Our Winemaker's Dinner at Barona Steakhouse was a huge success. It was sold-out! We had almost double the number of guests than originally planned for the private dining room. The gourmet dinner that Chef Duncan prepared to pair with our wines was excellent. Our wines received rave reviews from the dinner guests. The food was beautifully presented with artistic flair. I was too busy with the guests to take pictures of each course, now I wish I had because each course looked like a piece of art. I am thankful for the pictures that Holly, Michael's sweet and beautiful cousin, took for us while we were busy.
Let me savor one more time the delicious meal that was served. For a muse bouche, we had a salmon mousse in a puff pastry. It was paired well with our white wine and white zinfandel.
Then we had a surf-and-turf carpaccio of Ahi steak with olive tapenade and avocado. We paired it with our 2007 Zinfandel. The Ahi was fresh and delicious. The spiciness and rich fruit flavor from our Zinfandel went down so well with the rare Ahi and the olive tapenade. I will definitely take a bottle of our Zinfandel next time we go to Hawaii.
While I was still savoring the Ahi with our Zinfandel, the mixed green salad with warm St. Andre cheese was served. I still had some white wine left in the other glass and decided to drink with the salad. It was a perfect choice.
Then the server started to pour our 2007 Merlot. I had a sip of the Merlot and remembered why it has repeatedly been a sold-out wine at the Barona Steakhouse. The richness of the Merlot fruit blended beautifully with the natural oak flavor, as a result, the wine is balanced and smooth on the palate. I need to save a few bottles for next year wine competitions. Maybe, it will win some medals.
I hope I can find a similar recipe for the Roasted Buttersquash and Heirloom Apple soup. We all loved it so much. Surprisingly, it paired so well with the white Zinfandel and the Merlot too.
By the time, I finished the soup. I was half-full already. It was time to get up and started the raffles and prizes. The two tables in the main dining room kept winning all of the prizes! Teri and Sherry were two lucky ladies as they celebrated their birthdays together.
We were then served with the main course of our choice. I had the NY steak because I remembered how good the steak was last time we ate at the steakhous. It was perfectly prepared as I had requested: Medium with bright pink in the middle and no running blood. It was divine with our 2007 Syrah and 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon even though we had intended to pair with the 2007 Zinfandel. I told Shari and Mike who live next door to us that our Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon were planted right next to their property line. The rest of the guests loved our 2007 Zinfandel. Two tables each asked to order one bottle extra to have with their dinner. All of the red wines that we featured at the dinner had really nice color, nice leg and their aromas were beautifully released as I inhaled the fruit character of each wine.
Even though the servers were kept busy the whole evening pouring one wine after the other and exchanging wine glasses continually, we only allowed 1-oz pour for each wine and a moderate amount of wine during dinner. So nobody in our party had too much to drink. Everyone tried to keep their head clear for some chance at the slot machines or blackjack tables after dinner.
I had to get a doggie bag for the rest of the steak with the incredible baby potatoes, carrots and winter vegetables because I wanted to save some room for the dessert. The chef had informed me that he would use a bottle of our Port wine to make the grilled fig tart.
For the grand finale, the servers brought out tiny dessert wine glasses. These people really know how to get to my heart: they use the correct glasses for our Port wine! When the dessert plate was presented, I was in heaven. The fig tart was so fresh and with perfect sweetness from the fruit and the Port wine. The fresh fig halves were delicious. The vanilla ice cream and butterscotch sauce that was drizzled around the fig tart completed a picture of perfection in food artistry. I didn't detect any extra sugar in the tart. Its sweetness was so natural without any hint of added sugar. Do you think the pastry chef would be willing to share the tart recipe if I asked?
The evening flowed like a dream. Before we knew it, it was almost 10 pm! We started at 6 pm. Time flied when we had so much fun. It was simply the best wine-food pairing dinner that we ever participated. We pinched ourselves to make sure it was our OWN winemaker's dinner featuring our very own Mahogany Mountain wines.
I feel extremely humble and grateful for the excellent efforts that the Chef, Sous-chef, pastry chef, the restaurant manager and the three servers have put into the dinner. They represented the finest and the best in their profession. What a team! They made the evening a magical culinary and wine tasting event for all of us. I am so glad we have such a fine-dining place to go to in the back country!
Have a Happy Holidays! May you have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year surrounded with lots of Love (and good wine!).
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