Review Of Stags’ Leap Winery Dinner Event

[Written by Mikaela Ian Pearman]

A five-course dinner with wine paired with each course sounds like an amazing evening, right? Well, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t.

On Monday night, I had the pleasure of attending an intimate, exclusive dinner featuring wines from the Stags Leap District and Napa Valley made by Stags’ Leap Winery with representatives from restaurants and hotels around the island.

The dinner was held in the private room at Port O’Call, hosted by Devin Larking of Treasury Wine Estates, on behalf of Stags’ Leap Winery. It was organized by Kevin Rhyno of Burrows & Lightbourne.

After brief introductions, we were escorted from the bar up to the private room where Devin talked a bit about the history of the winery and the wines. With just 14 people, I expected it to be a quiet and relatively civilized evening. But what I failed to realise was the Food & Beverage crowd are a rowdy bunch and I was in for a good night.

The dinner began with a glass of Stags’ Leap Winery Chardonnay 2013 with a Seared Diver Scallop “BLT” with bacon jam, butter poached lettuce and tomato confit.

This dish was a great way to start the evening. The wine was crisp and refreshing with the creamy scallop and the smoky, spicy bacon. I didn’t care for the lettuce or tomato as they didn’t add to the dish.

The next course was Seared Five-Spice Rubbed Salmon with carrot and star anise puree paired with Stags’ Leap Winery Merlot 2012. The salmon was perfectly seared with crispy skin and the puree was decadent and warm from the spice– an excellent dish with a rich, full body Merlot.

Porcini-dusted Roasted Beef Tenderloin with oyster mushroom cream and blue cheese hush puppies was the next course. And it was as delicious as it sounds! The beef was cooked rare and even though I prefer mine medium, the flavor was incredible. The combination of the beef, earthy mushrooms and the melt in your month hush puppies was incredible.

Now this course was interesting because we had two wines – Stags’ Leap Winery Petit Syrah 2010 and Stags’ Leap Winery ‘Ne Cede Malis’ Estate Petit Syrah 2001.

I can’t recall ever drinking wine aged that long so I was very excited. On its own, the ‘Ne Cede Malis’ was an excellent drinking wine with a velvety finish. The Petit Syrah on its own was OK but paired beautifully with the dish, the better out of the two to pair with a meal.

The fourth course of the evening was Roasted Breast of Long Island Duck with pecan puree and watercress. It was paired with Stags’ Leap Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 and Stags’ Leap Winery ‘The Leap’ Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2012. I’m not a massive duck fan and I’m not at all a fan of rare duck, but it was well seasoned and the puree was luscious.

The wines were incredible, to say the least. As they both had the same vintage, I figured they would be similar in taste. I was wrong. The Leap has earthy aromatics with a spiciness that was welcomed while the Cabernet Sauvignon had more of a mellow, but still pleasing taste. Of the two, I preferred the boldness of The Leap.

Finally, for dessert, we were served Flourless Chocolate Cake with pistachio mousse and white chocolate crème anglais. This dessert was light while still being decadent and not sweet – the ideal ending to a rich, wine filled dinner.

I thoroughly enjoyed the food, the wine and the company, thus making it a wonderful evening. A big thank you to Kevin for organizing, Devin for being a gracious host and Port O’Call for the fabulous food.

#Cuisine #FoodReviews #GoodNews #MikaelaIanPearmanReports

Category: All, Entertainment, News