Wine Blogging Wednesday #66: Your Tender-est Twosome



By Kori ~ February 24th, 2010.

Our host for the February edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the blogosphere’s monthly virtual wine tasting event, is Jennifer Hamilton of The Domestic Goddess. She selected Your Tender-est Twosome as this month’s theme and asked us to pair a wine with a dessert saying, “Every once in a while, dessert deserves the attention given to a main course; and a wine to match.” This WBW is extra special because it is the first joint event between WBW and Sugar High Fridays, a similar monthly event focused on desserts and sweets.

Since wine is our thing, we generally select the wines we want to try first and then determine the food to enjoy with them. However, when I read Jennifer’s theme, I asked Mom (LaGayle), our Wine Peeps food expert, to select a dessert she has wanted to try. Mom decided to make chocolate fettuccini with raspberry sauce topped with whipped cream and garnished with toasted pecans and fresh raspberries. In typical Wine Peeps fashion, we decided to try two wines for this Wine Blogging Wednesday to determine which one paired better with Mom’s chocolate fettuccini. We chose the 2000 Chateau Dereszla Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos from Hungary and the 2008 Barnard Griffin Syrah Port from Washington State.

We were blown away by the Chateau Dereszla Tokaji; however, I must admit that the Barnard Griffin Syrah Port paired better with Mom’s chocolate fettuccini. So if I was going to drink one of these wines by itself, I would choose the Tokaji but if I was going to have this particular dessert again, I would pair the Syrah Port with it.

The chocolate fettuccini was a beautiful, albeit interesting, dessert. I love chocolate and raspberries, but I’m not sure that chocolate pasta is really my thing. For the wines, though, I would encourage you to give either or both of them a try.

2000 Chateau Dereszla Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonyos (Hungary): Deep golden amber in color. Extremely aromatic with honey, apricot, and pear aromas. Flavors of dried apricots and oranges. Medium-bodied and sweet, but for a wine with high residual sugar, it does not taste sickeningly sweet. Well-balanced with a long, smooth finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: JJ Buckley Fine Wines (California), $60 [500ml]

2008 Barnard Griffin Syrah Port (Columbia Valley, Washington): Dark, inky purple and very aromatic. Black cherry, blackberry, fig, and smoke come through on the nose; black cherry syrup, blackberry jam, fig, chocolate, and coffee on the palate. Medium to full-bodied and medium sweet with a long, smooth finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to Buy: Esquin Wine Merchants (Seattle, WA), $15 [500ml]; PrimoVino (Colorado), $23 [500ml]


Filed under: American Wine, Dessert Wine, Five-Bangs For Your Buck Wines, Food & Wine, Hungarian Wine, Port, Shiraz/Syrah, Washington State Wine, Wine Blogging Wednesday, Wines Over $25, Wines Under $20, Wines Under $25

Reader's Comments

  1. Sip with Me! | February 24th, 2010 at 10:35 pm

    I’m not sure about the chocolate pasta either, but I applaud your creative efforts! I’ve always been a fan of Barnard Griffin’s Syrah Port, but more for cooking with than drinking. It makes an amazing Port reduction sauce and has been an awesome stand-in for my Tiramisu recipe ever since I found it. I bet the Tokaji would have been heavenly with some blue cheeses or a pear tart… what a fun pairing. great job!!

  2. Kori | February 25th, 2010 at 9:23 pm

    Sip,
    Thanks so much! It was a fun pairing. Thanks for the blue cheese and pear tart recs to go with the Tokaji. Sounds wonderful. We’ll have to try that sometime. Cheers!

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