Let's Get Tasting!
Congratulations, you've received your wine! Explore how to take your meal to the next level by pairing each course with the perfect wine. This collection of 9 tastings from three European countries provides the perfect illustration of what types of wine pair best with delicious appetizers, marvelous main courses and decadent desserts.
Sip away as you plan an inspiring menu (and accompanying wines) for your next dinner party.
dinner party collection
Reds
Alegra Roble Tempranillo
Vintage: 2019
Region: Spain
Grapes: 100% Tempranillo (tinta fina)
Tastes like:
Mature red fruits with a hint of spicy notes. Plum and morello cherry mingle with pie spices like cinnamon and clove, yet stay balanced and fresh without too much weight.
Perfect to serve with:
French Onion soup, spicy pastas, dark chocolate covered cherries
Learn more:
This wine comes from 115 hectares planted with different clones of Tempranillo that are harvested and handled separately to respect the environment and express complexity in the grapes.
Dumas Alchimie
Vintage: 2018
Region: Beaujolais, France
Grapes: Gamay
Tastes like:
Dark forest berry flavors are accented by sweet pipe tobacco scents and subtle peony and violet aromas. Barrel aging adds a sprinkle of vanilla and toasty, smoky flavors on top of the brambley berry flavors making for an almost berry-pie like flavor profile!
Perfect to serve with:
Aged cheeses, fancy steak, crusty bread with nice balsamic,
Learn more:
This small Beaujolais cru features vines planted on the volcanic slopes of Mt. Brouilly. Diorite, a unique volcanic stone, gives the wines a unique mineral crispness and flavor and also is a real pain to plant and upkeep. Nothing good is easy, right?!
La Galinière Merlot
Vintage: 2019
Region: France
Grapes: 100% Merlot
Tastes like:
Merlot gets a bad rap but for no good reason. Arguably the most blue-flavored of French red wines, the merlot grown here is juicy and evocative of finger staining backyard bramble bushes. Acai, currant and soft sweet sage hints round out this very pleasant red wine.
Perfect to serve with:
Saute mushrooms, tomato salads, charcuterie, rich dark fruit tart
Learn more:
Basically "Minervois lite," Cotetaux de Peyriac is the IGP name for the wines grown along the ridges of the Montagne Noir just like famous Minervois. However these wines do not have to be made to the exact rigid specifications that Minervois wines do.
La Garganta del águila
Vintage: 2019
Region: Spain
Grapes: 100% Garnacha
Tastes like:
Raspberry and wild strawberry, together with herb aromas like oregano and thyme. Soft and velvety in the mouth finishing with freshness and vibrancy and a lingering note of sweet herbs.
Perfect to serve with:
Rotisserie chicken and spicy paella, rich chocolate brownie with nuts
Learn more:
High altitude bush vines sourced near the town of Avila, about 1,000 meters above sea level.
dinner party collection
Rosés
Chateau L'Enclos Rosé
Vintage: 2020
Region: France
Grapes: 60% Braucol, 40% Duras
Tastes like:
Typical green strawberry and watermelon rind are framed by a unique salted caramel note. Crisp, elegant and sinfully refreshing.
Perfect to serve with:
Prawn risotto, asparagus in Bearnaise, Duck l'Orange, strawberry shortcake with fresh berries and cream
Learn more:
An energetic young woman and graduate oenologist, Aurélie Balaran follows in the footsteps of her father Jean-Marc, owner of the Escausses estate.
Olivastri Tommaso Rosé Marcantonio
Vintage: 2020
Region: Italy
Grapes: 100% Montepulciano
Tastes like:
Deep pink in color and super floral on the nose with red flowers and peach blossoms. The palate is dripping with pomegranate and currant flavors, deep yet tart, and finishes with that classic almond-meets-cherry floral note that only Italian wines can achieve.
Perfect to serve with:
Kimchi Jjigae, BBQ chicken pizza, cured meats, cheeses and fruits
Learn more:
Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo was formed in 2010 to carve out a region for the brightly colored, cherry-red wines made in rosé or light red styles from the famed Montepulciano grape. By keeping skin contact to several hours instead of days the wines are able to retain their cherry colored hue and fllavors without getting too tannic or intense.
dinner party collection
Whites
Clot Blanco
Vintage: 2020
Region: Spain
Grapes: 100% Grenache Blanc
Tastes like:
Pale yellow color with peach tea and lime leaves on the nose. Some yellow melon and white flower notes lead into the lime popsicle and apricot palate swirling with flavors of raw honey, lemon Italian Ice and crushed salty seashells.
Perfect to serve with:
Sushi, fried cod, scallops in beurre blanc, sponge cake
Learn more:
Selected from 10+ year old vines grown in Spain's highest wine growing region, Terra Alta.
Lagar de Brais
Vintage: 2020
Region: Spain
Grapes: Palomino, Treixadura, Torrentes
Tastes like:
A rare blend of sherry grapes and white wine grapes culminating in an intense straw yellow offering. Green sparkles in the glass give off aromas of pineapple, apple and exotic fruits while the palate brings meyer lemon and sweet herb notes to the mix.
Perfect to serve with:
Strong cheeses, spicy harissa carrots, mahi tacos, vanilla custard and fresh fruit
Learn more:
Francisco works with a mosaic of tiny plots planted all over Galicia with native varietals. Some of these vineyards belonged to Cistercian monasteries whose walls still remain around the perimeter of the vineyard.
Olivastri Tommaso Santa Clara
Vintage: 2020
Region: Italy
Grapes: 100% Trebbiano
Tastes like:
Pretty aromas of lemon, honeycomb wax and white plum blend with a hint of walnut skin on the nose. There's good breadth and richness to the medium-bodied palate, with juicy yellow fruit struck against taut acidity.
Perfect to serve with:
Roasted vegetables, fish sandwiches, lemon pound cake
Learn more:
The hillside soils evolved on clayey marine sediments and have a good permeability to rainwater and a medium-textured clayey composition, characterized by a good limestone component and a rich minerality. These conditions are optimal for the cultivation of Trebbiano and Montepulciano d’Abruzzo grapes of precious quality, so our vineyards of these grape varities are all located in our hillside estates.
