This wine dinner was a fun and interesting weekend activity for my friend and I. We love
Mexican food so we decided to make that our main course, however, the combination was
a tad weird. Before beginning the process, I looked up wines that pair well with Mexican
food and found that sweet white wines pair best. We picked out our wines first and based
our food, chips & salsa, enchiladas, and a dessert of brownie ice cream, around it. While
the pictures do not look very appetizing, I promise it tasted delicious! Also, I really need
to stop buying cheap wines because these wines were not great.
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| Chips and Salsa |
For our appetizer, we decided to have chips and salsa. This appetizer is a staple in
Mexican restaurants so we chose to mimic that in our home meal. With this course,
the dominating flavors were tomatoes, jalapenos, onions, and cilantro. The salsa was
delicious and was a great start to the meal! As a wine pairing guide, I used Winefolly.com
for wine suggestions. This website recommended Riesling because it would balance out
the spices in the salsa.
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Name: Flip Flop Riesling
Variety:Riesling
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: Non-Vintage
Price: $4.99
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Shop/Wine Critic Review: “Expressive, well-balanced wine that is a perfect fit with
today's causal lifestyle - comfortable and unpretentious in every way. Medium-bodied
with peach, apricot and melon which leads to a satisfying, smooth finish. Full of tropical
notes and sweet aromas.” - Total Wine
My Review: This Flip Flop Riesling wasn’t too bad for the price and had hints of lime,
honey, and was very acidic. Unlike the critic review, I didn’t taste any hints of peach,
apricot, or melon. The wine seemed pretty simple to me since lime was the only thing
that stood out. The wine was light and refreshing which I think paired very well with the
tomato-based salsa. Paired together, the salsa really brought out the lime flavor in the
wine and really made it express itself. Additionally, the original acidity of the wine
decreased when tasted with the salsa. Unlike what I originally thought, however, the
spiciness of the salsa came through more when paired with the wine. I think the lime
of the Riesling complemented with the jalapenos of the salsa and the salt of the chips
to create a tasty pairing. Lastly, when paired together, I thought the Riesling tasted a
little sweeter when it came in contact with the salsa. Overall, I think this went really
well together and I’d be willing to do it again with a more expensive wine.
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| Enchiladas |
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| Enchiladas + wine |
Our entree for this meal was chicken enchiladas covered with red sauce and cheese.
While it looks quite unappetizing in the picture (I tried hard to get a good photo), the
enchiladas were quite delicious and lived up to my Mexican food expectations. The
plating of the enchiladas didn’t go well, but it didn’t decrease the taste and flavors in
any way. This dish wasn’t spicy so we decided to go with a Rosé to bring out the
flavors in the sauce.
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Name: Dark Horse Rosé
Variety: Blend - Grenache, Barbera,
Pinot Gris, and Tempranillo
Region: Modesto, California
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Price: $6.99
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Shop/Wine Critic Review: “A modern, edgy rosé like this can only be described
as refreshing. This wine finishes crisply, a complimenting end to each and every
delightful sip. Flavors of slightly sweet red fruit, combined with a dry finish makes
the Dark Horse California Rosé a top notch wine. Beneath those notes, one can
even find a light rosemary essence, as well as barely-there mineral subtlety.”
- ilovewine.com
My Review: The Rosé was definitely my favorite wine of the night because the
flavors were great for the price. This wine was crisp and had several fruit flavors
wrapped into one nice package. The fruits that stuck out to me most was strawberry,
raspberry, with a very slight hint of cherry. Interestingly, the wine was very earthy
which I haven’t tasted in a Rosé before, yet I enjoyed it. As a nice finish, the Rosé
was dry. With this pairing, I didn’t taste a significant difference in either the food nor
the wine when it was paired. One slight thing that I did notice is that the red sauce on
the enchilada really brought down the dryness of the wine. I wish I had more to say,
however, this pairing didn’t change either the wine or food. I’m guessing this wasn’t
a great pairing since new flavors didn’t emerge but I blame that on Winefolly since
they offered that as a recommendations. For me this pairing really showed that wine
and Mexican food aren’t the best combination.
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| Ice Cream +wine |
The final pairing for our night included Ben and Jerry’s Brownie Batter Core ice cream
and Bay Bridge’s Chardonnay. Upon reflection, I probably should have made Flan to
fully complete the Mexican meal, however, ice cream just seemed like a good idea at
the time. Once again, I looked online to see the best recommendations for ice cream
and wine.
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Name: Bay Bridge Chardonnay
Variety: Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: Non-Vintage
Price: $2.99
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Shop/Wine Critic Review: “First big whiff is minerally. There is a hint of butter. An
all around acidic smell. The taste is decidedly melon. On the drier side. Very light
butter taste. Not too heavy. Not bold at all. Blah finish with no lingering taste. Nothing
special at all. A bit disappointing actually.” - Vivino
My Review: This Bay Bridge wine, rightfully so, was definitely the worst wine of the
bunch. I’m not sure what I was expecting considering that it cost $2.99, but I thought
it would be slightly better than it was. When I did the tasting, I could tell right away
that the wine was very simple. I only received hints of honey and a slight freshness,
but nothing else. Additionally, it just tasted cheap to me which really turned me off to
it. When paired with the sweet deliciousness of the ice cream, the wine’s acidity went
way up. I really didn’t taste the acidity when tasted alone, however it really made itself
present when in combination with the ice cream. I’m not sure if ice cream and wine are
regularly paired, however, Winefolly once again told me that this was a good pairing.
For me, I don’t think dairy and wine are a top combination. The flavors clashed for me
and I kind of wish I had picked a different dessert.
Overall, this wine dinner went really well and I had fun doing it. I can’t wait to complete
another one with friends!
