Wine, Chops, and Chocolate

Megan and I had our Valentine's Day dinner on the 15th due to our work schedules being crazy, but we did not skip out on a fabulous meal.

Dinner: Stuffed Veal Chops, Smashed Marscarpone Parsnips, Sauteed Portabella Mushrooms with Spinach, Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding

I got the Veal Chops at Whole Foods and got the butcher to French the ends so they look like the ones you get in the restaurant. The stuffing consisted of bread crumbs, aged provolone, roasted red peppers, prosciutto and onion. Pan-seared for 2 mins on each side and finished them in the oven for 10 mins.
Parsnips look like albino carrots, but have a nice spicy, sweet flavor. Boiled those bad boys, drained then and caramelized some onions in sugar then added the Marscarpone cheese and took the boat motor to them.
Sauteed Spinach is so easy. 2mins and you have a side for dinner. Sauteed the mushrooms in olive oil and added spinach and done.

Wine: For Christmas I got Megan a bottle of white wine called "The Violinist" by Molly Dooker ($25 92pts RP) and she punched me in the FACE because it didn't say "The Violist". My fiancee plays the Viola and thinks they are better than Violins. Needless to say the wine was fabulous.
Grape Varietal: Verdelho (White wine usually grown in Spain, Portugal and Australia)
Vineyard: Molly Dooker, South Australia
Visual: Straw Yellow to Golden Yellow. Heavy Legs
Nose: Pineapple, Honey, Melon, Mango or Papayas (one or the other, couldn't really tell)
Palate: Pineapple, Tropical Fruits, Honey, Creamy (coated your mouth = long finish)

This white wine had a 14% alcohol which is really high for a white wine, usually in the 10-12% for your heavier whites like Chardonnay. What the alcohol content tells you is lower the percentage of alcohol the sweeter the wine will be and the higher the alcohol content the drier the wine is going to taste. (Riesling 8-10%ALC = sweet, Chardonnay 11-13%ALC = Dry or Less Sweet) Heavier white wines go well with heavy white meats like veal chops.

The fruit filled creaminess of this wine went extremely well with the marbleized fat of the Veal Chop. A perfect pair like Megan and Jon!! HaHaHa