Lange Estate Winery and Vineyards at Everglades

The Vine and Dine events at the Rosen Centre Hotel are always fun. We enjoy the home grown atmosphere, and Chef Fred Vlachos rises to the challenge with some interesting dishes that I suspect are a stretch for him, but almost always delight.

Lange is a highly regarded Oregon Winery, and the winemaker, Jesse Lange was a cheerful host. The wines were sound, and matched the food for the most part (although pinot noir does not go with chocolate). It was a bit weird to have a wine dinner where three of fice wines were pinot noir. And I have to say that after drinking some great Burgundies, Oregon wines are… well, boring.

Still, a lovely evening, and a great bargain at $65.

Welcome Reception
Lange Pinot Gris ‘Reserve’ 2010
grapefruit, lime zest 87

First Course
Roasted Onion Soup with Smoked Rainbow Trout Sausage
Lange Three Hills Cuvee Chardonnay 2009
Lime, flint, butter, ash, long 92

Second Course
Grilled Coho Salmon
Rye Berry and Artichoke Ragout served with whole grain mustard sauce
Wow! The rye berries were the highlight of the dinner!
Lange Pinot Noir “Willamette Valley” 2009
Spritsy, burnt wood, leather, berries, cola, licorice, old world Pinot 89

Third Course
Cranberry and Port Sorbet

Fourth Course
Herb-Crusted Bison Strip Loin
Roasted Root Vegetables and Madeira Foie Gras sauce
Lange Pinot Noir “reserve” 2009
Baking spices, Fairly big and tannic, smoke, tannic, new world Pinot 90

Fifth Course
Chocolate Mousse and Ganache Tart
Port Soaked Figs
Lange Three Hills Cuvee Pinot Noir 2006
Fairly big, chocolatey, blackberry, earthy, black pepper 90

Adobe Road at Luma

Luma and Adobe Road put on what was perhaps the best food and wine pairing dinner I’ve ever attended. It was held in the private room in the basement, which had been cleared out to accommodate more than 30 guests at a single, large table (a collection of smaller tables “Tetrissed” together, according to our waiter).

The event was hosted by the very personable Kevin Buckler, a race car driver (and now manager of a racing company with 23 drivers). I had assumed Kevin just owned the winery as a trophy, but he’s actually very involved in all aspects of the operation, and determines the styles of the wines. He has some opinions about styles that are not in sync with the mainstream, but I completely agree with him. For example, he uses year old Chardonnay barrels on his Sauvignon Blanc, which produces a wine much more like an elegant white Bordeaux (think Laville Haut Brion) but with some new world fruit including citrus and pear.

We were stunned by how good the food was. It was like Luma had turned into a completely different restaurant. Apparently Chef Bernard devised the menu, but wasn’t there to prepare it. Whoever did it was very talented. And I’ve never had better food and wine matches, especially the first two courses. Martin and I brought some old Adobe Road from our sellers, which Kevin and those seated near us enjoyed comparing to the new vintages.

Great winery, great restaurant, and a great event for $140 a head, that’s for sure!

Stone Crab

2009 Adobe Road Dry Creek Sauvignon Blanc
Pear, citrus, 1 year old chardonnay barrels, vanilla, Ash, like a tropical Laville Haut Brion blanc, 92 pts

Rabbit Sausage

2008 Adobe Road Sonoma Chardonnay
Spice, vanilla, perfect balance, buttered toast, longest Chardonnay I’ve ever had, 95 pts

Smoked Salmon

2007 Adobe Road Sonoma Pinot Noir
Dust, dried cherries, black fruits 89 pts

Duck Confit

NV Adobe Road Red Line
Zin and Cab blend, bright berry fruit, hint of cinammon 85 pts

Braised Short-Rib Ravioli

2007 Adobe Road Knights Valley Babarian Lion Cabernet Sauvignon
Slight hint of geranium (sorbate), Great melted mint chocolate finish 91

2003 Adobe Road Cabernet Sauvignon (brought by Steve)
Meaty, mint, meat, terrific structure 95

2004 Adobe Road Cabernet Sauvignon (Martin)
Road tar, less tannic than 2003, Bordeaux like, gamy 93

Chocolate Mint Ganache

2007 Adobe Road Dry Creek Kemp Vineyard Syrah
Vanilla, game, berries, cinammon 90 pts

2008 Adobe Road Beckstoffer Cabernet Sauvignon
Balanced, peppery, vanilla, spices, surprisingly light and drinkable 90 pts

Scott Joseph’s Supper Club at Taps Wine, Beer and Eatery

Scott Joseph’s Supper Club is a group that meets at different restaurants around town. It’s usually a fairly upscale wine and dine experience, so I was a bit surprised when this event was posted at a wine and beer bar. But the intriguing thing was the format: five courses, each paired with a wine and beer. I thought it would be interesting to see which matched each course best, and indeed it was.

Most wine events start out with everyone attentive, and then devolve into chaos, where the participants can’t hear the moderators over the chatter in the room. This didn’t happen at Taps, due to the fact that the room was already in chaos at the start of the event! Fortunately, the servers were able to clue us in to what we were eating and drinking, because otherwise we would have had no idea! Still, it was a fun and entertaining event, and we enjoyed Chet and Loren and Martin’s company. I think this was the first event like this that Chet had been to, and he was a good sport about some new dining experiences.

The wines, beers and courses were:

Paco & Lola Albarino
Blue Point Toasted Lager
Bruschetta trio

Kendall Jackson Avant Chardonnay
Radeberger Pilsner
Tuna tartare

La Crema Pinot Noir
Xingu Black Beer
Cheese Quesadilla

Marques de Casa Concha Cabernet Sauvignon
Tommyknocker Maple Brown Beer
Italian sausage slider

Frontera Moscato
Magic Hat #9
Apricot Bread Pudding

The wines and beers were all good products, except for the Moscato, which was too low in acid to bother with. In each case I preferred the wine, but didn’t think it was well-selected to match the food. So all five times I found myself drinking the beer with the food. The last course was a particularly challenging match, and although I didn’t like the beer by itself, the match was masterful.

Several of us liked the black beer the best, although I would have liked something even closer to stout. Surprisingly, Linda–who isn’t a beer drinker at all–liked the yellow beers, particularly the first lager.

All in all, an interesting and fun (if noisy) experience.

2012 Central Florida Scottish Highland Games

Linda and I volunteered to help out at the 2012 Central Florida Scottish Highland Games. This was my second year, Linda’s first. Last year I staffed the will call table and scanned pre-printed online tickets. This year we worked the ticket booth at the lower gate, both selling tickets and scanning those who had purchased online.

It was a brisk morning, only 45 degrees when we started, but the kilted participants didn’t seem to mind. After a while Emilio joined us, but there wasn’t really enough for two people to do, let alone three. Traffic arrived in waves, with most participants on site by 10 am; then things slowed down until we went off shift at noon.

Linda and I strolled around the grounds of the festival, which is mostly about clan tents, bag-pipe marching, and a live performance stage. There’s a tent that sells beer, and the clan tents usually have whiskey, so sobriety is not a feature, although at noon everyone still seemed sober.

The games mostly consist of throwing heavy objects. Some, such as hurling, seem particularly dangerous, since there’s nothing preventing an errant hurl into the crowd. We gave it a wide berth, and went to find some lunch. There were a broad selection of traditional Scottish foods, such as haggis, gyros and tacos. We settled on chicken-on-a-stick, which was good last year, but a bit undercooked this year, perhaps due to the cold.

Then we headed home to warm up!

Lemony Hummus

This recipe comes from Scott Joesph’s blog.

Make 2 cups

15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
3 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon paprika, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth, scraping sides of bowl.

Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika. Cover and refrigerate up to a week.

The Battle of Epoisses

Epoisses is a stinky French cheese that people either love or hate. We love it. A few years ago, in France, I had the opportunity to try two types side by side. One was much better than the other. But which was which? I couldn’t remember.

This month I saw both brands at Whole Foods, and bought them so we could settle it once and for all.

The Berthaut is the better one. It has a less pungent nose, and a rich creamy taste. Its consistency is a bit sticky, though.

The Germain has a more ammonia-like nose, and a bitter finish. However it has a nice soft butter consistency.

Epoisses should be served at room temperature, although its runny nature can make it a challenge to keep it on a plate. In the US they cost over $25, but in France they were only a few Euros. Also, the US version has, by law, been cold stored for several months, which definitely doesn’t improve it.