Team 2: Georgecel & Matthew
Menu: Basque Style Chicken with Creamy Polenta
The dish that we are pairing our wine is Basque Style Chicken with creamy polenta. This is best described as chicken cooked in a thick, mild vegetable sauce. It makes a warming, hearty dinner for any occasion. The secret to a great polenta is to use the right ratio of liquid to cornmeal. Creamy polenta has a light clean flavor to complement the chicken.
At Red Winery hook we tasted several white and red wines. There were 2 grape varieties that we had agree to pair nicely with the chicken & polenta. We came to the conclusion to choose the first 2018 chardonnay wine and the 2017 Riesling wine. The first chardonnay wine’s grapes were born on a cool climate in there AVA. This first chardonnay and Riesling wines goes perfectly with light and delicate foods like shellfish, chicken, and creamy light dishes. They also go well with creamy vegetable soup. Riesling grapes are usually dry and have some acidity to them. They are greatly paired with earthy, sweet, and savory dishes. We tasted the first 2018 Chardonnay and the 2017 Riesling and we believe that we will like to blend for more menu items. The first Chardonnay was made the traditional way, orthodox, no skin content with good acidity. It had oak and an apricot taste. The chardonnay also had good balance and the alcohol wasn’t too strong. It is a perfect dinner wine and can also complement our dish on its own. We learned that the Riesling wine we were tasting, wasn’t at its fullest potential. The wine needs to be aged for at least 5 more years. The 2017 Riesling was very fruity, which was different from your usual Rieslings that have a little more of an acidic taste. The two wines do lingers in your mouth for a while. We believe adding 10% of the Riesling and 90% of the chardonnay can create a middle grow of both of them to complement the dish. Our results might not be correct, but we are going with this formula to next week and we’ll make changes to create the best wine that the school will ever taste.
What percentages will you start with?