Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Grove Winery World of Flavor Dinner

What a night.  My wife April and I just had one of the best nights out we have had in a while.  It started off with a wonderful surprise from RedWineDiva with tickets to the World of Flavors Dinner at Grove Winery.  Grove Winery is located in Gibsonville, NC and this was their first of what I hope to be annual dinner pairing some of their wines with foods from different wine regions. 

The night was kicked off with a melody of music from all the different wine regions being showcased by Gary Brunotte.  While Gary is an accomplished jazz pianist he brought his accordion and transported us to each of the wine regions with traditional and not so traditional music.  Some of the diners were even moved to dance.

Award winning Chef Mitchell Nicks of Muse Catering started us off with a Trip to France where he paired Grove's unoaked Chardonnay with a Neufchatel Cheese, Tomatoes and Crisp Prosciutto stuffed artichoke heat. This French Chablis-style of Chardonnay with its clean finish complicated the delicate flavors of the artichoke hearts.   Then it was off to Spain with a Catalan Tomato Bread that was paired with the Tempranillo.  I especially loved the white anchovy.  This estate grown grape is the primary grape in Spanish Rioja wines and I am a big fan.  Grove does a great job of capturing the traditional Spanish style of this grape. Love it. We took home three bottles after dinner.



There were three main courses from Germany, Italy and North Carolina.  The Grove Traminette, a German style of grape was paired with a German style braised pork shoulder atop a bed of German Sauerkraut.  We were very surprised by the strong floral nose and honeysuckle notes of this wine and it paired nicely with the tender white pork and kraut.  The Italian style Sangiovese known best for the Italian Chianti was a perfect match for a very traditional Tortellini Bolognese adding the perfect touch of smokiness to the dish.   Finally we came back to North Carolina with a wonderfully slow braised boneless short rib that was braised and paired with the Grove’s Norton.  A native American grape, Norton held up well to the richness of the short ribs with its slight tartness and big fruit flavors. 


Thank you John and Max for a great time.  I highly recommend Grove Winery for some of the best wines North Carolina has to offer.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Fall is in the air

Last night's temps were in the mid 50's giving way to my deep desire to fire up the charcoal grill.  The meat: fresh ground chicken mixed with local ground beef and lamb. Mix in a bit of homemade chili spice rub and the result was some of the juices flavorful burgers I have ever made.  It felt good to be standing over a fire tending to flare ups and inhaling the aroma of flamed grilled burgers.  Add to that a local Merlot from Chatham Hill Winery from Morrisville and it does not get much better.