I haven’t had a lot of opportunities recently to do any baking with my busy schedule, especially with the move into a new apartment, but in the spirit of keeping the n00bcakes alive, I’d like to talk a little bit about my first wine tasting experience.  Wine and pastries mix, right?  Like rum-cake….

The annual Decatur Wine Festival was last weekend, and a friend of mine scored a ticket for me after I agreed to be DD for her and her boyfriend.  I thought it’d be a cool new experience, especially given the fact that I know so little about wine.  Plus, hanging out with friends while drinking tends to ensure a good time.

Wine Bottle Shaped Balloons

It was a beautiful day for standing outside and drinking wine; chilly with a bit of breeze, but still sunny with only a few clouds.  We were relatively close to the front of the line getting in, so we got to hit up the first few food and wine stalls quickly without a lot of competition.  Unfortunately I can’t recall the names of all the wines we had, but we all agreed that the Rieslings were especially tasty, and we ran into a dessert wine or two that we also found particularly appealing.  As far as food goes, we had lots of great samples…should I be embarrassed I remember more about the food than the wine?  Oh well.  Here goes a list of the things we ate while at the wine tasting:

• Tikka Masala with rice and white beans – I’m not pro at critiquing Indian food, but I have enjoyed what I’ve tried in the past.  Bhojanic was about as tasty as what I’ve had in the past, though I didn’t think it was astoundingly better than anywhere else I’ve eaten.  Still, a solid place I’d try if I was in the mood and in the area.
• Tomato Orange Soup – As unsure as I was about a tomato-orange flavor (I am not super keen on orange-flavored foods) I was astounded at how delicious this soup was.  It actually turned out to be almost creamy, and the orange gave the soup a pleasant spike of tang rather than just your standard tomato soup.  I was impressed and would definitely like to go to The Mercantile and see what else they had to offer.
• Crab cream pasta – DELICIOUS.  You’d have to like crab, of course, but the sample we were given was divine.  Would definitely try Capozzi’s out.
• Sushi – I am a sushi fiend, as my boyfriend can attest (please, someone bring Bento Cafe to my town!).  I’m by no means a connoisseur or professional (though I can probably identify better and worse quality sushi), but I did enjoy the bite of crunchy salmon roll I chose from their selection (salmon, nom!).  Again, another restaurant I would try with a full menu (I would go-down-to-the-Su-shi-Avenue…).
• Cookies (can’t forget the cookies) – You know, maybe I’m a cookie snob, or maybe they didn’t have their best selection out, but I was a little underwhelmed with the cookies here.  I tried out their chocolate chocolate chip cookie and my reaction was pretty “meh”.  It tasted a little like a cookie I could get at any supermarket.  I prefer my cookies hearty, thick, and chewy, and these were neither.  Maybe I caught them on a bad day.
• Sausage meatball – The Iberian Pig is supposedly a very hoity-toity place to dine (evidenced by the prices on their menu), but I’ve heard lots of good things about it.  The meatball we were given (probably not their jamon iberico, considering how expensive it is, but probably a derivative thereof) had a pretty intense flavor.  I’m not sure if it’s quite my style, but it was pretty interesting.

Not being a wine buff, I don’t really have any profound thoughts on the wine (as opposed to the food), but I will say that I had a spectacular time and would recommend if you get the opportunity to go to a wine festival or other tasting that you try it out (especially if you get a free ticket).  I promise that even though I had a distinct lack of tweed, black-rimmed glasses, or trendy high-topped boots, I still managed to have a great time.

Mary Gezo

Formerly of both n00bcakes and !Blog, the two magically become one on Spatialdrift; expect some lazy baking and serious nerditude. Also, I love semicolons.