Dinner- Zeppolis (South America)

On Monday February 6, my friends Abby, Matt, and I went to the wine dinner pairing at Zeppolis restaurant.  Upon entering the restaurant there was a buffet style of food including pasta with feta cheese greek olives and tomatoes, pasta with sausage and marinara sauce, garlic bread, bread with pizza sauce and cheese, cheese and crackers, wontons, and salad.  All of the food was very delicious and really added to the wine experience.

This is a picture of the front of the restaurant

The atmosphere was very casual.  We sat in a side room which consisted of a bar and a wall full of all the wines that the restaurant served.  I feel like this gave it a more rustic feel.  We sat at a table with some of our fellow classmates.  

Matt and I enjoying our food before the tasting started.

This is some of the food that we ate at Zeppoli's.

Before every tasting, the wine was described to us and told what it would be paired well with.  At the end of the meal, the owner of the restaurant brought us out cupcakes that she made to go along with the dessert wine.

This was the cupcake that was made for us.

These are all of the wines we tasted throughout the night.

Wines:

2010 Crucero, Sauvignon Blanc- This wine had a strong citrus smell as well as it tasting like citrus fruits.  It had a strong acidic taste upon finishing.  When pairing this wine with pasta, some of the acidity disappeared.  I thought this wine was ok.

2010 Picpoul de Pinet- Coteux Du Languedoc- This wine had a 12.5% alcohol content.  It was light, dry and I could taste some of the acidity in the wine.  It smelled like lemons.  With this wine I paired it with some of the cheese that we had which lowed the level of the acidic taste.  Overall I really enjoyed this wine.

2009 Manos Negras- Torrontes- The wine was from San Juan, Argentina.  It had a 13% alcohol content.  It was very flowery smelling.  Upon tasting it, I found the flavors to be very bitter and burned a little in my mouth.  I tried it with the cheese and I still did not like this wine and found it to be bitter still.

Sombras Del Sol Chardonnay Valle Centrat: This wine is from Chile with an alcohol content of 13.5%.  It was very buttery smelling with a hint of flowers.  It also tasted buttery and left a weird aftertaste in my mouth.  I paired this with some of the pasta which made it not as bitter tasting but it was still not my favorite of the night.

2010 Allamand Malbec-This is from the Valle de Ueo of Argentina.  It is made from 100% Malbec grapes but the grapes come from three different vineyards of the region.  It has a 14.1% alcohol content.  I could pick up on the spices when smelling and tasting the wine.  It also smelled of berries.  I could definitely pick up on the higher alcohol content since it burned my mouth a little going down.  I paired this with some of the pasta with marinara sauce and sausage.  After tasting it with the sausage the berry flavors became more prominent.

2010 Crucero Carmenere Chile: This is from Chile with an alcohol content of 13.5%.  It was very berry smelling and I could definitely pick up on the raspberry and black plum flavors.  It was very smooth and also tasted like berries.  I really enjoyed this wine and it paired nicely with the cheese that I had with it.  The cheese really amplified the flavors of the wine.

2010 Maipe Cabernet Sauvignon: From Argentina with an alcohol content of 13.5%.  It smelled like blackberries to me and was very fruity when I tasted it.  This wine was excellent when I paired it with the pizza bites.  I felt like the red sauce really complimented the flavors of the wine.

Gen 5 Cabernet Sauvignong: This wine was from California.  It smelled like cherries.  Upon tasting it, it was very smooth.  The wine was full bodied.  I tasted this wine with some of the salad.  This was by far my favorite wine of the night.

Rinaldi Red Dream Filtrato Dolce: This was the last wine we tasted of the night which matched with the chocolate cupcake.  It has an alcohol content of 7%.  It had a light red color. The wine smelled very flowery with hints of fruit.  It tasted like strawberries.  The wine was slightly bubbly.  It had a very smooth finish and was sweet.