Wine Dinner - Lucky

For my second wine dinner, my friend Allison and I made a trip out to Roanoke to try Lucky.  It was the second time I had been there, and I knew they were known for their wide variety in alcohol beverages.  

I forgot to snag a picture of the front, but this one was found at: http://www.downtownroanoke.org/go/lucky

In order to save money, Allison and I each got on entree and a glass of wine and shared.  We then decided to order a dessert and choose a wine after we had a chance to figure out which ones would pair best.  Allison ordered duck, and I ordered fried chicken.  

The menus - wines on the left, food on the right, with desserts on top

A picture of me checking out the menu, trying to decide what to order

Their wine list was very long, and was mostly served by the bottle, but we asked our server which two wines to order with each of our meals and he suggested the Chateau Du Coing Chardonnay from Loire, France for my fried chicken, and the Corteo Tempranillo from Lisboa, Portugal for the duck.

The Corteo

The Chardonnay

We took our initial tasting on each wine before our food came.

The fried chicken with the Chardonnay

The nose on the Chardonnay was light, acidic, and refreshing with a slight hint of citrus.  On the palate, I picked up on asparagus that was well balanced with citrus and acidic notes.  The finish was dry, but not long, with a little bit of sweet.  When I tasted it with the fried chicken, I thought the pairing was decent.  The taste of the wine did not balance with the peppers in the skin of the chicken, but the acids did cut through the fat very well.  The seasoning on the chicken accented the spicier, more peppery flavors of the wine.

The duck and the Coreto

The Corteo appeared to be very purple, and looked almost like dark grape juice.  It had aromas of peppers and tannins.  On the palate it was dry, full-bodied, and juicy.  I picked up slight peppers that were balanced with plums.  Tannins on the finish.  With the duck, it was much sweeter, with the spices taking the background to the dark berries.  The fattiness of the duck went great with the dryness of the wine.  Overall it was a great pairing.

About halfway through the meal, our waiter suggested a third wine to pair with a cinnamon pot de creme for dessert.  He brought it over to the table, set it down, AND gave it to us free of charge!  It was the Chateu Vieux Manor Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux, France.

Our free Bordeaux, with our awesome waiter in the background

cinnamon pot de creme

The Bordeaux had cherry, plums, pepper, and tannic aromas.  On the palate, it was very dry, harsh, acidic, tannic, and peppery. However, it was still much sweeter than the Corteo.  I was very intrigued to try it with the Pot de Crème because it seemed too spicy and overpowering for the dessert.  I was pleasantly surprised by the way they complimented each other.  The chocolate accented the spiciness of the wine, and there were no tannic flavors at all.  It made the wine very smooth and the finish long and sweet.

Overall, I would definitely recommend taking a trip out to Lucky to enjoy some nice wines and delicious foods.  The staff was very nice, and our waiter was really nice to accommodate all of our pairing questions.  He made a lot of great suggestions, and we loved them all!

A close up on the white wine menu

A close up on the red wine menu (sorry, I got it to turn on my computer but when I uploaded it here it kept turning back on its side)