The first was the new Uva Rosso (a barrel aged Sangiovese). The wine was not as heavy or as oaked as I expected. It was light and fruity with a lovely complexity of flavors which were brought out by the variety of appetizer pastries, cheeses (including brie, goat, and blue which are among my favorites), and berries. There were enough pastries to make it difficult to save room for dinner, but we managed.
After the appetizer course came the first door prize drawing which I won. It was a heavy plastic bag intended to be used as a carry able ice bucket for a bottle of wine, a stemless wine glass, and a cork. The cork puzzled me--it was about six times the size of a regular wine cork and I could not figure out what it was intended to be used for. So, I unwrapped it and pitched it into our basket of collected corks thinking it would make a puzzling addition to our decorative cork containers that we seem to be collecting.
The next wine introduced was Pink Vine (a dry rose') which was not as dry as I expected. It was light and fruity enough to make me want to take home a bottle, which turned out not to be in the cards. The label has not yet been approved by the government, so it couldn't be sold. I told the lady who was serving us to be sure to tell whoever was in charge to send out an e-mail when the wine could be sold. With the wine was served a bistro salad--arugula, pine nuts, goat cheese, finely chopped celery and tomatoes encircled with a long slice of cucumber and lightly dressed with vinaigrette. It really brought out the taste of the wine as did the delicious brioche roll and butter served along with it. Had I known brioche would be served, I'd have saved the brie from the appetizer which is even better than butter with brioche.
During this second course, each couple (or maybe each woman) was given a jar of moisturizing cream. No explanation was made for this gift, but I am thinking they were maybe publicizing a locally made product. It will be fun to experiment with. The second drawing was also held which was for a high heel-shaped wine bottle holder. Had we won a second door prize everyone would have been infuriated (we each had a ticket), but this did not happen. With the exception of the last prize, I think we got the best of them.
The third wine introduced was Dos Vinos Tintos (barrel-aged Malbec/Tempranillo) which I expected to be way too dry, too heavy, and too oaked for our taste. But no. It was much lighter and nowhere near as oaky as I expected. The bouquet was amazing as well, and it set off the pecan crusted chicken breast with quinoa and roasted vegetables. The vegetables turned out to be zucchini which I normally love, but these were over-peppered and burned my mouth so bad I could not taste anything else. I gave them to TR who loved them. The rest of the dish was mild enough to help me recover my palate and be able to appreciate the wine as well as the lovely mushroomy cream sauce served over the chicken. Normally I'm not fond of chicken breast (thigh tastes better to me) which tends to be dry and this was no exception. This was my first experience with quinoa, though I've certainly seen it on the cooking shows I am addicted to. It also was pretty dry and bland, so I made as heavy use of the sauce as the amount I was given allowed. But, for this reason, the flavor of the wine shown through and made the course quite satisfying.
The third door prize was a hand-painted wine glass. I've never really seen the attraction of these, perhaps because, between TR's home and mine as well as numerous wine tastings, impromptu purchases of a bottle of cold wine and the need for glasses for a quick picnic while traveling, and the wine trails that always include a free glass, we have a huge collection of eclectic glasses which I think have a kind of rustic charm.
Because the dessert at the last dinner we had at D'Vine catered by Main Street Bakery, a flourless chocolate cake which was probably the richest, most melt-in-the-mouth dessert I've ever had, I was disappointed by last night's dessert, though TR enjoyed it more than last time. I wish I'd kept my knife because it was dense and tough, so cutting through it with the fork was difficult. TR had kept his knife, but he did not offer its use to me. On the menu, the dessert was just billed as "cake by Chef Pierre Thillier," so I'd had no idea what to expect and did not think to keep my knife. It was basically an under-risen flat pastry, just a tad over baked, with a very thin layer of what I decided was a pineapple cream inside. It was topped with a much more generous (and very good) layer of pastry custard cream and fresh berries. I think the reason TR loved it is the fresh berries--which he thinks is the finest dessert known to man... This course was accompanied by D'Vine's marvelous Decadence Chocolate Port, which we have bought before--it is a sweet, creamy accompaniment to any dessert, and it did save dessert for me--this wine can make anything taste better.
The final door prize was a bottle of any of the wines we tasted in this dinner, even the rose'. The owner of the winery said, he may not be able to sell it without the label, but he sure could give it away. I don't know which wine the people who won chose, but I'd have chosen the rose' with the port a close second choice. As it was, we bought a bottle of Yellow Rose (a green apple infused Chardonay), and Tropical Fruit Ambush (a new wine billed as a mango and pineapple infused white wine.) They are no longer carrying one of our favorite wines--Poolside Blanc (a cantaloupe-infused pinot) which we would have gotten two bottles of. All bottles last night were 25% off which is a great deal.
All told, we had a very nice evening and left quite satisfied. Our friends are welcome to join us at these dinners anytime. Just let me know if you are interested, and I'll forward the e-mails when I receive them.
