Wine Dinner - 622 North

Well, last week was Valentine's Day and I decided what better way to celebrate than with good wine and good food? My boyfriend Tony and I decided 622 North would be a good restaurant for our date since neither of us had tried it before, they are close to home, and of course they have a huge wine selection. Rather than sit through the 5 course meal they offered on Feb. 14 we opted to go the next day to have a more relaxed dinner.

622 North

Our waiter was very helpful choosing wines to go with each of our courses. To start off we ordered a plate of charcuterie which is a platter of sliced genoa salami, italian sausage and sliced asiago with marinated olives, whole grain mustard and sliced baguette. With this our waiter recommended we try the 2009 Babich Sauvignon Blanc (from New Zealand). Before I tasted the food I swirled and took a sip of the wine. It was crisp and refreshing with an acidic bite at the finish. While having the wine with food, especially the sausage and salami, the acidity faded away and the fresh, fruity flavors came through. Although the wine was good on its own, I liked it much better mixed up with food in my mouth.

I almost forgot to take a picture before I finished off the charcuterie!

For our main courses Tony and I went separate routes. He doesn't get too excited about wine, so he chose to have a cheeseburger and a pint of beer. I chose the sausage pizza: italian sausage, sundried tomato, shallot, rosemary, alfredo sauce, fresh mozzarella and gruyere cheese. With my pizza our waiter paired the 2004 Conde de Valdemar Rioja Reserva Tempranillo. Before I took a bite of my pizza I hade a taste of the wine. This was a headstrong, dry red with lots of spice. Not necessarily an easy-sipper, but I still liked it. Again, I found that I liked the wine so much better with my pizza. In my opinion it became much more balanced. It really mellowed out and before I knew it my glass was gone.

My sausage pizza and the Tempranillo

This was really the first time I've had a true wine and food pairing and it was very exciting for me. I love the way food makes wine better and I want to continue exploring wine and food pairings.