Student Wine Journal
I am a part of Team 1 along with my classmate Rene and our dish is Baked Fish with Tomato and Mushroom. When we first heard of fish, we automatically chose white wines to explore to pair with our plate. We discussed wines such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Riesling. They all can pair with seafood because of the acid and dryness that can cut through the fat of the fish. Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay’s origin can be found in France while Riesling origin is in Germany, however over the years these grape varieties have been moved across the globe. Now you can find them in the United States, like California, New York and Oregon. The best wine out of the three for our dish was the Sauvignon Blanc which can be found in California today. When tasting this grape variety the smell and the taste can be quite different. On the nose you can note smells such as high alcohol, fruit, and oak and the color of this wine can ary between being water clear and hazy to also having a slight green hue. On the palate, you can experience the twinge feeling the dryness can give you followed by in depth flavors like tart, melon or pit fruits and floral as well as vegetal notes. Vineyards in California set up their vines according to how it grows, in this case Sauvignon blanc grapes grow large and upright. Growers utilize areas where there is a lot of wind and cool climate to encourage growth and ripening. During the harvest and fermentation stages these grapes are hand-picked and lightly crushed in a press as whole clusters to separate the juice and skin. After separation the juice is then fermented at cool temperatures in steel.
