Dinner – Palisades (Greek)

This is the top of the menu with a map of the Peloponnese region.

Each week, Palisades, a restaurant in Eggleston, Virginia, has a “Wines of the World” tasting and dinner.  A couple days before the dinner, my friend and classmate Jane commented that the Greek dinner looked good.  I have never really eaten Greek food before (or wine for that matter), so I told her that we should go.  We invited Jane’s roommates (only our fellow classmate Emily could go) and my roommate, Rachel.  Little did we know that getting there would be an adventure in itself.

Firstly, during class before the dinner, Boyer commented that this should be a particularly good dinner because not much Greek wine is imported into America.  After visiting the barely existent Greek section of The Vintage Cellar afterwards, I definitely agree with this.  Anyway, at the beginning of the semester, Boyer also said that Palisades is one of those places that you will go and say “We’re lost” at least once.  (If anyone is familiar with Southwest Virginia other than Blacksburg, then you know this is typical travelling almost anywhere.)

My car needs a bath!

Being awesome college kids armed with a GPS, multiple smart phones and Jane being somewhat familiar with Giles because of an internship, we thought that there was no way we could get lost.  For a while, we followed behind a couple cars and figured they were probably going to Palisades as well since they didn’t seem to be familiar with the area.  My GPS told me to turn onto a road, but the sign didn’t match the road name on the GPS, so I kept going thinking there was another one just past it, and since one of the two cars kept going straight as well.  After we figured out that that probably was the right turn, we took the next turn the GPS said to get us back on track.  As we were approaching a set of railroad tracks, Rachel said that as long as we stay on pavement and see houses, we can’t be that lost.  About three seconds later, we were on a gravel road with my GPS telling us to turn into a lake, the railroad tracks on the other side and a couple sketchy looking houses, we decided that we should turn around and go back to where we were.  I am pleased to inform you that I managed to hit every pot hole on the road!  Little did my passengers know that I had to decide between the lesser of two evil potholes each second since the entire road was full of them.

Palisades (from their website)

We finally made it to the cozy restaurant and the friendly staff got us settled.  They also gave us a very helpful paper that had a short history of winemaking in Peloponnese, Greece, and descriptions of the various wines we would be tasting.  We asked our waiter if he was able to pronounce the different wines for us, but with too many random letters shoved together, it was near impossible (although he probably could have made anything up).

The wines are as follows: Nikiforou Moschofilero 2010 (left), Semeli “Feast” Agiorgitiko 2010 (center), and Konstantinos Ampelou Gis 2009 (right).

Here are the wines!

The foods are as follows: Spanikopita (left), Greek chicken (center), and Moussaka (right)

Delicious dinner!

Our table.

Spanikopita is made with spinach, feta cheese and other ingredients wrapped in a light and flaky pie crust.  The Greek chicken is grilled in oil and seasonings like garlic, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.  Moussaka is made with eggplant, lamb, and egg custard.

Finally, what we’ve all been waiting for!  Once we received our food and wine, I tasted each wine alone and with each food.  I concluded that the wines were organized in a way that it went best with the food directly in front of it.

Nikiforou Moschofilero 2010

First was the Nikiforou Moschofilero 2010.  According to the tasting sheet, the winery was founded in 1989 on the west side of the Greek Peloponnese.  The Moschofilero grape originates in Greece and has similar characteristics to Muscat grapes.  It has a light golden color with light peach and apricot aromas.  Without food, I tasted crisp pear.  It had a good balance of dryness and sweetness.  The spinkopita brought out more oaky flavors, in addition to the base crisp pear flavors.  With the Greek chicken, the wine tasted less dry and had a huge pear flavor.  Finally, with the moussaka, it had a taste that was slightly too bitter for my liking.

Semeli "Feast" Agiogitiko 2010

Second up was the Semeli “Feast” Agiorgitiko 2010.  The winery was founded in 1979, with the goal to “satisfy the most demanding wine lovers.”  Semeli was the name of the mother of the Greek god of wine, Dionysus.  This wine had a gorgeous ruby coloring.  It had a complex aroma that was oaky and woody with fruit aromas of blackberry and dark cherry.  Alone, it tasted dry with an amazing dark cherry flavor.  The spanikopita brought out more of the cherry flavors.  The Greek chicken brought out all of its oaky and cherry flavors more than the initial tasting.  With the moussaka, it tasted bitter and dry.  Overall, this was my favorite wine!  I couldn’t get over the cherry flavors and how well they balanced with the dryness.

Konstantinos Ampelou Gis 2009

Last, but not least, was the Konstantinos Ampelou Gis 2009.  According to the tasting sheet, Ampelou Gis means “Vines of the Earth Beneath.”  It is a blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon.  This ruby wine had a blackberry aroma.  It tasted oaky and dry with dark fruits and high tannins.  With the Spanikopita, I could taste the same base flavors with an additional unknown flavor.  With the Greek chicken, more oaky flavors were brought out.  The moussaka subdued the oakiness and had a slightly hot finish.  While Jane and Emily said that it grew on them over the course of the dinner, to me, it remained a little too oaky and hot.

Rachel, Emily and me

Overall, this was a fantastic meal and wonderful wine pairings!  I loved our adventure into the boonies.  With the combination of good wine, good food, and good people, this experience can’t be beat!  I’m looking forward to heading back to Palisades on March 1^st for Virginia food and wine!

Me and Jane