Virginia Wine meets Tuscan Cuisine
We had a wonderful 5 course Northern Italian wine dinner at the Williamsburg Winery in Virginia. The Williamsburg Winery produces the most wine in the state of Vinginia, annually producing 60,000 cases. Our dinner consisted of 9 different pours; with each course we recieved one from the Williamsburg Winery (WW) and a similarly matched wine from Italy. We started the evening with a single white wine, the 2006 WW Seyvel Blanc to pair with a light crab dish. This wine was light and slightly fruity, a very nice way to begin our dinner. We continued with WW Burgesses Measure Merlot, which was our favorite wine of the evening. This delcious wine was fruity yet smooth with an earthy undertone. We picked up at bottle for $16.00. The Italian match was Lilliano 1998 Chiante Classico. This wine had soft tannins with a lovely smooth finish. I thought it was delcious, however, some had difficulty enjoying the tabacco aroma that accompanies Sangiovesse grapes. Our next course included a 2003 Avignonesi Rosso, a general Italian table wine, that was fruity and very pleasing on the palate; and a WW 2004 Barrel Aged Claret, which was more smooth and stuble than the Italian counterpart. Moving on, we enjoyed a 1991 Vadipiatta Vino Nobile that was more complex than the first Italian wines. This wine retails for $32 per bottle. It was still smooth, yet dry with a bit of spice and coffee. The WW companion was the 2005 Trianon Cabernet Franc. Again, we enjoyed this tasty wine, however, it would not reach it’s peak until 12 years of aging. Finally, we moved into the dessert course which paired with a Bruno Franco Birbet that was perfect with the poached pears served as our final course. It was fruity and floral, without overpowering, this was one of our favorite dessert wines. The WW companion was their Raspberry red wine, which was concentrated with fruits and sugar. It would work well for pouring over strawberries and cake, but not for drinking. Overall, we had a great wine experience. We learned about each wine we were drinking and had the opportunity to compare Italian and local Vinginia wines.