Winemaker Dinner – Picazo717 & Kiona Wines

Mar 16 2010

The evening started out with smiles on friendly faces & the smell of good things cooking……

Entering Picazo7Seventeen in Prosser at around 5:45 we were greeted right away with a smile & a glass of wine along with an invitation to dive right in to the appetizers.  Chef Frank Magana and his staff had everything under control. The Chef himself was out front, greeting guests along with his staff, making introductions and was very cool and composed the entire evening.

The smell from the kitchen was tantalizing, I could smell all sorts of good things cooking and I was ready to begin.

From here the Chef introduced himself, along with Scott & Vicky Williams, owners of Kiona Winery on Red Mountain.  The next 2 hours were filled with great food, great wine & great conversation with excellent people. I also had the pleasure of meeting Melodie Smith (@cellardoorgirl), the winner of our latest contest!

Here’s what was on the menu:

Course One: Strawberry, Cucumber & Feta Salad – The taste was crisp, fresh & light. Everything mixed well together, & I was left with wanting more strawberries. The feta cheese was a great touch, and tasted fantastic. The dressing mixed with the feta created a texture not to my liking, but my taste buds were happy anyway.

Wine Pairing: 2008 Kiona Estate Dry Riesling – The citrus notes here paired nicely with the salad. Green apple, pear, and a lemon/orange peel aroma were nicely presented. The slight “effervescence” of the wine along with the fresh cucumber in the salad were perfect together.

Course Two: Goat Cheese Souffle – Something I’ve never had, nor thought of trying that suprised me. It came served hot, in an espresso cup. The breaded outside had a wonderful spice to it, then I hit the warm goat cheese center…I could have gone back for seconds on this one.

Wine Pairing: 2005 Estate Chardonnay – When it comes to chard, i like ‘em steely and crisp. This wine took me by surprise. The slightest hint of oak yet lacking the “buttery” complexion that I try to steer clear of.  Turns out the winemaker aged this particular blend in both oak and steel, with steel being the prominent device. As for pairing with the souffle, the spice in the crust was a good friend to the light oak in the wine.

Course Three: Alligator Jambalaya – Yes, you read it correctly, Alligator! I had no idea what to expect here, but here’s the result. The gator had the consistency (and slight taste) of fish! The flavor is almost impossible to describe, but it was damn good! The jambalaya also had a spicy sausage with rice and other additions. An eclectic mix of flavors were a complete success here.

Wine Pairing: Kiona 2006 Estate Lemberger – A wine that holds it’s own with a blend of spice & old earth. A warm, soft body with currant and dark cherry flavors. Paired fantastically with the spicy sausage in the jambalaya, but was a little bit tough on our poor friend Mister Gator.

Intermezzo: Blackberry Sorbet – A nice palate-cleansing, chilled blackberry sorbet.  I’m a sucker for dark berry anything, & this did not disappoint.

Main Course: Rack of Lamb with Apple-Mint Chutney – Hoh-boy, this was a real treat! I love a good rack (of lamb) and this was no exception! Crisp on the outside, succulent and juicy on the inside. This Chef knows his meats! The risotto as well, was perfectly cooked for my tastes, slightly sticky but not at all hard or grainy, with plenty of flavor. Well done Chef!

Wine Pairing: Kiona 2003 Estate Cabernet & Kiona 2003 Estate Syrah – This was a close battle, but in the end the syrah won by an inch. Both wines full bodied, keeping in check with the lamb. The cab showed me cassis, with cherry-chocolate earthy goodness. The syrah complemented the lamb a little better in my case, blowing a little spicy-tobacco over my nicely cooked lamb.

Dessert: Riesling Poached Pear with Gorgonzola Sauce -  As if we even needed (or had room for) dessert, out came the final presentation of the evening.  First of all, if you had told me I’d be eating alligator tonight, I would have told you to pack your bags. If you had told me I’d be eating a poached pear with gorgonzola cheese and balsamic vinaigrette as a dessert, I would have told you to get outta town. Chef Magana stretched the limits of my palate yet again with this dessert and succeeded! Tasted sweet, and juicy, with the gorgonzola mixing with the balsamic nicely and quite honestly, if you had told me it was cream and chocolate and I would have believed you.

Wine Pairing: 2008 Late Harvest Riesling – Dessert wine normally completes my cycle from “a little buzzed” to “okay, someone get him a cab, and I mean the kind you drive, not drink”. The sugars, combined with the alcohol just wreak havoc on my bloodstream, but let’s be honest, it tastes really good!  This wine had what I was after, and paired wonderfully with the pair pear. A nice hint of grassy lemon and citrus, cut through some of the sweetness and let me enjoy this particular wine.

All in all the evening was a great one! Lots of good times with good people. For a quick look into the evening check out my video, here!

Cheers!

#SocialWine: An interview in the twitterverse…

Mar 3 2010

I had the pleasure tonight of being interviewed by Craig Sutton of Ikon Marketing Group here in Kennewick, WA. He’s on a mission to get peeps on “the Twitter” involved in a project called #SocialWine

Here’s the transcript of tonight’s Twitterstream:

5:58pm -

Craig: Welcome to #socialwine tweetchat with special guest @palatebomb. Need help? Click http://ow.ly/1dY2H

Craig:  @stephenhartley is the owner of Palatebomb.com, a wine website with the mantra “Raise your glass, not your nose“.

Craig:  What are you drinking right now?

Me:  ATM I am enjoying a glass of ‘07 Sagelands Vineyard “Freddie’s Blend”…a wine from the Columbia valley. It was left over by @sdub101 from @nikkiceline’s baby shower:-) If you’ve never tried, it’s a red blend from 6 varietals. Very smooth, with rich berry, and a VERY floral nose (smell).

Craig:  At 20 something I drank Riesling. Are 20+ers drinking more sophisticated than when I was 20, or is that profile still holding?

Me:  In todays youth, the “sweet is safe” idea still holds, however it’s not hard to help a 20-something into something new.  A lot of 20ish are really enjoying red blends now as the wineries get more and more adventurous in making them:-)

Craig:  How does PalateBomb help its readers understand wine?

Me:  With PalateBomb currently undergoing a “re-birth”, that answer is still being formed;-) However I will say one thing: PalateBomb’s writers are 20ish in age, their writing styles are all different, and they all compliment each other well. We strive to take the “snobbery and mystery” out of the wine experience. By having our writers just “tell it like it is” with very little editing involved, we reach a whole new group of people who were before intimidated by the whole idea of wine in the first place.  To round-up that answer, we’re not only trying to help people understand wine, but also just show them how easy it is to enjoy!

Craig:  Who inspires your wine passion?

Me:  Lol, I honestly have to say my passion comes from growing up around it with my father, however my passion to really get into it comes from watching people like @garyvee just go out there and enjoy it and have SO much fun! He really inspires me to make something like PalateBomb grow and explode (no pun intended) into an informative, and FUN source for today’s youth.

Amber Fries:  Besides using Twitter and Facebook, what other avenues should wineries use to tap into this hot consumer group?

Craig:  @amberfries great question, ill get involved in that one as well, ill let @palatebomb have a swing first.

Me:  Honestly Amber, Twitter/Facebook is an amazing source to reach a huge niche in today’s youth. Other avenues? You’re already doing what I would suggest.  Bridge the gap between social media and just social.  With @desertwindwine’s “wine-tweetups” Looks like you’re already doing just that:-)  Check this out tweeps if you don’t know what I’m talking about: http://bit.ly/8YayvS

Craig:  I would add that it is also about how you use those tools, good preparation for engagement is everything in social media.

Craig:  When wine tasting, what do you look for – your favorite, something new, price, value?

Me:  When I (or most that I talk to) shop for wine, the gut reaction is to shoot for a favorite, pop the cork. Enjoy.  Sometimes it’s hard to break out of the box and try something new, but just do it! It’s so easy to find great wine here in WA state that you shouldn’t be too afraid of just trying a new bottle. Or, if budget allows, when you’re going to grab a favorite, grab a stranger to your shelves too.  You might be surprised:-) One thing to keep in mind though, price is important to a group like us 20ish. If it’s too pricy, odds are, we won’t be buying anytime soon, even if it’s really good.

Craig:  With Q6 in mind, whats a good price point?

Me:  Speaking just for myself I am comfy in the 20-40 $ range. If it’s much more than that I get buyers remorse after I purchase, which sort of spoils the whole idea of wine. It’s for fun and friends, not for worrying if I can make the next car payment:-)

Craig:  What does @palatebomb do for wine restaurants here in WA Wine Country?

Me:  Hopefully, as we get back in the swing of doing reviews of specific wines, and start referencing where those wines can be found, it will help let peeps make an (informed) decision at the table in bars/restaurants.

Craig:  I’m having a 20 something party, what wines should I serve?

Me:  Cater to the crowd! Have at least one sweet(er) white, a red blend (or 2), and a Syrah or Merlot for easy drinking.

Craig:  Are labels important when choosing a wine?

Me:  Absolutely not, some of the best wine’s I’ve experienced are in “not-so-attractive” labels.  However, a lot of peeps (myself included) are swayed by labels. Wineries take note: classics are great, but when I’m browsing you need to catch my eye!

Craig:  Thank you for being involved in today’s #socialwine, next week @onerichwineguy will be our guest then @desertwindwine’s own Greg Fries!

-7:02pm

Editors Note: I’ve edited the layout and removed the ending hash-tag in each tweet to make it more readable here, but not the content itself. #socialwine is an open forum “tweetchat” and others did participate that i did not include here.  Check out the original by searching the hash-tag “socialwine” via Twitter.com!