3 Kinds of Lasagna (and wine too)!

Well, it's not the first time (and I'm sure it won't be the last), but tonight I'm in culinary overload, again. We were invited to the in-law's house tonight for three kinds of lasagna! My mother-in-law got this cool new cooking dish that allows her to bake three different lasagnas at one time. Of course, we thought of many other things that could be baked in there as well - including some yummy desserts! Hopefully, more on that in future posts.

Of course, we also had quite the line up of wines as well....From left to right: Matanzas Creek Bennett Valley Estate Chardonnay, A. Rafanelli Zinfandel and Freemark Abbey late harvest White Riesling.

Naturally, we started with the Chardonnay. This one is really interesting. At only 200 cases it represents a top bottling from the winery. The nose was packed full of vanilla, toasted nuts and pears. In the mouth, it had great acid followed by a rich creaminess and a super long finish. Priced at $40, it's a bargain for high-end Chardonnay. It served as an excellent aperitif on it's own - although I can think of some cheeses that would work quite well with it.

Then we opened the A. Rafanelli Zin to pair with the dinner.... Back to front: Meat lasagna, spinach/Alfredo lasagna and spinach/wine sauce lasagna. I had some of all three, then went back to the meat one for seconds. This is a pan for those who can't decide what to have. Or for those who have to have it all, which is so common these days!

The Zin was very nice. It didn't have much of a nose to start, but opened up nicely. It smelled of raspberries, spices and cloves. But once on the palate, the wine did not disappoint. I think it paired best with the spinach / wine sauce lasagna, but surprisingly worked with all three.

As if all of that is not enough, my wife made this killer dessert.... It's called Noir bars (probably should have tried it with Pinot Noir) and it's made with cream cheese, dark chocolate and more dark chocolate. Outstanding! It was rich, creamy and super tasty. With three different textures it went perfectly with our "3" theme for the night.

In case you didn't notice, we had 3 wines, 3 lasagnas and 3 textures with the dessert.

We paired this with a Freemark Abbey (I know, it's Napa) Late Harvest White Riesling. Is there a "Red Riesling"? No, but the official name of Riesling is White Riesling and certain producers like to be official.This wine smelled amazing and tasted even better. That's me tasting it! Pears, peaches, creme brulee on the nose led to a viscous, sugary mouthfeel of similar flavors. It was really yummy and was a great contrast to the super dark chocolaty dessert. With almost 14% residual sugar, this one was sweet, but not overly sweet.

So, what's tonight's lesson? I'm not sure there is one other than just enjoy what is on your plate and if there are three things, enjoy them even more!

Cheers!