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The Kitchen
September 2012 Wine Flight and Menu
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Arrival Wine
2008 Argyle Sparkling Wine, Brut, Willamette Valley
$14.00 glass / $50.00 bottle
This sparkling wine comes out of northern Oregon, but you could swear it was from northern France. Using traditional Champagne techniques such as sur lie aging for three years, this blend of about two-thirds Pinot Noir and one-third Chardonnay is superbly balanced with mild bready aromas along with fresh pears, white peaches and Mandarin orange. It’s creamy mousse delivers more fruit flavors with poached pears, crisp apple, Meyer lemon and freshly sliced orange along with honeysuckle and mineral notes. Rated 90 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.
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First Course
A Soup of Sweet Corn and Onion
with Fava Bean-English Pea Flan, Iberico Ham,
Lardo and Chorizo
To be paired with
2011 Nisia Verdejo “Old Vines”, Rueda, Spain
$10.00 glass / $36.00 bottle
This wine is reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc, yet distinctly its own wine and style. Made from 50-year-old vines in central Spain. A runaway favorite with our staff at a recent tasting, this Verdejo has enticing smells of white peaches, grapefruit and flowers leading into a crisp, citrusy white wine with beautiful flavors cantaloupe, lemon, apricot, grapefruit and chalk. With our sweet corn and onion soup: delicious!
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Second Course
Lobster ‘Pot Pie’ and Small Vegetables
with Black Truffle Butter, Sherry
and Warmed Frisée
To be paired with
2011 Grassi Ribolla Gialla , Napa Valley
$13.00 glass / $48.00 bottle
Ribolla Gialla has had its fanatical adherents in its native Fruili in northeastern Italy for over 800 years. It is just now being discovered here in California (only one vineyard currently grows it here). Having tasted this one made by winemaker Robbie Meyer, we can see why people in Europe wanted to keep this secret for themselves. The bouquet is of intense tropical fruit and floral notes accompanied by sweet caramel, flint, lemon and stone fruits. The mouth-feel is opulent with pears, peaches, lemon, a peppery-cinnamon stick spiciness and ending with a crisp and clean finish.
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Intermezzo
Sushi • Sashimi • Crudo
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Third Course
Kitchen Cioppino with a Fish ‘To Be Determined’,
Prawns, Rock Shrimp, Scallop-Tomato Salad
and Arugula Mash
To be paired with
2009 Londer Chardonnay, Ritchie Vineyard, Sonoma Coast
$14.00 glass / $52.00 bottle
This month’s Cioppino course is front-loaded with flavor and we have needed a Chardonnay that could keep pace with. The Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wines (which awarded it 95 points) had this to say: “We have been fans of Larry Londer for a good many years, and wines like this carefully composed Chardonnay are the reasons why. It deftly combines a good deal of rich oak with plenty of vital young fruit, and its layered expression of apples and pears, sweet lemons and toast comes with a lift of acidy pertness. It is full on the palate and shows terrific stamina at the finish.”
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Fourth Course
Piedmontese Beef Tenderloin and Crayfish Thermidor
with ‘Fatted Mushrooms’ and Grilled Beef Jus
To be paired with
2007 Veraison Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
$22.00 glass / $85.00 bottle
This Cabernet Sauvignon comes from the owners of the Stagecoach Vineyard which supplies over eighty different wineries with top quality wine grapes. Making their own wine from from selected lots, the 2007 Veraison Cabernet Sauvignon an abundance of dark berry fruit aromas including black cherry, blackberry, currant and blueberry accented with coffee bean, bittersweet chocolate and anise. It possesses a supple mouth feel and flavors of vanilla, the aforementioned dark berries, minerals, tobacco leaf, chocolate and ripe tannins. While loaded with flavors, this wine still has an elegance to it.
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Dessert
Bittersweet Chocolate Creamed Tart,
Chocolate Chip-Vanilla Bean Sabayon, Market Fruit
and Walnut Butter Crunch Ice Cream
To be paired with
2008 Familia Zuccardi “Malamado” Malbec “Port”, Mendoza, Argentina
$10.00 glass / $36.00 bottle
From Mendoza, Argentina comes this little gem of a dessert wine, a Malbec “Port” that pairs wonderfully with our dessert of chocolate and fresh fruit. We have a nose of cherry and oak spice as well as plums and marmalade along with a medium body and complex notes of cinnamon, toasted almonds, figs, plums and red cherry. It is delicious!
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September 2012
Demonstration Dinner
Presented by Chefs Nancy Zimmer, Randall Selland
and Chef de Cuisine Noah Zonca
A Soup of Sweet Corn and Onion
with Fava Bean-English Pea Flan, Iberico Ham,
Lardo and Chorizo
Lobster ‘Pot Pie’ and Small Vegetables
with Black Truffle Butter, Sherry
and Warmed Frisée
Sushi • Sashimi • Crudo
Kitchen Cioppino with a Fish ‘To Be Determined’,
Prawns, Rock Shrimp, Scallop-Tomato Salad
and Arugula Mash
Piedmontese Beef Tenderloin and Crayfish Thermidor
with ‘Fatted Mushrooms’ and Grilled Beef Jus
Bittersweet Chocolate Creamed Tart,
Chocolate Chip-Vanilla Bean Sabayon, Market Fruit
and Walnut Butter Crunch Ice Cream
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