Wine Dinner with Parents and Family - Easter Meal!!!

On Easter day, I had the privilege to have dinner with several members of my family. I ate dinner with my grandmother, my aunt, my mom, my dad, my younger sister, my older sister, her fiance, and her two children. We all gathered around the dinner table for a delicious Easter feast. Our meal consisted of a honey-glazed ham, asparagus, rolls, deviled eggs, scalloped potatoes, pickles, and applesauce. For dessert, we were having a pineapple glazed angel food cake. The three wines picked out for the evening's festivities were  a moscato, a red zinfandel, and a gewurztraminer. We decided to pair the moscato with the dessert since it was a rather sweet wine. The two wines paired with the main meal were the red zinfandel and the gewurztraminer. 

My family around the table

Another view of my family!

While eating the ham, we tried the red zinfandel and the gewurztraminer to see which one paired better in each of our own palates. The red zinfandel was made by Barefoot. On the nose, this wine had a berry component to it. On the palate, without food, it was a little too tannic for my own taste. However, when I tried it with the ham, it was able to cut through some of the glaze on the ham. I liked the wine more when I tasted it with food. My dad did not really enjoy the red zinfandel. However, my sister's fiance thought that it was a pretty good wine. This goes to show how different everyone's palates can be! 

My plate

The red zinfandel bottle

Another image of the bottle

Myself trying the red zinfadel

Close up of the red zinfandel

Next, we tried the gewurztraminer with the ham. This wine was made by Fetzer. On the nose, this wine did not have a very distinct smell. On the palate, by itself, it was a fairly smooth wine. It was very easy to drink. With the ham, I thought it was a nice pairing since the gewurztraminer was able to blend very well with the ham. I really enjoyed this wine. My dad also enjoyed this wine, but it was not his favorite wine of the night. My sister and her fiance both also enjoyed this wine. 

The gewurztraminer bottle

Close up of the gewurztraminer label

Close up of the glass of gewurztraminer

For dessert, we paired the pineapple glazed angel food cake with the moscato. The moscato that we tried for this meal was actually a boxed wine made by Bandit. On the nose, this wine also did not have a very distinct smell. When tasted by itself, it was fairly sweet, but not overwhelmingly sweet on my palate. When paired with the pineapple glazed angel food cake, I thought it paired very nicely. The sweetness played off the angel food cake. The pineapple added for a bit of an acidic edge. My dad was in love with this wine. Even though he doesn't drink wine that often, he even said that if he was going to go out and buy wine, this would be one of his choices in the beginning. 

The dessert and moscato

The boxed moscato

All in all, I felt that this wine dinner went very well. My dad's favorite of the night was the moscato. My favorite was the gewurztraminer. My sister and her fiance's favorite was the red zinfandel. It just goes to show how everyone's palate can vary greatly. Thus, certain wines will taste better to certain people. It just goes to show that it takes tasting certain wines and trying them with different foods in order to determine what works for your own palate. This was a wonderful opportunity to get closer with the family through good food and wine!!