In order to provide you with even more customized wine recommendations, we are launching an occasional series featuring guest posts from folks who have hosted a My Wine Tribe tasting with their friends. Cheers to Libby (also known as @pinkskier) for being our first guest blogger. If you are interested in hosting a My Wine Tribe party and being a guest blogger please email me at mywinetribe@gmail.com.
With fall comes a few of my favorite things: comfort food, college football and beer!
So when Stephanie asked me to host a wine tasting, I’ll admit, I felt a bit like a Husky fan at a Ducks game. But, after she assured me that wine actually pairs well with comfort food, I decided to give it a go.
Being an inexperienced wine buyer, I went down to my local wine shop (Wine Outlet) for some advice. I felt a little nervous since I was asking for wines to drink with homemade corn dogs and popovers. But the Wine Outlet sales staff didn’t balk at my request and in no time I had my four contenders:
- Fiano di Avellino, 2009, Italy
- Tercos Torrontes, 2010, Argentina
- Saint Clair Pinot Noir, 2007, New Zealand
- Fattor Capannacce, 2006, Italy
With the help of my good friend Weslie, we prepared quite the spread. 
The menu included everything from the aforementioned corn dogs and popovers to mini quiches and, the queen of comfort food, homemade mac n’ cheese!
While the grub was heartily enjoyed by my Wine Tribe guests, so was the wine. There were two clear winners:
The Balanced Tribe greatly favored the Saint Clair Pinot Noir. They enjoyed its light, nutty earthiness and reported aromas of berry and fig. Tastewise they detected hints of cherry, currant, spice and pepper.
For the Complex and Developed Tribes the clear winner was the Fattor Capanncce. They smelled berries, cake batter (my personal favorite), sweet candy, black cherry, and licorice. In terms of flavor they found smoke, fruit, blackberry, and pepper.
The Italian Fiano di Avellino, on the other hand, was dismissed by three of the tribes who represented it as “plain.” (Unfortunately, no one from the Accessible tribe was available!) Looking back, it might have gone better with lighter, summer dishes. Numerous tasters said sipping the Fiano was like drinking water. That was when they were tasting it alone. It fared better with food, but was still low on most everyone’s list.
As for the number 2 wine, the Tercos Torrontes from Argentina, the results were fair to poor across the board. Descriptors ranged from sweaty socks to overripe fruit to geraniums. Probably not the best wine to pair with your winter comfort food.
All in all we had a blast and I highly encourage other Wine Tribers to host a tasting. It was far easier than I expected!