Wine Dinner at 622 North

Located off of Main Street in Blacksburg, lies the adorable little restaurant 622 North.  Inside, they not only have wonderful dining, but a full wine bar and a knowledgeable staff.  Therefore, it seems only appropriate that I would take a trip there for Geography of Wine to enjoy a lovely wine dinner. 

 This picture shows the wine bottles inside the wine bar at 622 North.  

My Friends Ian and Katrina at dinner with me!

Menu of wines, it was a really hard choice! 

Upon arrival, we met our waitress Courtney who answered all of our questions about wine.  We were interested as to which wines would pair well with our foods as well as their origins.  I ended up choosing a Washington Riesling called Kung Fu Girl and Katrina picked a California Angeline Chardonnay from Sonoma County. 

The wine bottles of the wine we ordered.  

My Washington Kung Fu Girl Riesling. Here is the description I found online:

The grapes used in Charles Smith's "Kung Fu Girl" Riesling are harvested from a single rocky vineyard, resulting in a wine with lush aromatics and tons of flavor.  On the nose, Kung Fu Girl is bursting with Asian pear, white peach and spring flowers. Apricot, pear, lime, and a pleasant minerality keep this off-dry wine at the perfect level of subtle sweetness.  This is a great wine for a summer picnic.

I thought this wine was absolutely delicious.  On the nose it did have a very "summery" fruit and flower smell.  Including peaches and maybe a little lavender.  It was very smooth and light on the palate.  Not overly sweet and just tasted like summer as a whole.  I tasted apricots and peaches.   

Katrina's California Chardonnay. 

The review I found told how this wine was produced from grapes carefully selected from vineyards in Santa Barbara County, Russian River Valley and Dry Creek Valley. These three counties are very similar growing regions with cool daytime temperatures, often accompanied by morning and evening fog due to the coastal influence. These regions with 3 long, steady growing seasons produce grapes with intense berry flavors and rich colors. This Chardonnay is 70% barrel fermented for six months in French and American oak and 30% fermented in stainless steel tanks. The wine begins with aromas of toasty oak, vanilla, ripe peach and pear. Rich, ripe tropical fruit flavors are married with the toasty oak and hints of tangy citrus and lime zest. Lush pineapple, lemon, peach,  and melon flavors follow throughout with a foundation of minerality and a spicy character. 

We began with a cheese tray that was the chef’s trio of gourmet cheeses served with bread slices, balsamic honey, and seasonal fruit and nuts. The cheeses included gouda, goat cheese, and a cow's milk cheese.  It was very interesting trying the cheeses with the wine and the flavors were really brought out!  We thought considering how much it is discussed that wine and cheese should be paired together, that it would be fun and adventurous to begin with the cheese tray and it was definitely worth it!

Me with my Riesling and delicious meal!

The meal I got was the Roasted Red Pepper Pasta and it was absolutely delicious. It had fire roasted red peppers, cherry tomatoes, garlic, herbs, fresh mozzarella, and linguine noodles finished with grilled asparagus.  Katrina got the soft shell crab  fresh, jumbo soft shell crabs, tempura fried served with avocado mousse, jalapeno cream, smoked peach salsa, and the starch du jour.  Ian got the New york strip ten ounce grilled choice strip steak with a bold five pepper spice rub, bleu cheese crust and brown sugar, honey and apricot chutney. served with starch and vegetable du jour, but did not have any wine to try with his meal (tsktsk).  

Katrina said that her wine tasted a lot better with her meal because it brought out the sweeter tastes of vanilla and oak and she liked the wine better with her food.  Prior to getting her food she did not love it because she thought the Chardonnay was kind of bitter.  I tasted her wine without food and I liked it as far as Chardonnay's go.  It did not have the buttery taste I was expecting but I could definitely pick up the oaky and orangey tastes.  

For my meal, Courtney recommended that I get the special Sangiovese  they were serving that day or add shrimp to my meal and get the Pinot Grigio.  However, I was not brave enough to try the red, and I was not really in a shellfish mood.  So I ended up getting my favorite wine, the Riesling.  While it was good with the cheese tray and I felt the cheese helped to really express the flavors of the Riesling, it was not that great with my meal.  I should have taken Courtney's advice, however I wanted to order something I knew I would like.  Yet, I felt this experience was extremely interesting because it gave me great insight into the wine pairings with food and how they can go completely wrong.  Previous wine dinners I have had at home the wines went fairly well with the foods I had chosen, so it was interesting to see a wine that did not pair well with a food.  The paste really brought out the acidity of my wine and made it very bitter tasting and rough on the palate.  As a whole however, the wine dinner was excellent and I cannot wait to go back!