DTN Lesson 1: Why We Drink Wine with Meals and How Food Alters the Taste Perception of Wine

Marchese di Pani Chianti

Name: Marchese di Pani Chianti
Region: Chianti
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $10.99

I did this lesson when I went home one weekend.  This wine was the closest to the suggested wines at the Food Lion near my parent's house. 

1.  When I first opened the wine, it smelled a little jammy and of red berries.  It had a high acidic taste, with some woody (cedar) and slightly spicy flavors.  It had a pretty light body.  It was very astringent on the after taste.

Only Asiago Cheese at Food Lion

2.  After 2 hours, the wine still smelled jammy, but now it had a spicy component.  It tasted spicier and had a heavy wood competent.  It's body was smoother, but still light.  It was less astringent this time.

Wine and Cheese

3.  The only hard cheese I could find at the food lion was this Asiago cheese.  It seemed softer than I thought a "hard" cheese should be, but it still tasted good.  The wine tasted sweeter and not as spicy with the cheese.  It still had a light body.  However, there was no astringency with the cheese.

4.  Since I don't eat red meat, I tried the Chianti with shrimp and spicy cocktail sauce.  We also had corn pudding and broccoli.  The wine with the shrimp tasted very light and fruity.  Its body was extremely light and there was no astringency.  The wine was still pretty astringent with the broccoli and not as sweet.

Dinner, Mom's face, and Tyler's hand

5.  When I tried the wine the next day, it smelled very mild and maybe kind of horsey.  However, the horsey smell could have been cause I had just came from the barn.  It tasted woody, earthy, and vegetableie.  The body was now medium light.  It was much less astringent.  Oxygen coming into contact with the wine allowed the tannins to soften.