Wine Dinner at Home

Fontina Cheese, red grapes and red wine.
Estancia Pinot Noir, 2008 from Central Coast, California.
Cost: $17.50, rated 86 points Wine Spectator, 13.5% Alcohol

This wine was rich and spicy while also light and fruity. It wasn't crazy acidic, but it had enough going on to appreciate the cut of cheese and fruit while drinking. The wine had deep, rich berry flavors, and was smooth and creamy with just a tiny bit of a bite. If you ask me, most red wines go well with cheese, fruit, and pasta but I do think this one was particularly well-paired with what we ate.

I found a decanter at my mother's house and thought I would give it a swirl. After letting the wine breathe, uncorked for 35 minutes or so, I used the decanter when pouring the wine. In one glass, I had the decanted wine and in another glass I had the wine that I poured straight out of the bottle. I tasted the two glasses of wine immediately and found zero difference in the two. 30 minutes later, I tried the two wines again and could not perceive anything with stark contrast. Perhaps I didn't give it enough time, didn't do it correctly or maybe my taste buds are not sensitive enough to notice the subtle changes the decanted wine experienced. Either way, it was a cool experience to try this experiment and use a decanter!
Lasagna as the main dish - SO good with a bottle of wine! In tandem with the red wine, the gooey cheesiness paired with the savory, salty meat, the red tomato sauce and the hefty carbs of the pasta really bounced off the walls of my mouth REALLY well.

Freshly baked, hearty Italian bread!

This cheese dish was Fontina cheese, garlic, thyme and olive oil. Didn't last long with that great bread and wine! This fried cheese mixture was molto buono with the wine; the earthy garlic and herbs with the cheese created a nice, salty offsetting taste that tasted great with the wine.