Homemade German Dinner

Homemade German Dinner
April 24, 2016

I prepared a dinner with several friends all of whom are in this wine class. We decided to choose a German theme for this meal to explore different food and wine combinations.  The picture below shows all of us gathered around my table enjoying our meal. In the picture from left to right is Dakota, Travis, Stephen, and myself (Philip).

For this meal we prepared a main entree and two side dishes. We paired our meal with three wines all of which were purchased at the Vintage Cellar. The main entree for our meal was a classic German dish of bratwurst. The bratwurst was prepared by first boiling it in beer and then finishing it on the grill. It was topped with sauerkraut and served on a bratwurst bun.

Our first side dish was German style au gratin potatoes. Au gratin potatoes are a thinly sliced potato topped with cheese sauce and onions and cooked in the oven for at least an hour.

The other side dish for our meal was creme spinach. The creme spinach was made with spinach boiled and then combined with a sauce of milk and cheese. Our meal can be seen in the picture on the right.

The first wine paired with this meal was a Oh Be Joyful Dornfelder Sweet Red 2014. By itself this wine presents with aromas of cranberrys and other dark berry smells. This wine tasted similarly to how it smelled. Again cranberrys were present. This wine was also semi-dry. The wine bottle is shown to the left. When paired with the bratwurst the wine became a lot smoother and the finish of the wine was a lot more pronounced. The potatoes drastically cut the acid of the wine and spinach also highlighted the aftertaste. This was a wine that was definitely
improved by pairing it with food. 


The second wine that was tasted was a Loosen Bros 2014 Dry Riesling. By itself this wine had a subtle floral and sweet smell. Overall thought this wine didn't have a whole lot of aroma to it. The taste of the wine was bitter and contained earthy elements along with a hint of lime. When paired with the entree and the two side dishes nothing really changed with this wine. It didn't add anything to the food and really didn't pair well with the meal. This wine was probably meant to be consumed by itself rather than with food. This wine is pictured on the right.

The final wine tasted during this dinner was a 2013 Erben Riesling. By itself this wine presented with floral smells similar to the Dornfelder. However, the aroma of this wine was more pronounced and also contained elements of citrus. This wine was smooth and sweet in taste. Elements of pear, citrus, and cantaloupe were present. By itself this wine was quite good. This wine is shown in picture below. When paired with all the foods at this dinner the citrus element was highlighted and more pronounced. The aftertaste was also gone completely when paired with food. Overall, the food definitely altered the taste of the wine and the wine enhanced the food as well.