Dinner- Grand Cru Wine Bar and Bistro

On March 8, 2013 I went to the Grand Cru Wine Bar and Bistro in Arlington, VA with my friend Julie, my mom and dad, and their friends Patti and Tom. Every dinner we have together when I go home has to include great wine and better food, so this dinner was a real treat. Grand Cru's mission is to blend fine wine and excellent cuisine at a reasonable price. This restaurant brings the best of the two together, excellent food and a world class selection of wines all in a quaint European style of dining, as they describe on their website.

*** The three wines in the middle (in the smaller glasses) are in order the wines I tried in the flight. The other two wines on the ends are described in my tasting blog posts.***

To begin the dinner I ordered the wine flight called "Wine Tour France". The first wine it included was a 2011 Chateau Les Tuileries Entre-Deux-Mers White Bordeaux priced at $14.99 a bottle. It is from Bordeaux, France and of the Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon varietal. It smelt of a wonderful concoction of pear, kiwi, citrus, grapefruit, apricot, melon, honey, pineapple and cream. The tasted stayed somewhat consistent of grapefruit, citrus and melon but with a twist of gooseberry, mint and a little pepper.

The second wine that the flight included was a 2010 Domaine Armelle et Bernard Rion Pinot Noir priced at $24.99 a bottle. It is from Bourgogne, Burgundy, France and made from the Pinot Nior grape, as seen in the picture below. This was a big wine that tasted of cherries, strawberries with light to medium tannins. 

The last wine included in the flight was a 2009 Domaine de la Perriere Cabernet Franc Chinon priced at $21.99 a bottle. It is from Chinon, Loire Valley, France, 100% Cabernet Franc grape. This was my least favorite wine of the night, it was light to medium bodied, very closed nose smell because I do not think it had opened up yet. But it tasted of light berries, vegetal, and an almost fishy taste (possibly just from the restaurant itself). 

Now for pairing the wine with food....

As an appetizer Julie and I ordered the Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes; "Jumbo lumps of domestic crabmeat with arugula, mango salsa, and lemon-garlic aioli", as described by Grand Cru. I enjoyed the crab cakes with the 2011 Chateau Les Tuileries Entre-Deux-Mers White Bordeaux.  The crab meat was tender and delicate and in my opinion paired very well with this fresh, tangy White Bordeaux, especially when accompanied by the mango salsa. The wine really accentuated the flavor and aromas of the crab meat and the acidity cut through the breaded flaky outer shell of the crab cakes. 

***This is a picture of Julie and I at the Grand Cru restaurant (with the crab cakes on the table). In our hands is the Pinot Noir flight I previously described, I tried it with the crab cakes and decided it would go better with my main dish and then I finished the crab cakes with the White Bordeaux. ***

For my main dish I chose the Baby Rack of Lamb; serrano-cilantro yogurt, minced Moroccan spiced lamb and green lentils, as described by Grand Cru. I chose to enjoy my baby rack of lamb with the 2010 Domaine Armelle et Bernard Rion Pinot Noir. The silky texture of the wine complemented the tenderness of the lamb. The slight fattiness of the lamb just melted away by the wine's acidity and mineral tone. The lamb softened the tone of the wine, and brought out the delicious characteristics of the lamb

*** This is a picture of the rack of lamb I ate at Grand Cru. The Pinot Nior I drank with it is the wine in the middle behind the plate.***
The last wine I described in the flight, the 2009 Domaine de la Perriere Cabernet Franc I drank before dinner and did not pair with any food.

After dinner, my parents, Julie and I went to Patti and Tom's house to enjoy some more wine and sweets. We enjoyed home made chocolate oatmeal cookies, dried figs and almonds with Don Manuel Villafane Estate Malbec 2012. This wine was a 2012 from Mendoza, Argentina, 100% Malbec priced at $14.99 a bottle. It was light to medium bodied with notes of blackberry, blueberry, cocoa, spices, milk chocolate, light vanilla and very fine tannins. The hint of cocoa, milk chocolate and vanilla made this wine delicious with the home made cookies. The wine was not incredibly sweet so it did not overpower the taste of the cookies, dried figs and almonds.

This was an amazing dinner and I cannot wait to do a wine and food pairing dinner again!