second 3 course meal

 Name: Salmon Run Riesling

On its Own: This Riesling is a pale yellow color. It smells very fruity, specifically like pear. This wine is sweet but not very sweet, more neutral. It tastes like apricot with a strong alcoholic kick that I can feel when it goes down my throat. 

Paired with the salad with ginger dressing: This Riesling pairs really well with the salad. I like that they are both light and airy. The wine brings out the sweet flavors in the ginger dressing and also makes the ginger flavor seem stronger. The salad does however overpower the wine, it sort of neutralizes all of the flavors in the wine, just leaving the flavor of the alcohol which is really strong in this wine. 

Name: JCB Unity Cabernet Sauvignon 

On its own: This wine is a dark red color. It smells really fruity and jammy, like grape jam. It tastes really dry and tannic, with a figgy flavor. I am not a fan of this red wine but I also do not usually enjoy reds so it could be my bias. 

Paired with the Miso Soup: Although I did not enjoy the wine on its own, I really enjoyed it paired with the Miso Soup. The soup brings out more underlying fruity flavors, like cherry and a hint of blackberry, and the soup also makes the tannic sensation disappear which I enjoy. I also enjoy the soup more with the wine. The soup wasn't very flavorful on its own but paired with the wine it made the flavor of the miso and the seaweed stand out more in a good way. Overall, this was a great pairing, definitely the best of the three. 

Name: Geyser Peak Sauvignon Blanc

On its Own: This wine is a slightly darker yellow color. This Sauvignon Blanc has an apple scent as well as tastes like apple. It is pretty sweet, but is also tannic. This wine leaves an interesting feeling in my mouth similar to sparkling wines but less intense. 

Paired with the Hibachi Chicken: I really did not like this pairing. On its own, the wine has a fruity flavor to it but the Hibachi Chicken overpowered that and made it so the only flavor from the wine present was the alcohol. The only good thing about this pairing is that the wine enhanced the hibachi flavors. The wine enhanced the underlying sweetness in the hibachi chicken but besides that, this pairing was awful and this pairing was by far the worst of the three.