Windham Wine Girls

This group is in one word, awesome!  This group of ladies is comprised of warm, bright, cultured, wine-loving girls from town.

I was ecstatic to be invited last Spring and have enjoyed learning more and more about different wines...regions...grapes...you name it...it is like going back to school

This week, it was my turn to host.

Due to my love of cooking, I put together a complex menu and then Laurel (the co-chair if you will, studied up on wine and food pairings and paired various wines with my dishes).  Laurel always puts together an amazing cheese board too so we learn lots about cheese while learning about the wine.  Alison walks us through each kind of wine and explains what we may smell and taste and explains why- very cool.

Here we are before we started (may I add that my hubby is the greatest- he snapped pix and helped me serve AND clean up)

The first course was pan seared scallops with toasted almonds and black concord grapes

That was paired with Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand

The next course was my favorite Autumn Chicken and Squash Risotto and that was paired with Catherine Cambria Chardonnay (one of my favorite wines-very buttery- California)

Next up was filets with goat cheese and balsamic syrup...those were paired MacMurray Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley region of Napa Valley- amazing!

Then I presented The Pioneer Woman's Fig and Proscuitto Pizza and that was paired with Castello de Volpana Chianti (not a fan of Chianti)

Lastly, I served fruit pies and we had a chocolate platter for dessert...by that time most ladies were pretty toasty!  (Me?  I sniffed...had a few small sips and dumped...more to come on that later)

Here are a few pix Rob captured for me