Do you ever stress out how to celebrate the anniversary with your loved one? Finally, I solved the puzzle and came up with a fool-proof formula. You right if you think it has something to do with wine. After all, you are reading this article on www.WINEswinging.com.
On its own, wine is hardly an original idea, and like with magic, it's not enough to have a magic wand. You got to know the spells too. With a little know-how and creativity, you can transform ordinary anniversary into extraordinary.
First time I tried the wine magic on our wedding anniversary. I proposed to celebrate it on our backyard patio with me as a chef and a nice bottle of wine that we wouldn't buy at the restaurant.
It was a jackpot idea on many levels. We both love wine and went shopping together for the bottle. I grilled delicious steak, and we celebrated with Right Bank Bordeaux that might have cost $300 at the restaurant. The best part, both of us got to enjoy this anniversary present (wink, wink).
Granted, this scenario is not gonna work every time. At some point, she might want to eat "inferior" restaurant food instead of your exquisite dishes. For our first date anniversary, we went to the new restaurant. The food was excellent, and the wine list decent. We liked everything, but we weren't ready to call it a fantastic dinner until the dessert.
The dessert menu was somewhat predictable and had classics such as chocolate lava cake, crème brûlée, and others, and we almost skipped it. But then1999 Mantlehorf Chardonnay Trochenbeerenauslese from Austria caught my eye among the after-dinner drinks.
That's when I saw an opportunity for my wine magic. I thought that this wine would pair great with blood-orange crème brûlée, and it did.
Here's why.
1999 Mantlehorf Chardonnay TrochenBeerenAuslese and Crème Brûlée Pairing
The ideal wine for crème brûlée must have both the acidity to counterbalance the creaminess and sweetness to play along with it. That's precisely what 1999 Mantlehorf Chardonnay Trochenbeerenauslese did and why it paired so well with crème brûlée. But there's more to this wine than sweetness and acidity.
1999 Mantlehorf Chardonnay TBA came from the winery in the Kremstal region of Austria. Mantlehorf winery has over 200-year-old history and run by the family involved in winemaking since the 14th century. They grow their grapes organically, committed to producing true to vintage wine without adding sugar or manipulating acidity. The result is delicious pure wine reflecting the terroir and vintage.
1999 Mantlehorf Chardonnay Trochenbeerenauslese was made with extremely shrunken noble rot. Wines made with grapes affected by noble rot are among the rarest and most delicious in the world. Noble rot requires specific conditions and doesn't happen every year, but when it does, you can taste wine magic.
We could smell the magic the minute wine was poured. The aromas of orange rind, honey, maraschino cherry, and orange blossom were jumping out of a glass. On the palate, it had flavors of marmalade, quince, dried apricot, and brioche.
The acidity of the wine cut through the creaminess of crème brûlée and kept out palates fresh. That allowed us to have an epicurean experience of perfect wine and dessert pairing.
The sweetness in wine was able to withstand the dessert. The blood-orange crème brûlée was complemented by marmalade and orange flavors of the wine. Brioche aromas in wine walked hand in hand with cream in the dessert. Layers of aromas and flavors followed each other, making us wish for more until there was nothing left.
At that moment, we knew that we had an extraordinary anniversary and it's the one we'll going to remember. At least, till the next time, wine magic dazzles us.
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