Last night Denny and I went on a super-fun date. There’s a place in Mt. Vernon called Devine Wines, which is a swanky little wine shop/bar. They hosted a special night of wine pairings with food from Matt of the Lincoln Café, our favorite restaurant.

Round 1: Sparkling Alsatian blanc de blanc, which I believe was a blend of pinot gris and pinot blanc. It was really nice, very dry but not harsh at all; it was smooth and delicate. It was paired with sweet/spicy toasted walnuts and garlicky green olives.

Round 2: A Sauvignon Blanc from Bordeaux with light tree fruit notes; I tasted a lot of pear in it. That was paired with shrimp garnished with ancho chile, cucumber and red pepper bits, and apple mousse on a little corn wafer.

Round 3: This was my favorite round of the evening: a really good malbec from Argentina that was rich and earthy without being musty (which I find a lot of European wines can sometimes be). A woman next to us didn’t like it because she said it was too barnyardy; I can kind of see where she’s coming from, because it was definitely hearty, but it had a refreshingly light finish and good black fruit flavors too. This was paired with what was also my favorite food choice of the night–smoked eggplant with roast fig on some sort of bread vehicle (forgive me; they were pouring big glasses of wine with every round). It went so well with the wine. Denny made the comment after taking a bite then taking a drink of wine, “It’s like I’m still eating.”

Round 4: I have to admit this wine wasn’t very memorable for me. It was a merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blend. I think I was still excited about the malbec from Round 3. The food, however, was really good on this round too. It was Iowa elk crusted with espresso powder, cinnamon, and chocolate, cooked rare and sliced thinly on a pastry triangle. It was topped with a cumin-infused mayonnaise. Yum.

Round 5: They house-blended some wine for the final round, though I don’t remember exactly what the components were. It was a fruity mix that did well by breathing for the full two hours of the previous rounds. I didn’t have very much of it because I was getting a little over-wined by that point. As for food, this was the cheese-and-chocolate round. The three cheese they offered were a Spanish mahón (a medium-to-hard aged cheese with nutty flavors, sort of like asiago or aged manchego), a French bleu, and a softish Swiss gruyere. Matt also provided delicious pistachio chocolate truffles and some other nutty chocolates.

All in all, it was a delightful evening, and an excellent deal. They’re having another one next month that’s more food-centric, and it’s more expensive, so we’re not completely sure yet if we’re going. But it’s a definite possibility, and we had a delightful time. We bought a bottle of the sparkling Alsatian and ordered two bottles of the malbec (they were sold out).

Another interesting bit of fall-out is that we had a nice chat with the woman who’s the wine expert in the store, and it turns out she and her husband live in Iowa City. We have tentatively made friends and hope to socialize with them if it’s not one of those things that seems like a good idea in a wine haze but seems stupid later. Also, it is contingent on her husband being cool. But…the best part is that they have an 8-month-old baby, so I might have another baby to snuggle.