Simonsvlei 2014 Lifestyle Shiraz & Chicken and Shrimp Casserole

I went onto the Simonsvlei website and read up on this shiraz before cracking open the bottle and it made me salivate. I couldn't wait to get home and have the aromas of plum and spice cling to my palate. 

I confess, I was rather disappointed at the taste as it was slightly stronger than I expected it would be. But that's all my own fault as I always raise my expectations and assume that whenever something has hints of any kind of fruit in it that I'd be drinking alcoholic fruit juice. My imagination tends to run wild in these cases. 

But I'm not one to waste wine. I chose this bottle of wine so I made it my duty to make sure I drink every last drop of it. By some divine intervention I realised by the end of the second glass that, hey, this shiraz is rather tasty!

So, so tasty. 

I decided to do my research and plan the meal I was going to make for it; a chicken and shrimp casserole. 

Of course, the classic and easiest way to choose the meals to have with your wine is to pair white wines with white meat and red with red but because the casserole is made with a tomato-based sauce I used that as excuse to get away with having a meal with two types of white meat with a dark red wine. 

And I wasn't wrong, either. The tomato in the food brought out the spice and nut flavours of the shiraz just beautifully. So much so that even though Chad didn't like this wine at all from the first sip he thoroughly enjoyed it with the food. 

Here's to the next bottle!

Robertson 2013 Pinot Noir & Oyster Mushroom Pizza

Pinot noir, a wine that has moved past being my favourite to me being completely obsessed with it.

Since I'm new to drinking drier wines I've been experimenting with wine types I've never had before. But I've been stuck on pinot noir and of the two brands I've tried (Robertson and Two Oceans) I've decided that Robertson's is the better one.

During the day all I think about is getting home and rewarding myself with half a glass of this liquid deliciousness. So much so that I think I'm approaching borderline alcoholism. Yes, I think about drinking this wine that much.

(Just kidding. I'm only joking about the alcoholism. The only reason I'm adding this paragraph into the blog is just in case someone with no sense of humour reads this and feels the need to lecture me on my alcohol consumption.) *Rambling over.

So with researching what to eat with pinot noir, mushroom pizza and other mushroom dishes came up most of the time which was perfect since Boyfriend and I were hankering for home-made pizza in the new braai for a while now.

 Sadly we didn't let the pizza go in the braai the whole time and we had to let it finish baking in the oven the rest of the time. The temperature wasn't right for making pizza so we think we still need to experiment with how to get it just right.

For myself, personally, I enjoyed how the food breaks down the wine's acidity and allows you to taste the smooth, velvety, smoky taste of the pinot. With every sip I am amazed at how I'm not gagging from the bitter taste like I always used to before being able to drink wine. I also found the pinot to be especially tasty when enjoyed with a bowl of olives while we were waiting for the fire and with a blue cheese sauce drizzled over the pizza.

Here's to the next bottle!