Dinner - At Home (Cooking with Mom and Dad)

First Course

Briar Creek 2010 Chardonnay served with Dutch Gouda, Supreme Brie, and Goat's Milk Gouda

Wine description:

Brair Creek Chardonnay 2010, Napa Valley California

Imagine a warm and sunny day complete with fresh melon and crisp apples.  This is where Briar Creek Chardonnay will take you with each and every fruit filled sip.  This full bodied yet light tasting wine breathes a breath of fresh air straight from California where it's grown and carefully made.

The Chardonnay had a very citrus and light nose and a very light body as well.  It had an overwhelming oaky flavor from the beginning which is the "oak monster" I've heard Gary V. mention in his videos and it was just as unpleasant as he makes it sound.  The notes of citrus barely came through.

The dutch gouda started soft and creamy with sharper flavors coming through later.  It reminded me of homemade mac and cheese.  It definitely helped cut through the oak extremely well, making the wine taste very watered down.

The goat's milk gouda was sour and very creamy with a tangy aftertaste.  The wine reduced the tanginess a lot and many more of the fruit flavors were able to come out in the wine.  It made the cheese much more mild and palatable.

The brie was triple creamed and milky in flavor with a slightly sour aftertaste.  It made the wine very buttery and delicious.  In fact, I think the flavor of the wine disappeared and it is the brie that was enhanced and made more buttery by the wine.

Second Course:

Les Piliers Syrah 2009 served with medium-rare ribeye steak and mixed buttered vegetables

Wine description:

Lis Piliers Syrah 2009, Rhone Valley, France

Although this cuvée is 100% Syrah, it’s remarkably well behaved, without any reductive or animale scents. Instead, it delivers ripe cherry and vanilla aromas, some creaminess on the palate and a long, elegant finish that ends savory not sweet. Drink now–2016.

For the Syrah, the nose was very strong with vanilla and pepper that burned in my nostrils.  It tasted of almonds and butter initially with pepper and plums coming through the mid-pallet and finishing with a strong cherry and pepper finish.

The wine enhanced the meat and the steak made the wine taste more bold.  Without any seasoning or sauce on the steak, the wine added a lot of complex flavors and spice as well as enhanced the butteriness.  The taste of vanilla really came through stronger after a bite of steak as well.  The wine was not sweet, but didn't taste overly dry.  There weren't an overwhelming amount of tannins, which I was expecting.  Overall, I really enjoyed the wine, and it was fantastic with this dinner.





Third Course

Tawny Port served with Chocolate Ganache Torte

Wine description:

Offley Tawny Porto, Portugal

Offley Tawny is an elegant Porto, a tawny wine with a classic style, with both maturity and freshness, created for the satisfaction of the many that enjoy this style by Offley, the prestigious brand that combines modernity with almost three centuries of experience.

The nose of the Port was straight liquor. Literally all I could smell was the brandy but the taste was extremely sweet. The cake was moist and chocolaty. It was not too sweet and very rich. The Port gave a very strong taste of raspberries with the cake and they blended very well together. The port would be too strong or sweet to drink on its own, but was outstanding when paired with the intense chocolate of the cake. It was able to cut through the richness and add an additional layer of velvet mouth feel and sweetness.