January 2008

Date: Friday, January 18, 2008

Location: Bryn Mawr Clubhouse

Aperitif: 7:30 p.m.

Tasting: 8:00 p.m.


	*See below for what happened.........*

Comfort Soup and Heartwarming Wine

For the first tasting of the New Year

let us greet you with warm and comforting bowls of homemade soup.

There will be two wines to pair up perfectly with each of three delicious soups and breads.

Aperitif

Cava Brut

First Pairing

Roasted Garlic Soup with a Ham and Sage Butter Garnish

Served with a Barbera and a Trebbiano

Second Pairing

Red Lentil Soup with Lime

Served with a Sauvignon Blanc and a Chenin Blanc

Third Pairing

Garden Cheese Soup in a Bread Bowl

Served with a Zinfandel and a Riesling

Coffee and cookies will follow the tasting. Please bring two of your own glasses in order to sample both selections with their complemented soup. No smoking or strong fragrances.

Attendees recognize they will consume alcohol and assume responsibility of having done so. Attendance will be limited to the first 30. Reservation deadline is Monday, January 14, 2008.

Members $21.00 Non-Members $23.00


	*What Happened........*.

		We met on a cold winter evening to taste soups made by our expert chefs along with their chosen complementing wines. The chefs did their usual fine work. All of the soups were delicious, and the matches were excellent. The social period was enhanced by a Spanish sparkling wine, Freixenet Brut. The first soup, Roasted Garlic (recipe) by Nancy Bundorf, was smooth and creamy with a delicate flavor. The wines were 2006 Zenato Laguna, a dry white Trebbiano, and 2004 Vietti Tre Vignes Barbera. Both matches were very good, and the Trebbiano was favored by 3 to 2. The second soup, a Red Lentil (recipe) by Bob Bilenchi was tasty and complex with multiple flavors and textures. The wines were Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc and 2007 Ken Forrester Petite Chenin Blanc. The latter was dry and well made from that varietal and was favored by a good majority. Both matches were very good, but the somewhat unusual Chenin Blanc was most attractive to our group. The last, a Garden Cheese by Georgettte Willoughby, was rich and chunky, with great cheddar flavor, and filled with vegetables. The wines were 2004 Zen of Zin Zinfandel and 2006 Krayer Winkeler Gutenberg Riesling Kabinett, a halbtrocken (semi dry) wine. The two were equally favored. Both were well made wines, both very different from the other, but also very complementary to the soup in different ways. As with most food and wine tastings we learned a lot about the complex process of matching. Again, the chosen, and successful, wines were gentle reds and acidic whites. The surprising match was the Zinfandel with Cheese Soup, and the most interesting wines were the dry Chenin Blanc and the seldom found Trebbiano. We closed with coffee and cookies, including a very flavorful Ginger and Citrus by Nancy Bundorf (recipe).