valentines dinner

For Valentine's Day, Ian and I have always done a surf n turf dinner going back as far as I can remember in our relationship. It also happens to be Ian's birthday so that's another reason we have gone all out, essentially, on this day. There is a lot to celebrate! The surf and turf, along with the sides and dessert, vary from year to year. This year in 2024, we settled on filet mignon, seared scallops, roasted broccoli and mushrooms and an assortment of truffles, dark chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate and peanut bark. We then started thinking, because we are us, why not incorporate some Maryland wines in and make it a wine tasting? Most of our tastings go in the opposite direction where we pick 3 or 4 of the same grape for a vertical tasting and then add on the food. This one could change things up a little and start with the food and add in the wines we have on our rack currently that we think would pair best with these dishes. So, that's what we did. First, we settled on 61 Vineyard's drytown sparking. We typically start off the evening  sipping on a sparkling wine in our wedding flutes so we needed some bubbles for that but also thought that would pair nicely with both the scallops and the roasted vegetables. Then we added in Catoctin Breeze's unoaked chardonnay. We thought that would also pair well with the scallops and vegetables. Then we needed a nice red for the steak. After a little research, most articles were pushing both cabernet savignon with filet specifically and also pointing out that for an elevated steak like filet, you should probably elevate the wine with something that has some age on it. So, that screamed Landmark Reserve from Boordy Vineyards. We just so happened to have one we had been aging for a number of  years - the 2017 vintage which was 63% cabernet sauvignon. Lastly, we had a port-style wine opened already and in the fridge so that was an easy decision - Big Cork's Big Finish. This wound up being not only extra special for this particular Valentine's Day/Birthday but also a lot of fun. We did bottle review podcasts on both the chardonnay and the Landmark and instagram posts on the Drytown and Big Finish so I won't go too much into notes here but I will go into the tasting results. Because of it's acidity and lemon flavors, the Drytown paired best with the broccoli which was finished with some lemon juice. The mushrooms also paired well but really paired best with the chardonnay. The creaminess and minerality of the chardonnay, along with the acidity and citrus really made this pair beautifully with the mushrooms and the scallops. Then of course there was the Landmark and the filet. The internet didn't lead us astray. That was a match made in heaven. The earthiness and the mellowed tannins of this gem of a wine were fantastic with the steak and mushrooms. Then the chocolates with the Big Finish were great with the dark and lavender truffles, along with the dark chocolate covered peanuts being best. The chocolate, raspberry and nuttiness of the sweet wine really complimented each of them. We hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Days and give some of these pairings a shot if you can!