Happy Hump Day!  Man, it’s a wet one today in Beantown.  It’s been coming down all week, but the promise of 80 degrees and sunny for my cousin’s wedding on Saturday is keeping me going!  So, right now is Restaurant Week in the lovely city of Boston.  Seeing as we have so much going on right now with weddings and birthdays and such, we have decided to save money and pass on the delectable 3-course for $33 deals and instead made our own little restaurant week menu at home!  For just over $90 (including tax), we put together an amazing 4 course meal with 3 (full bottle) wine pairings.  My fiancé had been wanting to really “cook” a meal for some time, just put something together without a recipe or worrying about all the crazy diet restrictions we’ve been adhering to lately.   Oh.  My.  Goodness.  All I can say is THIS is why I’ve gained a million pounds in the past four years that we’ve been together.  I took care of the wine selection and we were both very pleased with the final result.

First Course:  Capricho de Cabra with Herbs, Membrillo and Crostini Toasts

Wine Pairing:  Tohu Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2009

Second Course: Seared Asian Scallops with Watercrest Salad

Wine Pairing:  Same as above

Main:  Filet Mignon, Caramalized Onion, Mountain Gorgonzola with Garlicky Broccoli Rabe

Wine Pairing:  Mark West Pinot Noir, Sonoma 2008

Dessert:  A Duo of Chocolates featuring Caramel Sea Salt Brownies and Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse

Wine Pairing: Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vinetage Port, Oporto 2004

We did spend a tad more on the wines than normal for this event.  The Tohu Sauv Blanc was just under $15, and although we did enjoy it and it’s lemon notes paired perfectly with the herbs in the goat cheese and the soy sauce cooked into the scallops, I think that less expensive wines like Axis Sauv Blanc or Cupcake would do just as well.  The Mark West was more in our normal price range at $10.99 for the bottle.  Great wine, never fails, wonderful example of a Pinot Noir varietal wine.  Although we could have gone with something stronger to pair with the potent Mountain Gorgonzola and rich caramelized onions, we were just not in the mood for something super dry.  Mark West was a great compromise without actually compromising!  Cool website too, check out the link above the picture of the steak.  The Taylor Fladgate was just great.  After two bottles of wine and close to 3 hours of eating, you may think it difficult for a dessert wine paired with caramel sea salt brownies and hazelnut chocolate mousse to really stand out, right?  Wrong.  The bottle set us back $21.99 for the full 750 mL size, but considering that a glass of port is less than half the size of a standard glass of wine, the bottle and the price tag were very impressive.  And a HUGE shout-out to my girl Olivia-Rae from everydaymusings for the decadent brownie recipe.  I have been dying to make them for months after reading about them on her blog and they did not let me down.  Of course, only days after I finally try the recipe Olivia-Rae posted a new, revised version of the caramel sea salt brownies so I guess I will have to try those out as well.  Oh the struggle that is my life…  So all in all, I think we did pretty good  (I know, it should be well, leave me alone it’s my blog voice)!  We spent a total of $48 on wine ($24 per person for the equivalent of an entire bottle of wine each plus after dinner drinks, try getting THAT in a restaurant!) and $43 on food ($24 of which for the steaks alone, but they were so worth it), and the best part is that we got to express our creativity through our cooking and spend a few quality hours with just the two of us in our kitchen.  Well done, I say!  Tomorrow we’re off to one of the city’s most renound steak houses for an early birthday dinner for my mum, let’s see if they can hold a candle to our homecooked heaven…

Earlier today I got a request from an old friend for some suggestions on sweet dessert wines to try.  And although the request came in the form of something of criticism of previous posts, I decided to indulge him (perhaps this is penance for moving back to Boston over 4 years ago without letting him know?  Whoops…).  So, here we go!

First off, I have to give a shout out to one of my new favorite dessert wines, Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz.  This wine happens to be the number one keyword source of traffic for my entire site!  Why?  It’s awesome!  Sweet yet subtle, this smooth Shiraz is perfect with rich chocolates, poured over vanilla ice cream, or served straight up and slightly chilled.  If Ports are too sticky for you, you’ll LOVE Jam Jar.

Now I mention Ports because they are kind of the master of all dessert wines, in this wine enthusiast’s humble opinion.  There is just nothing better than a glass of good port, a leather armchair and some classical music.  But Ports are not for everyone.  Port is a fortified wine, meaning that it starts off as a normal wine but during “wine cycle” it gets a shot of alcohol which stops the fermentation process (fermentation converts the sugar, so by stopping fermentation there is more sugar in the wine and this is why Ports are sweet).  This is also why it tastes more like alcohol than many wines, because it literally has alcohol poured in!  There are a BUNCH of different Ports depending on how they’re aged (in a barrel or in a bottle) and how long they are aged for (more aging = richer flavor and thicker texture).  The most available/popular Ports are Ruby & Tawny.  I suggest you get a less expensive bottle of each, then once you know which one you prefer you can look for finer, more expensive options.  To start your research, I suggest you look for Dow’s.  Dow’s makes both Ruby & Tawny and you can usually find it for around $13 a bottle.  When you’re ready to move up in the world, check out Taylor Fladgate Tawny 20.   It’s pretty incredible.

Leaning towards the whiter side of things?  Grab a Riesling!  I just reviewed a great, light German Riesling called Oh…Schist! which is lovely with a lighter dessert pairing.  I also really like Relax Riesling, it’s similar in style but has a bit more honey.

There are so many more dessert wines that I have tried and loved, I will do my best to get the details and share them with you in the next few weeks.  But I hope you enjoy these lovely suggestions for now, cheers!