Vinous Envy: Wine and Food Pairing Challenge, Upscale Comfort Foods

I am in a meetup group called Vinous Envy. Here is the description of the group on the meetup.com listing:

Vinous Envy: A group of wine aficionados, who possess at least a basic knowledge of wine. We yearn to taste more, learn more, and share the fun times and each other's company while exploring the vast and fabulous world of wine!

So, this group holds events (every so often) called "Food and Wine Pairing Challenges". They are cooking and pairing contests in which a lot of pride and effort go into creating dishes and coming up with their perfect wine matches to share with each other. We also do it for bragging rights and even a little cash!

The theme of this challenge was "Upscale Comfort Foods".
Each team of two were randomly picked from a list of people who signed up to attend the event. One person was in charge of the food, and one person was in charge of the wine pairing.

I was a judge at this event, though everyone who attended got to taste and vote. Maximum fun for all that way!

The evening was kicked off with this delicious salad that our hostess, Tammi, prepared. It was a mixed greens salad with candied walnuts, feta cheese, and persimmons! Yum.



Then, each dish was sampled by all, along with the chosen wine. Here are pictures of each dish and wine label they chose to pair it with:

Andrea & Bart

Potatoes au Gratin with Ham




2006 Acadia Chardonnay




Rick & Lori

Lobster Mac & Cheese




2006 Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Chardonnay




Chuck & Mary

Chicken Forestier
2005 Artesa Pinot Noir




Alan & Bill

Shepard's Pie




2006 Ruffino Chianti Classico Aziano Tuscany




Marsh & Caroline

Extra Sharp Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese




2006 Matchbook Tempranillo Dunnigan Hills Winery




Paul & Cyndi

Sloppy Joe Tartlets with Cornbread Crust




2007 Sobon Estate Amador County Zinfandel Old Vines




Darralyn & Tessa

Tuscan Ragu with Polenta




2005 Brutacao Quadriga




Lyle & Dawn

Beef Bourguignon with Potatoes




2004 Foppiano Petite Sirah, Russian River Valley




Nancy & Jason

Caramel Apple Crisp




Quarles Porto




Noelle & Scott

Pots de Creme au Chocolat




2006 Carol Shelton "Black Magic" Late Harvest Zinfandel, Somoma






Our hostess Tammi carefully tallied all the votes after all the dishes were presented. Tension filled the room (not really) as the winners were about to be announced. And a hush fell over the crowd…




Third Place Winners: Andrea and Bart, Potatoes au Gratin with Ham




Second Place Winners: Tessa and Darralyn, Tuscan Ragu with Polenta




First Place Winners: Noelle & Scott, Pots de Creme au Chocolat


And as you can see, no one had any fun at all:














Me and my homies… what a splendid evening!