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.
