Wine Dinner Blog Report #1

 For this month's wine dinner blog, I decided to treat myself. I love cooking and decided to buy myself a nice local ribeye and some zucchini and squash to grill up along with some rice. For an appetizer, I decided to fry up some pearl onions NY deli onion ring style with a pesto aioli as a dipping sauce. 

Process of Frying Pearl Onions

The pearl onion rings turned out great and I decided to pair them with one of my absolute all-time favorite wines, an absolutely gorgeous Southern Rhone Tavel Rose from vineyard Domaine de la Mordoree. It's a little pricey (~$40) and I prefer the 2021 vintage over the 2022, but the delicious red fruit and sharp minerality of the Rose paired beautifully with fried, sweet, pearl onions. The color of the Tavel is a stunning strawberry red, it almost looks just like Hawaiian fruit punch. I also thought sharp, dry, fruity wine would pair well with the grilled zucchini and squash that would accompany my steak. 

Tavel Rose (2021) 

   

Following my appetizer course I decided to begin prepping my main meal. I sat my steak out and allowed it to come to room temperature before I simply seasoned it liberally with some fresh ground black pepper and some coarse sea salt. I fired up my charcoal and got my Weber black kettle grill ready. 

Beginning to Cook the Ribeye

I heavily seared the rib eye on both sides before taking it off and allowing it to rest with a knob of butter.

Resting ribeye

 

Vatan Tinta de Toro

Final plate with steak, grilled squash and zucchini, and chimichurri 

Inspecting my cook

I decided to pair my steak with a 2019 Tinta de Toro whose dryness and dark fruits paired exceptionally well with the rich meatiness and charred flavor of the ribeye. The sweet and sharp tavel also paired well with the creaminess of the grilled squash and zucchini.