Wine Dinner - Meat Lasagna with a Garlic Provolone Flatbread

Intro: 
For this "Red"-themed wine dinner, I have selected a three-course meal to pair with three classic Red wines from around the world. The three wines I have chosen for this dinner are "Specially Selected 2019 Reserva Rioja", from Spain. An Australian Shiraz, "Thorne Clarke James Goddard 2018", and finally a Californian "Trojan Horse Cabernet Sauvignon".

Appetizer: Garlic Provolone Flatbread
    Paired with: Specially Selected 2019 Reserva Rioja
This savory Roasted garlic and melted provolone flatbread offers a rich, salty base that complements the Spanish Rioja. Notes of vanilla and cherry in the wine should work against the salty cheese, creating a balanced sweet-and-savory complement. The combination of the wine’s fruitiness and the flatbread’s savoriness should deliver a sweet-savoury balance.

The dryness of the Rioja wine, complemented very well with the flatbread, the melty cheese, and the savoury taste of the flatbread, is reset after drinking the Rioja, leaving you wanting more of this salty and sweet combination, and making this pairing a complete success. I would definitely recommend this pairing. 

Main Course: Meat Sauce Lasagna

    Paired with: Thorne-Clarke James Goddard Shiraz (2018). 

The Australian Shiraz, featuring notes of dark berries and spice, should work well with the meaty lasagna. The spice in the wine complements the richness of the meat and the acidity of the tomato sauce, while the dark berry notes should further enhance the flavors of the dish, creating a new, balanced combination of wine and food.

The acidity of the wine overwhelmed the lasagna, the acidity of the tomato sauce was enhanced by the wine's acidity, These two did not complement each other, the bottle said it paired well with meaty dishes, however i think it does not pair well with lasagna or tomato sauce as it makes the entire dish extremely acidic. The wine by itself is really good and the lasagna as well, however, the combination is not one I would recommend.

Dessert: Chocolate Ganache Lava Cake

    Paired with: Trojan Horse Cabernet Sauvignon (Non-Vintage). 

Following the wine's recommended pairing, this wine should pair well with the Chocolate Ganache. This Californian Cabernet Sauvignon is nothing if not versatile. With notes of Fresh blackberry and cocoa, this should further enhance the flavours of the Lava cake by giving it an extra layer of cocoa and berry flavours.

The dryness of the wine made this pair work. The lava cake left a cloyingly sweet feeling, which was balanced out by the wine. Overall, the wine did not enhance the flavor of the lava cake as I was hoping. This is probably because the wine in itself is not good; the wine is plain, and it does not impart flavor or help the combination. However, I would recommend this pairing because the dry finish helps with the cloyingly sweet aftertaste of the lava cake.

Conclusion:

Overall, I would say this wine dinner was a success. The Rioja paired extremely well with the Flatbread. This is the pairing I would recommend the most. It created a savoury-sweet combination that was extremely addictive. The worst pairing by far was the Lasagna with the Shiraz; the acidity of the Shiraz further increased the acidity of the tomato sauce and caused it to be extremely overwhelming. Finally, the Cabernet Sauvignon was plain. This is the most average pairing possible. The wine itself was not good, so it did not help improve flavor or anything. The only redeeming quality was that the dryness of the wine allowed the lava cake to not feel overwhelmingly sweet.