Dinner - Palisades (Portugal)

Every Wednesday, The Palisades Restaurant hosts a "Wines Around The World" menu series. My roommate and I attended the restaurant's Portugal themed dinner this past week. It was quite an adventure to get to the adorable little establishment located in Eggleston, Virginia...but we made it safe and sound!

We were greeted by friendly faces and seated by who we believed was the owner of the restaurant. The interior was nicely decorated with old-looking bookshelves, antique items, and aged hardwood floors. It was the cutest place. We shared some good conversations with the owner as well as our waiter throughout the meal, which made it a pleasant experience.

On the menu for this particular Wednesday, there were three selections, along with three featured wines that were encouraged to be paired with them. The first was Caldo Verde, Portugal's national dish of soup with potatoes, kale, and chorizo. It's suggested wine pairing was with a Duoro Esteva. The wine had a deep, ruby color and made a thick coating around the glass when I swirled it around. It tasted of sweet grapes and blackberries - a delicious combination. It wasn't too dry nor too sweet and I really enjoyed it. With the Caldo Verde, it tasted a little more sour and acidic. I didn't find it as enjoyable with the food because the fruitiness seemed gone.

Next on the menu was Bacalhau a Bras, another traditional Portuguese dish with trout, potatoes, and farm fresh eggs. It was suggested to be paired with Alvarinho Conde Villar, a sparkling white wine. It looked really bubbly in the little glass, golden-yellow in color. It smelled somewhat clean like fresh soap. I could not detect any fruits or florals in its scent. It tasted like citrus and the aftertaste reminded me of pears. I enjoyed its light bubbly freshness. This wine was even better when paired with the food. More notes of fruits and others flavors came out and it complimented the saltiness of the dish.

Lastly, the third selection was a Shrimp and Chorizo Piri Piri Pizza. The thin slice of pizza had a Piri Piri base along with sauteed shrimp, house-made chorizo, onion, and cilantro on top. This course's suggested wine pairing was with a Duoro Altano, another red wine. Its color was a really deep red - it almost looked black. It had a very fruity aroma of berries. Although, it tasted bland to me. It reminded me of grape juice, and it had an extremely bitter aftertaste. With the pizza it tasted even more bland. It still had that bitter aftertaste and even seemed more acidic. I definitely enjoyed them better separately.

After taking sips and small bites of each pairing, I decided to mix and match a few items and ended up liking them more than the suggested ones. For instance, I enjoyed the Douro Altano much better with the soup than with the pizza. It made the wine taste sweeter and more enjoyable. I also liked the Alvarinho with the soup - it opened up even more fruity tones and tasted delicious.

My roommate and I had a really great experience at The Palisades Restaurant. We enjoyed all of the dishes and found our own personal favorite pairings with the wines offered. My favorite wines were the Douro Esteva and Alvarinho, and I can't even pick a favorite dish because they were all so yummy! We even got to try one of their delicious desserts. We will most definitely be back again soon!