Dinner - Palisades Restaurant (Lesser Known Varietals)

The Palisades restaurant has hosted several Wines of the World dinners this semester on Wednesdays, and this past Wednesday evening I was finally able to go to one. The spot is great, located in a historic building the ambiance is a perfect setting to have a great meal and try some wines. The theme this week was lesser known varietals, pairing with food from 4 very different areas of cuisine. The food list and wines paired is shown below:

Food Presentation with wines (from left Albarino, Pinotage, Torrontes, and Touriga-Nacional/Castelao blend) 

I started with the Gambas al Ajillo which was paired with the Martin Codax Albarino. My process for each dish and wine was to take a bite of the food to see how it tasted alone, and then to swirl, sniff, and sip once or twice from the wine. I would then try the food again and see how the flavor was changed. The wine itself was as advertised; it smelled of pear and light acidity, and tasted dry with a hint of melon on the finish, and pleasant to drink. The shrimp had creamy sauce which was quite delicious on its own, as was all of the food. When put together, the flavors of the shrimp were enhanced, I could pick up more detail of all the elements combining to a great depth of flavor not achieved in many cheaper foods I'm accustomed to. This pairing worked out great. 

I next had the salad, which again was great standing on its own but better with wine. The squash with a kind of sour cream-esque dressing worked well with the other spice on the greens. As for the Colome Torrontes it smelled almost like an IPA or cider to me, having a strong pear scent. It tasted like it smelled, strong body but with a smooth finish. Paired with the salad made me realize something about pairing wine and food: time between sips/bites is important. For instance, a sip of wine right before a bite of food works wonderfully, but in this case a bite of food and a sip of wine right after didn't work out so well, the wine completely overpowered the food and tasted very harsh and strong. After waiting a few moments after having some food though, the wine tastes better but I still preferred to have the wine prior to eating a bite of the food. When consumed this way the pairing worked out well. 

The third and my favorite dish was the Braai Pork paired with the Barista Pinotage. The wine had the most unique smell I've ever gotten from a wine, like campfire smoke, leathery and tannic. It tasted as it smelled, smokey and dry but not bone dry. The pork was delicious on its own, cooked to perfection. Pairedd they went together beautifully, both enhancing the flavor of the other. The pork was great on its own, but paired it became exquisite. Certainly my favorite dish/pairing of the meal. 

The final dish of the meal was the Bitoque Portuguesa paired with the Cabeca de Toiro Reserva Touriga-Nacional. The wine was a blend of 50% Castelao and 50% Touriga-Nacional, neither of which I had tasted before. The wine smelled sweet but strong, dark fruit and tannic, jammy hints as well. It tasted the same way, differing only because of how extremely dry it was. The steak was great, pleasantly spicy and well done. The same as the salad, I found that drinking a sip of wine before getting into the food worked wonderfully, enhancing the flavor of an already great dish. The other way around however, the dish was overpowered by the extreme tannic dryness of the wine. 

Of the wines of the night, my favorite was the Albarino, which would have been enjoyable to sip on with or without a food dish paired with it. The best pairing was the Pinotage and the Braai pork, which was simply amazing together, both enhancing the other for a great combination. That being said, every wine and dish was great, as is to be expected from such a great restaurant. I really enjoyed the dinner and would love to go to another one, or even try to make a three course dinner myself.