by Julian Schultz
julian@oxfordwineroom.com
The magician was Dr. Earle Halsband, assisted by Dr. Tom Leverault, with
wifely suggestions from Carole Halsband and Grace McGonigle Leverault. Sensitive
palates, wine knowledge, and furrowed brows were required to so successfully
organize the third annual wine dinner -- after a hiatus of seven years -- that
featured the prestige wines of Napa Valley.
Instrumental to the dinner’s success was the well trained, lightning
fast, precision efficient, white-gloved waitstaff, directed by Club House
Manager Ann Messina and Dining Room Manager Patricia Bullock. Executive Chef
David Moore, Sous Chef Michael Bernier and their knights of the kitchen,
likewise, contributed to the magic of the dinner that elicited spontaneous
acclaim at evening’s end from every corner of the dining room.
We were hardly settled in the plush chairs of the foyer when a parade of
waitstaff served Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc (white wine from white grapes)
Sparkling Wine 1998 to the 75 attendees. The parade continued with our being
served delicately seasoned, awesomely delicious hors d’ oeuvres, each one
perfectly compatible with the bubbly.
I was introduced most flatteringly by Dr. Halsband and was asked to
comment on the bubbly: “palate-piquing pinpoint sparkle with citrus/apple
flavors with undertone of lime, nuts and yeast; zesty, lively after the swallow
with moderately long aftertaste. Excellent reception food sparkler.”
The hors d’ oeuvres: small golden savory buckwheat pancake, topped with
thick cream and caviar; spider roll with crabmeat sushi; quail in crisp pastry
with strawberry preserve and balsamic syrup.
The waitstaffers, solicitous of our pleasure, were constantly at elbow,
offering more hors d’ oeuvres and wine. I noted everyone around me
enthusiastically accepted seconds, thirds, and, trencher people, fourths of the
food.
As I am wont to do in unfamiliar surroundings when I am to discuss the
food and wines, I surveyed the group, seeking to ascertain their demeanor,
cognizant that my remarks would interrupt their socializing and conversations.
How would I be received? Friendly? Indifferently? Impatiently? With yawns? No
need for concern: I was treated with courtly considerate conduct; the group
accepted my evaluation of the Schramsberg and paired canapés with well-mannered
politeness and apparent interest.
Reflecting on the wine dinner: It was singular and elegant. I am more
accustomed to wine dinners at commercial restaurants, where the action is
customers in, customers out, payment by cash, check or credit card, thank you,
goodbye.
At private country clubs, where I have been a guest, dining is different
from commercial restaurants: The ambience is genteel, the social interaction
among members is familial, dining is leisurely, the food and wine – well, they
are acceptable enough I guess.
But nothing so mundane with the food and wine at the Mt. Pleasant C. C.
in Boylston, Massachusetts!
The gourmet wine dinner this evening was not a revelation, however,
inasmuch I was wine dinner speaker there two years ago. The dinner then was…
great. The dinner this night was …superb, as fine a wine dinner as I have ever
attended.
And like then, along with also invited guests Drs. Boris and Luba
Blinder, the club members seemed to extend themselves to make us feel
comfortable – unlike at other country clubs where I was treated with
perfunctory civility…nothing warmer.
Yes, the dinner this evening was spectacular; the food exquisitely
prepared, efficiently served, and the variety of wines matched expertly to the
food courses. The wines, through the thorough research of Dr. Halsband, assisted
by Dr. Tom Leverault, were a banners-flying-high triumph for the wine dinner.
Soup course: cold purple Peruvian potato soup, topped with lavender thick
cream. Consort wine, Cakebread Cellars Sauvignon Blanc 2002, properly poured
prior to the soup’s being served, expectedly upheld the fine reputation of
Cakebread Cellars with aromas of sweet grass, apples, citrus, with a nuance of
lemon. Nicely balanced with fruit acids and affording smooth swallow and
moderately long aftertaste, the wine seemed sharply accented when tasted with
the mild, somewhat sweet soup.
I
suggested that we neutralize our palates with water and/or bread and taste
again. Yes, the wine returned to perfection. So, the wine/food compatibility for
this taster’s palate was not 100 percent at first – maybe a most
acceptable 90 percent; each on its own, however, was 100 percent.
Conscious of proper decorum, I contained my exuberance as I noted the
great Stag’s Leap Chardonnay 2001 being poured to the appetizer course of
angel hair pasta with mild smoked salmon (lox) and English peas, tossed with
leek infused cream. Superlative pairing here generated murmurs of delight from
our table and from those adjacent.
The chardonnay’s assertive aromas and flavors of green apples, citrus-y
pineapple, and vanilla with subtlety of wood, toast, nuts, and smoke added
complexity to the delectable and innovative pasta/smoked salmon preparation.
This chard will only improve for the next five years.
Two red wines, affording an excellent learning experience when tasted
with the same dish, had the wine cognoscenti among us gurgling with pleasure and
anticipation – I perhaps loudest among them.
Chappellet
Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 and Arrowood Merlot 1999, among the glitterati of West
Coast red wines, had us rolling our eyes with ecstasy as we sipped one and then
the other, trying to determine which we preferred when tasted alone. I suggested
we memorize our impressions of the wines to compare again with the matched meat
course.
Came now the biggest, thickest, tastiest, most tender, most succulent
beef-juiced filet mignon of my long life’s dining experience. Mentally
computing size, height and weight, I was convinced this was enough for three
meals. I took home two-thirds of it and exulted with them for the succeeding two
evenings’ dinners.
Tra! Tra! The entrée with the fancy name: seared tournedo of beef
tenderloin, topped with foie gras, stuffed shiitake mushroom, over potato
pancake, with caramelized Burgundy carrots, and accented with sauce of
Chappellet Cabernet Sauvignon reduction. The lords and knights of the kitchen
deserve medals of culinary honor for the unbelievably delicious filet.
To
attack the filet with gusto was a daunting challenge to already surfeited
stomachs, which we courageously attempted to meet. There were losers: I observed
that my unfinished filet was not the only one in happy take-home containers
among the departing guests at evening’s end.
Initially, I tasted with filet with the lush-berried, full-flavored Arrowood Merlot. The wine seemed questionably tannic and rather acidic for a faster-maturing wine already 3½ years old. After some palate neutralizing water and bread, as suggested, the filet then gave the merlot an expanded dimension to excellence with aromas and flavors reminiscent of blackberries and currants, black pepper, some cedar; and now the initial questionable fruit acidity and soft tannins were in balance with the fruit of the wine. The merlot finished smooth in the swallow and pleasant in the aftertaste. Nice accompaniment to the filet, nice selection by Drs. Halsband and Leverault.
The Chappellet cab was not wanting in this pairing with the filet
– the understatement of this year in my customary exaggerated writing. Simply
put: out-and-out sensational when tasted alone and with the food. Its aromas and
flavors leaped from glass to nose and from glass to lips with big citrus-y
fruit, cherries, sweet oak, sweet/tart green apples, and was underlaid with
hints of tobacco, cedar, and leather. This big wine is not nearly at its
potential: Within five to 10 years, the cab will be worthy of the Olympian gods
and of us less-worthy discriminating connoisseurs.
The dining room was buzzing with crosscurrents of enthusiastic
conversation. We were being treated to gourmet dining at its best.
Dr. Halsband obviously had been thorough in his research. Both wines
augmented the flavors of the filet; likewise, the wines were elevated to higher
complexity by the meat. Upon reflection, I would have preferred greater contrast
between the wines – perhaps a full-flavored red zinfandel or a robust petite
sirah as counterpoint to the cabernet sauvignon. There was a degree of sameness
with the merlot and cab; but this, really, is one man’s preference and is of
relatively little importance…the importance of being earnest about it, that
is. (Ok! OK! Oscar Wilde aficionados. I’m showing off.)
This triumphant dinner was far from over: Followed, a salad of tender
spring greens, tossed with Dijon mustard, accompanied by two dumpling-like goat
cheeses encrusted with pulverized walnuts. I skipped what I thought was
grrrrrrlic! that tainted the salad.
Those
of us who saved their red wines and thought to forgo the salad enjoyed an
additional treat of both cheese and wine; those of us who ate the salad and
hadn’t saved the wines – alas for them! Those of us who ate the strongly
seasoned salad and sipped the wines with the cheese – alas for them, too!
Grrrrlic! is murderous for palateers who enjoy the subtlety of a finely crafted
wine. Lecture over on garlic, which I abhor!
Wait! As Yogi Berra would say, it wasn’t over until it was over or
until the fat lady sang. Well, it wasn’t over and I didn’t see any fat
ladies at this dinner.
This unforgettable dinner regretfully, but of gastro-intestinal
necessity, ended with a super salad of fruits and cheeses: Farm Home Cheddar,
ash brushed goat cheese, triple cream Brie and Roquefort blue cheese;
strawberries, sliced apples, figs and grapes were the perfect accompaniment with
the cheese. And those of us who still had their red wines to savor with the
cheese variety – well, they had an adventure, flying and dining in the
culinary stratosphere.
Dr. Halsband laid a coup de grace on us! Dessert sweet wine of
Lolonis Late Harvest Chardonnay was the be-all and the end-all for the 75 of us
dining this night in the utopia of the Mt. Pleasant C. C.
Yes, dieters groaned this night – shhh! Don’t tell, but the groaners
groaned with delight -- (I perhaps the loudest!) as we ecstatically ate away on
everything-and-all, and likewise sipped away on everything-and-all. I assuaged
my guilt with the thought that “tomorrow is another day.”
Kudos to the staff responsible, in addition to the people already
mentioned, for bring to our tables this tour de force dining event.
Kitchen: Paul Van Slyke, Andrew Nutting, Brian Marhefka.
Waitstaff: Shawna Hurley, Cindy
Ringenbach, Jessica Casson, Sarah Malatos, Jessica Hurley, Caitlin Davis, Amanda
Malatos, Lauren Larcano.
Bus Staff: David Neely, Chad Goodmanson.
Bar Staff: Thomas Walsh, Bob Zorn.
Wine Pick: Dry Creek Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2000, around $22.
Blended with 20 percent Merlot. Assertive aromas and flavors of cherries,
blueberries, berries with nuances of cigar box, spice and sweet oak; balancing
fruit acids and soft tannins contribute to smooth swallow, long aftertaste and
age-worthiness. Classy wine for the fussy connoisseur.
Wine Pick: Errazuriz Chardonnay 2000, around $10. Full-bodied, rich and
expansive with aromas of papaya, pineapple, peach, floral accent; palate:
tropical fruits, ripe apples, toasted almond with hints of toast and vanilla;
rich, buttery, balanced, extended farewell. Super quality and price value.
Wine Pick: Trinchero Family Selection Merlot 1999, around $12. Nose: wild
cherry, red plum mingled with scents of herbal spice and oak toast. Cherry and
plum transfer to the palate and are met with hints of cinnamon and vanilla.
Despite 14 percent alcohol, the merlot is beautifully balanced, finishes
smoothly and lingers in the aftertaste. A bargain hunter’s bargain.
Victor Hugo Zinfandel 1999, around $19. Magnificent representation of zin:
Every element in sync -- big fruit, balancing pepper, soft tannin, smooth
texture, zesty acid; soft layered fruit, reminiscent of blueberries and
cherries, underlaid with spice, raisins, plums, toasty oak. I’ve never been
disappointed with any Victor Hugo wine!
Email Comments to Julian at:
julian@oxfordwineroom.com