Wine Dinners

I’ve been to plenty of dinners that feature wine, but I have never been to an official “wine dinner.”  You know- the kind that you pay for a meal that has been meticulously matched to specific wines by some expert, the kind of dinner that will cost at least $50 (and often a whole lot more than that!) because it has been prepared by some master chef and features some yummy wine.  Now that I consider myself a wine writer (wine blogger didn’t sound as cool to me), I decided that this situation is something that I need to remedy.  So, for the past month or so, I’ve been on the lookout for a dinner to come along that was both affordable and that featured some intriguing wines, and I finally found one!  I know that I give Wally’s Wine nothing but praise and here comes some more.  My first ever wine dinner will be at their store and will feature wines to be paired with In N Out burger!  The dinner, on the cheap side of the wine dinner range (only $30) will let me try 15 different wines made by 3 different wineries with a Double-Double from In N out. 

I enjoy fancy, three course meals, but I rarely like them when they have set menus, so the simplicity and the deliciousness of the In N Out Dinner was immediately appealing to me.  I was also drawn to this particular dinner because two of the three winemakers will be presenting their wines in person, which is always a bonus, but especially so in this case because I’ll be interested to hear exactly why these wine makers thought that In N Out burger would make a good partner for their wine. 

I’ll have to report back about the experience after I go to the dinner, but I already have to say that I’d recommend the experience to any wine lover.  In my searching for a suitable wine dinner, I found dinners that featured everything from the perfect wine for pizza to chili, and ice cream to sushi.  If you have the money, you can even go upscale and try some of the best wines in the world at these dinners.  Looking at the economics side of things, going out to dinner these days is fairly expensive, especially if you buy a bottle of wine at a restaurant, so why not wrap the dinner and the wine into one predetermined cost so you can know what you are going to be paying and stay within budget for the evening without having to make sacrifices once you get to the restaurant?  Anyway, I’m excited for my first wine dinner and I will let you know how In N Out’s Double-Double partners with some of Central California’s best wines. 

Yes, boxed wine is ok to bring too.

I’m going to Stagecoach, a country music festival next week and I came across this sentence in one of the answers to the FAQs on the festival’s website.  Added as an afterthought to a long paragraph stating allowable amounts of alcohol, the organizers decided that yes, boxed wine is ok to bring too.

I kinda had to laugh upon seeing this statement.  I think that in the paragraph talking about allowable beverages to bring to the event, they mentioned that no glass of any kind is allowed some five or six times, so I can (barely) see their need to clarify that our cherished Franzia in a plastic bag will be allowed at the venue, but I still found this amusing.

The main reason I’m amused with this is because of the stereotypes that are associated with country music fans, especially the country music fans that travel to festivals in the middle of the desert in their RVs.  And, to set the record straight, I’m partly talking about myself when referencing these stereotypes so it’s ok, I’m not judging.  But, my stereotypical country music fan is someone that drinks cheap beer (think PBR) from a can, and when they want something a bit classier, they reach for the Jack Daniels.  I don’t see wine being a drink of choice for Kenny Chesney fans, so Stagecoach’s inclusion of the wine clause as I’ll call it draws attention to the fact that more people are drinking wine these days.

Wine even pops up in country music from time to time.  Darius Rucker (who will be performing at Stagecoach) mentions red wine in the first line of his song, “Alright,” Dierks Bentley includes a glass of wine in the chorus of his song “Down on Easy Street,” Kenny Chesney “took Katie down by the river with a six dollar bottle of wine” in “Nothing More,” and Brad Paisley talks about Bordeaux in “Alcohol.”  These are just a few examples I can think of off the top of my head.  Being an exception to the norm (or my idea of the norm), my love of wine and country music finally seem to be more acceptable as likes found in a single individual.  So, bolstered by my newfound hope that wine is accepted in the country music world, I composed this list of wine pairings and country songs.  Note that all of these people will be performing at Stagecoach.

Kenny Chesney- “Summertime” with Beaujolais Nouveau.  You gotta chill the wine a bit, but Beaujolais makes for a great summer wine for summertime.  Classic combination of wine and song that put you in the summer state of mind.

Carrie Underwood- “Cowboy Casanova” with Franzia Burgundy.  I’d never try this pairing out myself, but I can see Cowboy Casanova drinking this wine when he’s leaning up against the record machine, thinking it makes him appear classy.

Rascal Flatts- “Too Good Is True” with Da Vinci Chianti.  Love the upbeat optimistic song with a great wine that is good vintage after vintage.  Both song and wine are a bit generic but they make great partners.

Darius Rucker- “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” with anything 5+ years old.  A song full of memories and feelings, touching on regret deserves a mature wine that has the ability to bring up some memories on its own.  The lyrics in this song make you think about the past and decisions made, and an old wine can bring up some of those same memories.

Josh Turner- “Your Man” with Kendal Jackson Chardonnay- buttery smooth wine flows with his smooth voice.  Also, a very romantic song so might as well choose a wine that both a guy and a girl can enjoy.

Jack Ingram- “Love You” with Bitch Grenache.  Lyrics of the song and name of the wine are perfect for each other.  Not a fan of the wine and not a real fan of Jack Ingram (he kinda fell off the map after his one hit, Love You).  Interesting combination that some sassy country loving lady will enjoy.

Easton Corbin- “A Little More Country Than That” with anything French.  I just laugh when I think about what a French wine snob would say if they saw this pairing in action.  About as conflicting in styles as you can get, but it works, and I think country music fans will appreciate the irreverent attitude toward French wine.

Wine Toys

It was my apartment’s turn to host Sunday dinner again last week.  We fell back on the usual pasta option and decided to keep it simple with a meat sauce.  Determined to make the simple dish as good as I could possibly make it, I decided to start it a good 3 hours before dinner and let the sauce simmer with the hope that it would gain flavor as it was cooked.  I think the sauce turned out pretty good but I’m not sure that the couple of hours spent in the kitchen were worth it.  Especially since I wasn’t drinking wine while I was cooking.  I tend follow the old saying- “I love cooking with wine; sometimes I even put it in the food.”  I was amazed that I went so long cooking Italian food of all things without thinking to open some wine. 

When I finally decided to go open a bottle, I took a quick inventory of my Italian wines.  I had just two.  An Amarone and a Brunello.  I decided to open the Brunello but knew that I wasn’t going to wait anytime at all for it to aerate and open up before drinking it.  So, I pulled out my handy Vinturi aerator, hoping that it would do the job for me.  I’ve got mixed feelings on this little contraption but I was in a bind so I had to trust that the little glorified funnel would open up my wine in an instant rather than waiting hours to let it happen naturally.  I was impressed with how it worked on the first glass, I had tried a sip of the wine immediately after opening the bottle and couldn’t taste much but this time I got a wide variety of flavors and even seemed to get a different finish.

While the difference in taste between the Vinturi and naturally aerated wine diminished with each subsequent glass, the little aerator did make for a good wine toy and it intrigued most of my friends that were over for dinner.  I know that I spent most of my last post pointing out the negatives in what I consider to be a useless wine toy, and I am well aware of the fact that the Vinturi aerator could very well fall into the useless wine toy category as well, but I kinda enjoy it despite the fact some people see them as useless.  Wine toys are fun on occasion.  They get people excited to drink or try new wine which is always a good thing, so maybe I was a little harsh on the wine straws last week.  They still aren’t for me, but if they encourage others to try more wine or if they make drinking wine more enjoyable for some, then more power to them.  I’ll just keep playing with my aerator.