomatoes. The mozzarella also became creamier when it paired with the wine which I liked. Overall, it was a pretty good pairing. 8/10 would recommend

Entree: Shrimp Scampi

This meal was definitely a combination of my brother and I's hard work. It took a while to prepare because the shrimp had to be steamed and cooked, plus the linguine had to be boiled. The staple flavors in the meal were garlic, parsley, lemon, and the smallest hint of cream to thicken up the lemon-based sauce. This was my first time making shrimp scampi and I loved the flavors! I paired this course with Stella Rosa's Pink (which is basically a Rosé).

Name: Stella Rosa Pink

Variety: Muscat

Region: Piedmont

Country: Italy

Year: 2017

Price: $9.99

Shop/Wine Critic Review: Stella Pink® is a semi-sweet, lightly sparkling wine with a vibrant pink hue that gives off delicate fresh peach, honey, and red berry qualities. - Winemaker's notes

My Review: This one was definitely the sweetest of the trio. It was heavy with flavors of cherry, apple, honey, and cranberry. Surprisingly, it was a little bitter in the end, but I think that was just a tad bit of tannins coming through in the end. Yet again, I enjoyed it.

Paired with: Shrimp Scampi

Pairing Review: This entree was really good! The Stella Rosa website recommended that this wine be paired with a seafood scampi so that's exactly what I did. Like I said earlier, the meal was lemon based so when it was paired together the wine became less sweet. Interestingly, the tannins in the wine came out more when combined with the tangy lemon. As for the food, I think the wine really made the lemon and garlic stand out even more. This was so good and I would definitely make it again! 9/10 would recommend.

Dessert: Chocolate Soufflé

When researching desserts, a lot of recipes wrote that chocolate Soufflé was difficult to master, however, I decided to take the challenge. Honestly, this meal wasn't even a challenge - the ingredients were simple and the process was easy. In total, preparation plus cook time only took around 30 minutes which wasn't bad at all. The staple flavor in this recipe was chocolate and I wish I hadn't forgotten to get fresh fruit at the grocery store because it definitely would have easily stepped the meal up for a 10 to a 12. If you love molten cakes, I recommend that you make this dessert because it's so delicious.

Name: Stella Rosa Black

Variety: Blend - Brachetto + other grapes

Region: Piedmont

Country: Italy

Year: 2016
Price: $11.99

Shop/Wine Critic Review: A proprietary blend of several red grape varietals including Brachetto. The wine is combined with natural flavors of ripe blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry. Natural carbonation. - Winemaker's notes

My Review: I'm starting to think that Stella Rosa wines are going to be my new favorite because they're all great! This wine was very jammy and had hints of blackberry and raspberry. Based on the others, I thought it would be pretty sweet but it actually wasn't. I loved it!

Paired with: Chocolate Soufflé

Pairing Review: This pairing was my favorite of the night! The chocolate in combination with the berry flavors in the wine was quite amazing. The chocolate soufflé was slightly bitter since the chocolate was semi-sweet, however, the wine really brought out the sweetness in it. Additionally, the chocolate smoothed out the slight carbonation and made it a real treat. I definitely think this pairing is my favorite of all wine dinners so far! 10/10 would recommend.

Our corkscrew broke

My mom

Overall, this wine dinner was a huge success! My family enjoyed it and I always love having the opportunity to spend time with them whenever I get the chance. With this dinner, I was able to teach my mom what I learned in class and she was impressed with my new knowledge. I definitely want to do this again with family because it was such a fun dinner.