Wine Dinner Report- North Carolina Style

My mom and I planned a wine dinner over spring break and decided to pick our home state of North Carolina as the region of interest. We bought three local wines and decided to pair them with some North Carolina favorites: striped bass, pork barbecue (with coleslaw), and chocolate chess pie. Since we live on a river, we were able to catch part of the meal in our own backyard! Striped bass is a popular fish in our area and we were lucky enough to catch a few "keepers" a couple days before our meal.

Me with the striped bass we caught for the appetizer

We prepared the fish using corn meal, lemon, fresh oregano, grape tomatoes, and capers. The fish was pan-fried with butter. 

Appetizer ingredients

Cooking our striped bass

Both my mom and dad played a huge part in meal planning and preparation. I took a picture of them as we began cooking the meal...

My mom and dad

In the midst of meal preparations

The main dish of pork barbecue was ordered from Bunn's Barbecue, which has the best North Carolina pork barbecue in our area, and has been in operation since 1938. It's a little "hole-in-the-wall" place that was once a gas station way back when. 

Bunn's Barbecue 

We ordered the barbecue cold, so we were easily able to warm it up when we were ready to dig in!

NC-style pork barbecue 

For dessert we baked chocolate chess pie. Since we have not lived in North Carolina for long, we recently discovered this staple North Carolina dessert. This was our first time baking it-- and I certainly enjoyed the end result!

Chocolate Chess Pie

Before we jumped into our food and wine pairings, we tried each wine without food. The first wine, to be paired with our fish and priced less than $10, was a Biltmore Zinfandel Blanc de Noir from the 2014 vintage. It was light peach in color and had fresh smells of grapefruit and citrus. On the palate, it was juicy and had a distinct flavor of watermelon jolly rancher. It's finish was crisp with a lingering acidity. 

Biltmore Zinfandel 2014

The wine for our main course of pork barbecue with coleslaw specifically advertised it to be paired with barbecue! Nonvintage and less than $10, Rock of Ages (Cork & Pork) sweet red wine is a blend of four red wines with muscadine grapes. Muscadine grapes are very popular in the North Carolina region. It was a red/purple color and smelled of dark berries, plum, and oak. Flavors of black currant and strawberry jam on the palate. The jam aspect of this wine was a juicy explosion. Very sweet. 

Rock of Ages Sweet Red Wine

The wine we used for dessert was Hinnant Pomegranate Wine. It is made with the scuppernong grape and pomegranate juice is added. This nonvintage wine was less than $10. It was a brownish red color with aromas of juicy red berries, pomegranate, and jelly. The taste was very sweet but tart. I like to describe it as a "puckering sweetness." I did not notice any finish and it was quite one dimensional on its own. 

Hinnant Pomegranate Wine

The striped bass appetizer paired with the Biltmore Zinfandel was not a very good combination. Although, the striped bass by itself was delicious! The wine masked the flavor of the fish, which is very mild, and the wine seemed more acidic and hot. Also, the saltiness of the capers did not pair well with the acidity in the wine, which probably contributed to the enhanced acidity of the wine with the fish. The wine tasted much better by itself.

Striped bass appetizer

My Dad and I before the first wine pairing

The pork barbecue and coleslaw paired with the Rock of Ages Pork and Cork wine worked well. The sweetness of the wine was enhanced, which made the wine taste like a very sweet jam. The wine also strengthened the vinegar flavor in the barbecue. Overall, it made the meal taste more savory and the pleasant wine flavors were enhanced. However, with the Sweet Baby Rays barbecue sauce, this pairing may seem overwhelmingly sweet to some people. 

Main course (barbecue) with Rock of Ages sweet red wine

My parents enjoying the meal

The dessert wine pairing was the best match. The chocolate chess pie tasted more chocolatey and the tartness of the wine was subdued. The sweet, juicy aspect of the wine was enhanced. I think the chocolate acted as the major complimentary factor in this pairing. 

Chocolate Chess pie with Hinnant Pomegranate Wine

Mom and I before dessert (can you tell which slice is my dad's?)

Overall, we had a very fun and interesting night of wine and food pairings. My parents and I enjoyed this assignment and we all learned a little more about wine in the process! It was helpful to have both good and bad pairings to compare how the wine and food can truly impact each other. Below is a picture to sum up how engaged and serious my mom was about this dinner...

My mom and her "tasting face" 

North Carolina regional wine pairing was a success!