Dinner: Land Run



This wine adventure is once again featuring my best friend and cousin, Sarah! For this experience we went to Land Run Grill and Wine Bar just around the corner from my apartment. I was tired from a long day. I am a dance teacher and my students had their Christmas recital that day and afterwards I had gone out for dinner with the teachers. So let's just say when it cam time for this late dinner, I was pretty exhausted, but I was excited for the last wine assignment opportunity. 



The wine pairing aspect of this assignment was a little wonky. We had a bartender who definitely knew next to nothing about pairing wines, but wanted it to seem like he was an expert. Though I could tell he didn't know much, he pressured me into hurrying and deciding and I wasn't sure why. After observing him further, I realized it was because he was trying to watch the Seahawks football game and we were a distraction. His name was Connor. Not my favorite guy I've met on my wine journey.


It's no big shock that with Sarah, being from my family, is not a big tannic wine drinker. Just like my mom, she promised to maybe try some of it, but she wasn't going to order any wine herself. I guess the DNA she shares with my mom is the gene that hates non-sweet wine. While she tried all of them, she only liked one. 



We started off the wines and I did an individual test of those. From left to right of the photo:

Malbec
  • Diseno, Argentina, $6 per glass
  • Cherry smell. Sarah said she got "chocolate covered cranberries"
  • Strong oak taste.
  • Acidic finish with sweet aftertaste
Riesling
  • Relax, Germany, $7 per glass
  • I couldn't smell a thing! My cousin said she could smell orchid and citrus 
  • Peachy taste. Sweet strawberry finish. Floral roses. 
  • Sarah said she "had never tasted a wine like that before". She said it changed flavors in her mouth and was an "experience". I told her she needed to get out more. 
Merlot
  • Vanilla smell. Almost tangy. Sarah said it "burns her nose". 
  • Extremely tannic. Sarah wouldn't even try after the smell. 


Now for the pairing!

Butterfly Tenderloin with Malbec. Dish: $12.99

  • This was the only one the bartender was sure about and it was the one I hated the most. 
  • For me, this pairing absolutely clashed. The sweetness of the wine made the pork taste "sour" to me. It had the most disgusting aftertaste. I wish I had been drunk when I tried it so it wouldn't have bothered me as much. 
BBQ Spud with Merlot. Dish: $9.50
  • The bartender was kind of reaching on this one and even said he didn't think it would be good. I thought it sounded alright and thought it would go with the pork that went in spud. Turned out to be great!
  • The pork toned down the tannins to make it less of a tannic overload. The sweetness of the BBQ sauce brought out more of a cherry flavor. Good pairing that complimented the wine, didn't do too much for the food. 
Deep Fried Waffle Chips with Riesling Dish: $2.79 separately, but this came with the tenderloin. 
  • I'm pretty proud of myself on this one. The bartender acted like nothing could really be paired with potato chips and didn't offer any advice. I chose the pairing and he looked at me like I was weird.
  • I chose this because when I had chips with the Verdejo at Blu it was amazing. I just kind of went with my gut from there and chose the Riesling. 
  • I chose it and it was the best pairing of the three! I have really learned this semester! 
  • The chips by themselves were incredibly salty, almost not good because of the saltiness. The sweetness toned down this saltiness and brought out more of the potato, earthy flavors. The chips made the wine more complex. While the sweetness was maybe a little overpowering, it worked well with how salty the chips were. 
This was a different experience because I couldn't plan it out the way I had with Thanksgiving, but didn't have the same knowledgeable staff there was at Blu. It was a mixture of his limited pairing knowledge and the knowledge I have from this class. I was proud I was able to pair stuff myself on instinct and definitely want to develop my pairing skills for the future! 

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