On Thursday January 28th,
my friend Diana and I set off on an excursion to the Palisades. Between our shoddy gps system, the incredibly
windy roads, and unfamiliar territory it was debatable if we were ever going to
actually end up making it to the Palisades for the wine pairing and dinner. Luckily, we made it to the beautiful
restaurant in about twenty minutes and taking in gorgeous views of the
mountains and countryside along the way.
From the outside the Palisades doesn’t look like anything special, but
upon entering we knew we were in for a treat.
The theme of the night was Old
World wine vs. New World wine and the type of wine was Cabernet Sauvignon. We received a list of the three wines we
would be sampling and the food selections that would be paired with it. The waitress lined the three wines up in
order of sampling and explained each wine and their origin. Using the tactics we saw explained in the
Gary V. video, we examined the wine’s color, swirled it, sniffed it, and then
sipped the wine with a little slurping.
We tasted the Bodegas Nekeas (Vega
Sindoa), a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from the northernmost vineyards located on
the peninsula in Navarra, Spain. At
first, I tasted spices and then after my second sip I started to taste a little
bit of tartness mixed with fruity flavor.
This wine went down smoothly and was very enjoyable to sip on. This wine was my favorite of the three.
The second wine we sampled was a
Dante Californian Reserve Cabernet from 2009.
This was a full-bodied wine that spent nine months aging in American
oak. I thought this wine was a little
darker in color than the Spanish wine and tasted very different. When first sipping the wine, I tasted a
little trace of fruit and second sip I tasted something similar to dirt? The
description of tasting dirt sounds really disgusting, but this wine was
delicious as well.
The third wine we sampled was a
South African Buitenverwachting Beyond Cabernet Sauvignon from 2009. This wine
was very different from the two previous wines we sampled. It was similar in
color but alarmed me when taking my first sip. It tasted like a mix of tobacco
and black licorice. I could also taste
pepper. This wine had a harsher taste
and I did not really care for it.
To accompany our wine, we were
served a beautiful plate of food including seared butternut squash with
caramelized shallots, truffled lamb ravioli, and blue cheese tart with celery
salad. Everything was amazing,
especially the truffled lamb ravioli.
After drinking the three delicious
wines, we weren’t ready to call it quits.
The Bodegas Nekeas was my favorite of the three so I ordered another glass
and a pear and Gorgonzola salad to accompany it. The food and wine were just too good to stop
after the pairing! Then, our waitress successfully tempted us with the
flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce.
I always assumed that every bottle
of wine using the same grapes would taste identical or vary a little based on
the year the grapes were grown and bottled,
During our food and wine pairing, I realized just how different wines
could taste depending on their region of origin. Dinner at the Palisades was fantastic and I
would definitely recommend it to anyone.
Not only did I have the opportunity to enjoy great food and good company
but I learned a lot about wine!
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| Enjoying the delicious wine and food! |
