Press Room
Colorado Mountain Winefest: Lunch with the state enologist at Wine Country Inn
By Bronwyn Long, Colorado Wine Examiner
There's something almost magical about sitting in the shadow of Mt. Garfield and the Book Cliffs in Colorado Wine Country, surrounded by Merlot grapes on the vine, having lunch with a few fellow wine-lovers, and learning about food and wine pairings from the Colorado State Enologist Steve Menke. The place was Palisade's Wine Country Inn and the occasion was "Lunch, Wine, and Vine Experience," a seminar that helped launch the 20th Annual Colorado Mountain Winefest on Friday, September 16, 2011.
Course 1: Menke welcomed diners with glasses of Black Bridge Winery Pinot Noir and Canyon Wind Cellars Pinot Grigio, which were paired with a tossed green salad with a citrus vinaigrette and an antipasti platter. The group spent several minutes tasting individual elements in the salad and on the platter with each wine, appreciating how well each wine matched – or did not match – with each flavor and texture.
Menke described the organic way that cuisine co-develops with wine. Locally sourced food and wine support each other and pair naturally. The ingredients create synergy. Most of the ingredients served at the lunch seminar were produced locally, from the vegetables to the wine.
Menke encouraged diners to contemplate the before and after: how, when wine is presented first (as is often the case), it can be a different sensory and flavor experience than when the food is presented first. For example, sipping the Pinot Grigio before taking a bite of salad brought out the fruit component in the wine, while sipping it after taking a bite of salad reduced its acid component.
Course 2: The main course arrived, Two Rivers Winery's newly bottled 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon, paired with Grilled Herb Pork Tenderloin, Bowtie Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce, Grilled Polenta, and Asparagus. The wine showed very well with the pork, with the complex flavors enhancing one another.
After the entrée, Menke led diners into the surrounding vineyard to for a "berry sensory evaluation." Together the group picked Merlot grapes from the vine, examined and tasted the grapes, appreciating how they were not yet ready for harvest. While they tasted sweet, their seeds were green and bitter, rather than brown and toasty, which is an indication of ripeness. Other indications are friable skin that comes apart with chewing; the grapes we tasted had intact skin, another sign that the time for harvest had not yet arrived.
Course 3: Desert Moon Vineyards Shiver ice-style wine capped the meal, paired with the Wine Country Inn signature dessert, Palisade Peach Bread Pudding with Caramel, finished with Prosecco-Peach Schnapps Glacé and Ice Cream. It was the perfect ending to a perfect lunch on a perfect Colorado day. Hard to improve on that!
Following lunch, diners headed to afternoon and evening festivities hosted by wine guru Evan Faber and chef Kevin Kidd from Boulder's SALT – A Bistro.
Sláinte!